Labor Senator Lisa Singh calls on Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman to speak out against Qantas job cuts

PREMIER Will Hodgman is refusing to share details about a meeting with Qantas boss Alan Joyce as more than 300 Hobart call-centre jobs hang in the balance.

PREMIER Will Hodgman is refusing to share details about a meeting with Qantas boss Alan Joyce as more than 300 Hobart call-centre jobs hang in the balance.

Senator Lisa Singh has called on the State Government to come clean about the meeting, which took place last week.

QANTAS AXE POISED TO FALL

“This is (Will Hodgman’s) first test as Premier and Minister for Tourism, and people want to know whether he has a plan to protect this important hub,” she said.

“(Qantas) workers have a right to know whether the Premier will go in to bat for them, particularly as (he) said he would create 10,000 jobs.”

Senator Lisa Singh says Premier Will Hodgman must make sure Qantas job cuts are not drawn from the airline’s Hobart workforce.

Senator Singh said she wrote to Mr Hodgman seeking detail about the meeting after Qantas executives advised her that it took place on April 2.

She had previously met Qantas representatives in Canberra on March 19, seeking information about the future of the Hobart call centre after the airline announced plans to slash 5000 jobs across the network.

“Qantas made it clear they cannot guarantee that the Hobart call centre would remain open,” she said.

Senator Singh said Qantas was expected to take several months to reach a decision.

“In the meantime, you’ve got 300 workers who are unsure of their fate,” she said.

“Tony Abbott has given a signal that he supports Qantas cutting 5000 jobs. It’s up to Mr Hodgman to make sure those jobs don’t come from the Hobart workforce.

“He’s made tourism his portfolio, yet he’s remaining very secretive about what he’s doing to preserve those jobs.”

Senator Singh said the State Government should push Hobart’s advantages.

“Hobart is already a stable and low-cost location for call centre operations,” she said.

“We have competitive rents compared to the mainland.”

She said the State Government could use the Vodafone deal as a “template” for the sorts of incentives it could offer to Qantas, which included funding for infrastructure and payroll tax cuts.

A spokeswoman for the Premier said: “The Government is committed to doing everything it can to create an environment which creates and secures jobs.

“We will continue to talk to Qantas and it would be inappropriate to reveal the details of any conversations.”