SENATOR CAROL BROWN

SHADOW PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR FAMILIES

AND PAYMENTS
LABOR SENATOR FOR TASMANIA

LOSS OF $16 MILLION CONTRIBUTES TO CADBURY VISITOR CENTRE

CLOSURE

Tasmanian Labor Senator Carol Brown says the loss of the $16 million funding has
contributed to the decision by Cadbury to close its Visitor Centre.
Before the 2013 election the Federal Government promised $16 million for a new
tourist centre which would create 200 direct and 120 indirect jobs by 2017.
Now just over two years later, nearly 80 Cadbury workers have lost their jobs and
another 11 Cadbury staff will be without employment when the Visitor Centre closes
in December.
The Visitor Centre has been a Tasmanian tourist icon since it opened after the
Second World War and has up to 80,000 visitors a year and on occasions up to
1,000 visitors a day.
Its closure is devastating for workers, for employment and for the tourism industry
when it is riding the crest of a popularity wave.
The Cadbury Visitor Centre is up there with Port Arthur and Mona as a tourist
experience and it is unconscionable that it be allowed to close.
The new Tourism Minister, Tasmanian Senator Richard Colbeck must meet Cadbury
and work out a way to keep the Visitor Centre open.

And if Malcolm Turnbull is serious about tourism he will be on the phone to Senator
Colbeck to sort this mess out.