EDITORIAL
Labor Leader Josh Willie
When I became leader of Tasmanian Labor in August I made a point of reaffirming my commitment to supporting jobs and economic opportunities across the state. My vision is for Tasmania to be a place where people can see a future living and working here, and where they can see a future for their families too. Key to achieving this is making sure there’s a great balance between lifestyle opportunities and employment opportunities, and our state’s world- renowned hospitality sector does a great job in supporting both. Whether it’s heading down to your local café for a coffee, or celebrating a special occasion at your favourite restaurant – Tasmania’s quality food and beverage experiences, and the job opportunities for people who deliver them, are essential to the Tasmanian way of life. This vision is one of the reasons why Labor has continued to back the Macquarie Point Stadium project. As well as helping Tasmania realise the long-held dream of having our very own Devils AFL and AFLW teams, the economic activity and reputation boost driven by the project will provide an enormous boost to our state. MUSIC MAKES COFFEE TASTE DIFFERENT. Are you licensed to play?
You can also look at it from the other side of the argument – if the stadium project was to fall over now, there would be a hugely detrimental loss of confidence felt across Tasmania. What sort of message would that send investors on the mainland and overseas who want to do business in Tasmania? While the stadium certainly takes up a lot of media attention, there’s another major infrastructure project that stands to have a big impact on Tasmania’s hospitality sector. If you’ve been in Hobart lately, it’s impossible to miss the imposing figure of Spirit of Tasmania IV sitting docked at Macquarie Wharf while the final fit-out is completed on the vessel. While having Spirit IV sit idle in Hobart is a difficult reminder of what Tasmania is missing out on, it’s also an exciting reminder of things to come. The boost it, and Spirit IV, will bring to our visitor economy when they are finally sailing across the Bass Strait will be enormous, and are hopefully worth the wait. Labor will continue to hold the Government accountable on both these projects, to help Tasmania see the benefits.
17 Tasmanian Hospitality Review October/November Edition
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