Pure imagination: Tasmania’s premier pledges to build world’s largest chocolate fountain if re-elected | Tasmania

Dubai is home to the world’s tallest skyscraper, Burj Khalifa. Nepal has Mount Everest. Soon, if Jeremy Rockliff has his way, Tasmania could be home to the world’s largest chocolate fountain.

Tasmania’s premier appeared to take a cue from Willy Wonka on Sunday by introducing himself to voters as the dreamer of dreams during a visit to the Cadbury chocolate factory – the largest in the southern hemisphere – near Hobart.

Echoing his inner Wonka, Rockliff said that if re-elected, his Liberal government would deliver “the greatest thing that’s happened to tourism since Mona.”

What could compete with the Museum of Ancient and New Art? The world’s largest chocolate fountain, which would “rewrite the must-see list for every visitor to Tasmania”, enthused the Prime Minister.

The new “chocolate experience” would include a chocolate fountain, a high-end chocolate studio, a chocolate laboratory with a DIY chocolate bar, a chocolate shop, a cafe, a play area “and much more even more,” said the Prime Minister.

It would be located next to the Cadbury factory on the River Derwent, but would be a separate entity supported by the government and “tourism pioneer” Simon Currant.

“Two hundred million chocolate bars are produced right here at Cadbury’s in Claremont, which employs around 450 Tasmanians. We want to build on that, add value,” Rockliff said alongside Currant.

“You can imagine glass windows looking out over the beautiful waters and you’ll see, as you pass by here, the new building, the world’s largest chocolate fountain, for example, a chocolate laboratory – an opportunity where Tasmanians can make their own Tasmanian chocolate with Tasmanian ingredients.

“Once again we will revive the wonderful visits that thousands of Tasmanians remember with great fondness and affection.”

Adding to the sense of wonder, he said the Rockliff government’s return would release $12 million to make the “chocolate experience” a reality, including $2 million to help with design and planning, $2 million additional dollars for initial work on the site, then $8 million for the project. unspecified activities if “agreed milestones” were achieved.

According to Currant, the project – the result of “15 years of research and collaboration with Cadbury” – would cost $100 million and “bring a world of chocolatey delights, wonder and excitement” to Apple Isle.

Guinness World Records says the world’s tallest chocolate fountain belongs to Austrian chocolatiers Confiserie Wenschitz GmbH. It opened in 2019. The chocolate waterfall measures 12.27 meters with 1,000 kg of liquid chocolate cascading down its panels.

It’s unclear whether the public will be able to taste Tasmania’s proposed chocolate fountain or what type of food safety regulations the proposal would need to meet.

Guardian Australia contacted the Tasmanian Premier’s office for further details but did not receive a response before publication.

The Cadbury factory is a place of nostalgia for many Tasmanians, particularly since the company ended public tours in 2008 due to stricter health and food safety regulations. Cadbury’s owners, Mondelez International, were contacted for comment on Sunday.

The state’s Labor opposition leader, Rebecca White, said it would be “really exciting to see new experiences come to life” and that her party would “love to see the visitor experience replicated”.

But she said the government had questions to answer regarding transparency and decision-making.

“Labor has already announced a $50 million interest-free loan scheme that visitors economy operators could apply for and I would invite supporters of the Cadbury tourism experience to apply under our program,” she said. .

“It’s really important that when a government distributes taxpayers’ money, it does so transparently. We don’t want to see what happened at the New Norfolk Distillery, where the Liberal Party made commitments and were unable to explain what the criteria for application were.”

In 2023, questions were asked about a $1.2 million grant awarded to a New Norfolk distillery outside of normal grant processes after a Liberal minister called for a “private review” of the application.

Tasmania’s independent MLC Meg Webb has questioned the government’s priorities, saying it has refused additional funding for essential government services like health care.

“That $12 million is a huge amount of money when you think about how that money could be spent in areas that absolutely require government support and are actually the government’s responsibility,” Webb said.

“This is simply virtue signaling to big business. They are throwing everything over the wall in a desperate attempt to stay in power.”

Tasmania will go to the polls a year before the election was due, after Australia’s last Liberal prime minister, Rockliff, called a snap election for March 23.