And Primary Industries Minister Sarah Courtney announced positions for two AgriGrowth Liaison officers and two Biosecurity Tasmania officers for Flinders and King islands would be advertised on Saturday.

“We recognise that many farmers and farms are based in Northern Tasmania, so having the men and women who support these in government actually being close to the farmers is really important,” Ms Courtney said.

“Having the extra biosecurity roles will bolster the already extensive resources we have across Northern Tasmania, but these biosecurity role on Flinders and King islands, as well as helping with pests, they’re also going to be assisting farmers in other ways so they can farm more sustainability,” she said.

Launceston Chamber of Commerce chief executive Neil Grose said the body had supported the proposed job relocation before the March election.

“Launceston really needs to grow its productive and working population. We do have some long-term population issues,” Mr Grose said.

“It’s the type of growth we need to see in Launceston, which is young, working professional people moving their families here.”

No Hobart department employees will be forced to relocate under the Tasmanian government’s plan.

The jobs are expected to be split between the department’s North and North-West operations, with around 70 in Launceston and 30 in Devonport.