Introduction
Honourable Speaker,
When the Premier admitted he and his government had let Tasmanians down, he might have only been referring to the Spirits of Tasmania debacle.
But he needed to say it for so much more than that.
The budget we are debating is the worst in Tasmania’s history and it leaves Tasmania’s finances independently assessed as the worst in the nation.
This budget mortgages Tasmania’s future.
From a position other states would have done anything to be in – no net debt – the Liberal Party has taken Tasmania to having the worst finances of any state or territory.
Over the last few days, Tasmania has been called a basket case on the national stage. This budget is plainly unsustainable and it breaks nine of the 11 budget rules the Treasurer himself established.
Headlines assessing our state as a basket case send a shocking investment signal across the nation.
The Premier has hit the worst trifecta possible. Tripling the debt, cuts to services, and scrapping infrastructure projects.
Honourable Speaker,
The Liberals have broken the budget and they are not even embarrassed about it.
They should be ashamed – but after 10 years in power they don’t even care.
When they saw Michael Ferguson deliver a budget predicting $8.6 billion worth of debt they did not care. When they saw $450 million worth of cuts across our critical services they were not worried.
Then when they saw Labor say we would ban pork barrelling, a practice they have mastered over a decade, they were outraged.
It sums them up.
A Premier who is willing to ask his bureaucrats to make decisions about $450 million worth of cuts to health, education and other critical services – but wants to choose which bowls club gets a new shade cloth. That is how he leads.
There to fix the potholes but not there to make sure the road was built and maintained properly in the first place.
The budget is visionless because, after 10 years in office, the government has already made big promises and failed to deliver on any of them.
Broken promises
Speaker,
We are still waiting on the new Tamar Bridge.
The Hobart underground bus mall.
Light rail to the northern suburbs by 2023.
A fifth lane on the Southern Outlet.
New Spirits by 2021 (maybe a berth too)
Tasmania being the healthiest state in the nation by 2025.
At the national average for education results by 2022.
A hydrogen action plan
200% Renewable Energy Target
Project Marinus
Doubling the size of the salmon industry – but they put a moratorium on it instead
The Cradle Mountain cableway.
The next iconic walk.
A new northern prison.
No new taxes.
A replacement for Ashley.
Duplicating the Charles Street Bridge.
Macquarie Wharf.
Burnie Port.
Devonport Port.
Mental health beds.
The Royal’s new ED.
A $580 million redevelopment of the LGH.
After 10 years of the Liberals, there’s too many to mention.
But there’s one in this year’s budget that’s really got under my skin.
That’s almost too cynical to be believed.
That Tasmanians will pay for with their lives.
And that’s the Northern Heart Centre Jeremy Rockliff promised during the election.
He said it was “the people behind each statistic” that he cared about – a direct quote.
He said it would save lives – and he was right, it would have.
He gave a $120 million commitment to the project – one that’s still on their website.
He brought out a community advocate for the media event, and asked him to share his story of suffering a heart attack.
He distributed heart shaped cookies at the press conference.
And now, not only is there no funding in the budget. Just a request to the Australian Government to pay for it.
That’s not what he told Tasmanians less than six months ago.
He said he would put the full $120 million into the project.
He used a community leader, and he misled Tasmanians.
It is a shocking, heartless broken promise that just shows they will do or say anything to hold onto power.
On notice
This budget should have been about Tasmania’s future.
It should have set out a vision for our state and it should have included an honest commentary about the state of our Tasmania’s finances.
The Eslake Report outlines the challenges of this budget well. But even that did not envision just how bad this situation would be just a few weeks before the budget was delivered.
I am conscious that in this minority Parliament there is more responsibility on Labor than there has been on any opposition this century.
The only confidence and supply agreement I have made is with Tasmanian workers and businesses. I have promised that Tasmanian Labor will act responsibly and with integrity. That is what we will do.
Tasmanian Labor will allow this budget to pass.
We have to for the thousands of families who would be thrown into uncertainty should a September budget not pass.
For the community services organizations being run on the smell of an oily rag, waiting for a few thousand dollars so that they can keep the lights on, we need to be responsible.
Business and workers have seen Labor use this Parliament to back regional Tasmania, pass motions supporting traditional industries, and protect them from those in this place who don’t want to see renewable energy projects like Robbins Island go ahead.
And they will continue to see us act responsibly.
But I am putting the Premier on notice.
The next budget is only eight months away – there needs to be a plan to fix this mess.
It would be irresponsible to allow this reckless budget mismanagement to continue.
The people I represent cannot afford to have the equivalent of a $35,000 debt hanging around their head. They know what debt can do.
