In a round-table meeting at the Launceston City Hall on Friday, Launceston mayor Albert van Zetten was joined by George Town mayor Bridget Archer, West Tamar mayor Christina Holmdahl, Meander Valley mayor Craig Perkins and Northern Midlands mayor David Downie.

Together with the Northern Tasmania Development Corporation chairman John Pitt the mayors discussed the potential risks to Tasmania’s economy and education reputation from the announcement of a new maritime college to be established in Adelaide.

“Despite Minister Pyne’s very positive comments and clarifications yesterday, there’s still a high degree of skepticism in the region about the certainty of AMC’s continuity and opportunity,” Mr Pitt said.

“We want to put our ideas and our concerns to him personally.”

Alderman van Zetten said concerns centered on seeking written confirmation the AMC will be retained as Australia’s premier maritime college, along with further confirmation of the federal government’s commitment to the AMC as part of the Defence network.

“We’d like to see [Minister Pyne] here very soon, so we can have a discussion with him and share our concerns,” Alderman van Zetten said.

A spokesman from Senator David Bushby’s office said that Senator Bushby met with Minister Pyne on Wednesday, and Minister Pyne was “delighted to accept” an invitation to visit the AMC “in the very near future”.

Mr Pitt said the announced visit was welcomed news and the mayors looked forward to speaking with Minister Pyne.

In an opinion piece published in The Examiner on Wednesday, Minister Pyne said the new college would operate on a “hub and spoke” model, drawing on existing institutions nationally to strengthen maritime education.

However, the mayors called for the already-established AMC to be the hub of the new system, not the proposed college in Adelaide.