A rally to show support for the mining industry in Tasmania attracted more than 2000 people in Tullah on Saturday.
Premier Lara Giddings said the rally was ‘the biggest pro-mining rally ever in Tasmania’.
Organised by the Tasmanian state government and the Australian Workers Union, protesters gathered outside Tullah Community Hall to support new mines in the Tarkine by Venture Minerals.
Tullah is near Venture Minerals' proposed Livingstone and Riley Creek mines, which Green said will help aid the economy.
The new mines are expected to create about 1000 jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue, The Examiner reported.
Giddings, Resources Minister Bryan Green and West Coast Mayor Darryl Gerrity were among 10 people who spoke to the crowd.
Green showed his support for the rally last month during Question Time and said the gatherings will demonstrate Tasmania's 'open for business'.
Union secretary Ian Wakefield said the turnout illustrated that people appreciate the role of the mining industry to Tasmania’s economy.
“When one out of three kids can’t get a job, the only way to turn that around is if you have industry and industry for the future,” Wakefield said.
“That can only happen if you have got new projects to replace other projects when they wind up.”
Giddings said mining was essential for Tasmania’s economy and she reaffirmed her support for new mines in the state, saying mining jobs had risen by 2000 in the last two years.
“The government fought hard against the heritage listing of the Tarkine, and the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the industry since the federal Liberal government nominated the area for assessment has been lifted,” she said.
Green said the government and the mining industry were working together to advance new mine projects and was convinced more mines would happen.
But Liberal leader Will Hodgman said despite the Labor-Green government’s claims, only his party could secure the industry’s future.