OPPOSITION Leader Bryan Green has accused the government’s co-ordinator-general, John Perry, of failing to act on Caterpillar’s departure from Burnie, despite the Northern-based bureaucrat having business links in the US.
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Braddon Liberal MP Roger Jaensch dismissed Mr Green’s remarks as a personal attack, while also spruiking the work of Mr Perry on a recent trade mission to China.
‘‘Bryan Green’s call to bang the table with Caterpillar shows he’s more interested in slogans than solutions,’’ Mr Jaensch said.
‘‘The office of the co-ordinator-general is hard at work actively pursuing very significant investment opportunities including, specifically, for Northern Tasmania, which was hit hard by Labor and the Greens economic mismanagement.’’
Mr Green had earlier claimed Mr Perry should be in the US negotiating with Caterpillar over the loss of 280 jobs from its Burnie plant.
‘‘It seems to me that we’ve got a co-ordinator-general in a $2 million-a-year role effectively, who says he has close links with United States, employed to ensure we go out to the world,’’ Mr Green said.
‘‘Well I say there’s no better time than right now now to be in the United States, convince Caterpillar that a profitable operation in Tasmania is worth contemplating on in the future.’’
Mr Jaensch said while it was regrettable that Cat decided to leave Tasmania, the government’s focus was now on assisting workers and their families.
‘‘The government has had ongoing discussions with Cat about how to secure the future of the Burnie site, but this is a decision which has been made by the company’s overseas management, based on global factors,’’ Mr Jaensch said.