Coles in row over tradies

THE community has a right to be outraged that Victorian tradespeople appear to have received quarantine exemptions to work on the refurbishment of a New Town supermarket, unions say.

The state’s construction union secretary Richie Hassett said he was alarmed on Friday to see Victorian contractors working alongside other mainlanders as part of the New Town Coles revamp.

It comes after opposition party attacks on the State Government questioning why interstate workers were being given quarantine exemptions to work in Tasmania while local tradespeople were seeking employment.

“If it wasn’t so concerning it would be a laugh,” CFMEU’s Mr Hassett said.

“Not only are there dozens of local plumbers out of work, it shows how little Coles values the community here.”

State Controller Darren Hine this week said 4238 applications had been made for specialised skills exemptions to quarantine requirements, of which 1221 had been approved.

Employers were required to provide written confirmation the “appropriate skills were not available in Tasmania”.

Mr Hassett said more transparency was needed about what defined a “specialised” worker.

The State Government was criticised after Tasmanian

Hospitality Association chief Steve Old thanked DPIPWE secretary Tim Baker for helping get workers into Tasmania to complete the Kalis Crowne Plaza hotel project.

CEPU state secretary Michael Anderson said allowing mainland tradespeople into Tasmania was “getting ridiculous due to the COVID-19 situation in Victoria”.

A Coles spokeswoman said in order to minimise health risks to Tasmanians all interstate contractors had committed to complying with all Tasmanian Government regulations relating to COVID-19.

The Mercury understands about 30 per cent of tradespeople contracted to work on the Coles refurbishment were made up of interstate Australians — including from Victoria — working in a range of trades including plumbing and refrigeration.

Coles said the contractor of the redevelopment, Prime Build, had used 70 per cent of Tasmanian tradespeople.

A State Government spokeswoman said all non-essential travellers who were non-residents had to quarantine for 14 days.

The spokeswoman said the measures had worked, with no interstate workers testing positive to COVID-19.

“All exemptions are processed by DPIPWE and approved by the State Controller independently from the government,’’ she said.