With more than 40 jobs going at Boag's, more than 200 jobs lost at Liberty Bell Bay and more than 500 jobs at Bell Bay Aluminium dependent on a long-term power deal, Premier Rockliff is offering the North a beer weekend.
Supporting independent brewers and attracting more conferences to the region are good things, but this isn't the economic plan Northern Tasmania was promised.
The North is losing secure, well-paid jobs that people could build a life and raise a family around. Tourism and hospitality are important to our economy, but seasonal work won't replace generations of skilled manufacturing jobs, their wages or the confidence they brought to the region.
After 13 years of incompetence and waste, Premier Rockliff is boasting about backing AI data factories over Tasmania's major industrials because it "helps Tasmania's bottom line".
The Rockliff Government is openly sacrificing the jobs and livelihoods of Northern Tasmanians to prop up its broken Budget.
This announcement will be of little comfort to the workers and contractors losing their jobs and the hundreds of families facing enormous uncertainty.
The North deserves a government prepared to fight to protect local manufacturing and save jobs before last drinks are called, not one that funds a beer trail after the brewery shuts.
Premier Rockliff could have backed the region's brewers years ago, before its largest brewery exited production.
The North needs more than a toast to jobs already lost. It needs a credible plan to protect industry, secure good jobs and deliver lasting growth.
This is too little, too late.