They can’t afford cuts to the public services they rely on, which will undoubtedly come if the debt keeps spiraling out of control.
They cannot afford to see the health system run out of funding.
They cannot afford to have their safety impacted by cuts to our police services.
If there is no plan to repair Tasmania’s finances we will not support the next budget.
No plan
In this budget, I would have liked to have seen prudent economic and financial management, sensible planning, appropriate examination of economic opportunities, for where our state should be today. It has nothing of the sort in it.
The claim there is a pathway to surplus is not true. There is none. The budget papers show $600 million in cuts to health while still showing the biggest budget deficits in Tasmanian history.
It is little wonder Tasmanians are asking whether this Treasurer is the worst in Tasmanian history.
In the absence of leadership by the Premier, it will be up to this place to answer the question about whether he is fit for the office he holds, but the evidence is mounting.
We need a Treasurer who is up to the job of delivering a budget and who will tell the truth.
And we need Jeremy Rockliff to start telling the truth too.
His claim that the Liberals’ debt is sustainable is factually wrong.
It is laid out in the budget. By this time next year the government will be in breach of all three of its fiscal rules related to debt.
Despite his own fiscal rules saying Tasmania’s debt is not sustainable, we have a Premier prepared to go around and say it is.
This is a budget that shows the government has given up. They are going to put budget repair on the backburner for someone else to fix.
The problem is that the longer they are in government the harder it is going to be for someone else to fix.
Honourable Speaker, it has been Labor that has fixed budget messes in the past and it will be us that has to do it again.
Dean’s story
Speaker,
For the past 10 years I’ve been representing south of Hobart – where 10 per cent of Tasmanians live.
It’s a place that’s home to suburbs and towns filled with young families like mine.
That’s forged its own tourism niche through incredible initiatives like the Tahune Airwalk, and undertakes the science that maintains our beautiful waterways and leads worldwide research into climate change and Antarctic studies.
But often forgotten, and rarely properly recognised, is the fact it’s also the home of some of the hardest working Tasmanians there are.
People who work every day in traditional Tasmanian industries like forestry and aquaculture.
Just as people do right across Tasmania’s regions.
Speaker,
I’m originally from the west coast – a place that also knows the value of industries like mining and salmon farming.
It’s a place that’s seen the great things governments can do – like building the Hydro.
And which has borne the brunt when governments of both colours have let them down.
My parents met when dad injured his knee playing rugby for the mighty West Coast Rugby Club.
Mum was nurse in Queenstown.
He was a hard worker, and she was the most caring person I’ve ever known.
Mum was a Labor voter, while it didn’t matter what John Howard did – dad voted for him every time.
And I guess that’s part of why my views have always been in the sensible centre.
That doesn’t mean I’m less ambitious for Tasmania, or less hungry to make change-quite the opposite.
But it does mean I’m not going to be so hung up on the same old political fights.
Because the truth is, the Liberals aren’t always terrible, and Labor isn’t always perfect.
I believe in doing what’s right for everyday Tasmanians – not just a small group with a loud voice.
I make hard calls because of who I represent – people who rely on the government to get it right.
Labor has changed
Speaker,
It’s those values-leading from the centre, listening to those who might not have the loudest voice, and being clear with people where I stand – that I’ve tried to bring to the leadership of the Labor Party.
Because I knew we needed to change.
The opportunities in front of Tasmania are incredible. They’re in renewable energy. They’re in agriculture and aquaculture. They’re in education, tourism, hospitality – the list goes on.
We need a government that can grasp those opportunities.
The last four election results have given us a verdict.
The voters never get it wrong.
Which means we got it wrong.
And it’s hard to say because I know what a good Labor government can do for Tasmania.
I saw Jim Bacon transform our state.
Transform our confidence as a state.
When he bought the Spirits-and remembered to build the berth-he transformed the tourism industry, and regional tourism in particular.
His government built Basslink and the Gas Pipeline, and transformed our manufacturers and heavy industries forever.
They built the first wind farm at Woolnorth, and showed the way forward for the future of our energy sector.
Introduced seven day trading, and dragged our retail sector into the twenty-first century. A position the Liberals are – staggeringly – still complaining about.
They built the irrigation schemes, and drove massive productivity improvements in our primary industries.
All big changes that made a big difference for key sectors in our economy.
Tourism, manufacturing, energy, retail and primary industries – all critical Tasmanian industries.
All changed for the better, forever, by a government with a vision for Tasmania’s economy and our future.
Hard decisions
It’s what I want to offer Tasmanians too.
It’s why I meant it when I said we needed to change.
And why I’ve already set about changing the Labor Party.
On my first full day as leader, I went straight to the west coast.
Within a few hours of taking on the job, I was on the water on Macquarie Harbour.
I was meeting with Mayor Shane Pitt.
And a few hours after that I was back in Hamers Hotel with the workers whose livelihoods, communities and children’s futures depend on the aquaculture industry.
This was where I needed to be if I was serious about changing the Labor Party.
The West Coast is where the Tasmanian Labor Party was born 120 years ago. The party exists to support working people and we are not about to change that now. It’s also why you’ve seen me take clear positions on some pretty controversial issues.
I’ve been unequivocal in our support for longstanding, world-leading industries like salmon farming, forestry and mining. I don’t care if it’s a Labor or Coalition Government in Canberra, I’ll stand up for Tasmania’s interests.
Under my leadership, Labor has strongly supported the UTAS move to the city, their plans for a $500 million science and technology centre, and the plan for 2,000 new houses on their vacant land.
I’ve stood up to the reckless policy form the Liberals to freeze the assets of our only university. A shocking assault on a fine educational institution that needs to be promoted and supported, not criticized and attacked.
Joining with the Save UTAS group, the government has bowed to the worst of anti-development rhetoric. Their legislation will sentence Tasmania to 20th century university in an education environment that demands 21st century learning.
I’ve put forward a plan to double the day sailings on the Spirits this summer, to make up some of the $500 million of tourism revenue this minority government’s mistakes have cost us.
And I’ve backed a stadium and the 4,000 jobs it will create, a project that is both the government’s signature project but also one not mentioned in the budget.
Tasmanian Labor supports building a stadium on the terms the Premier promised. Capped state expenditure at $375 million. We have outlined this position to Nicholas Gruen as part of his work and encouraged him to compare both stadium proposals as part of that.
Every conversation I have with our civil contractors and builders tells me we need to have a smooth and reliable infrastructure pathway. We need to ensure a stadium gets built for them and for Tasmanians who want to see a Tasmanian football team become a reality.
Why change is needed – Budget critique
Speaker,
Tasmania needs change.
This budget has made that abundantly clear.
Just as it’s made clear that this minority government, now more than 10 years old, is not capable of delivering it.
The Treasurer, responsible for some of the worst mistakes in this state’s history, is not capable of delivering it.
Just look at what they’ve done to our public finances.
Speaker,
The Liberals inherited zero debt from Labor in 2014.
In fact, there was $200 million in the bank.
Ten years on, and they’ve racked up $8.6 billion of debt – nearly $35,000 for every Tasmanian household.
The debt figure wasn’t mentioned once in the Treasurer’s speech.
He must be ashamed of it.
Because of the Liberals’ debt, Tasmanians will spend $1.4 billion on interest over the next four years.
That’s twice as much as we’ll spend on the ambulance service.
Operating deficits-which count only the everyday spending of the government, and not infrastructure spending-will total nearly $1.7 billion over the budget and forward estimates.
Bigger operating deficits on average, every year for four years, than were incurred at the height of COVID.
Cash deficits-the total difference between revenue and spending-will be nearly twice as bad, at $3.8 billion.
It’s little wonder the word “deficit” didn’t appear in his speech either.
It’s totally unsustainable and they can’t say when or how they will get it under control.
Because they know that after 10 years in office, they’ve completely lost control.
Speaker,
Never forget the Liberals inherited zero debt from Labor in 2014.
Keep it in mind when you hear Saul Eslake explain that Tasmania’s finances are now the worst of any state or territory.
That we’re worse than Victoria.
And worse than the Northern Territory.
Speaker,
This budget is a gross failure of leadership.
Because as much as leadership is about making things happen, it’s also about having the courage and strength to say no.
And this budget fails that test comprehensively.
It includes 480 new spending commitments from the election.
And no doubt nearly all of them have some merit individually.
But collectively, they are one of the most irresponsible things a Tasmanian Premier has ever done.
They’re going straight on the credit card.
They will burden future generations with higher debt and massive interest payments.
They are 480 reasons why Tasmania needs change.
Speaker,
Perhaps the worst thing about all this debt is that there’s almost nothing to show for it.
Tasmania’s health system is the worst in the nation, and worse than it has ever been.
We couldn’t ask anything more of our incredible health workers, but the fact is that waiting lists are at record levels, emergency departments have never been so overcrowded, and ambulance response times have never been so slow.
More Tasmanians than ever before are missing out on the healthcare they need.
Our education system produces worse results than any state.
Our teachers do a great job but the results are going backwards.
The system as a whole is letting down our kids and holding back our state’s potential.
And worst of all, despite all this government spending and debt, the economy is faltering.
Five thousand jobs have been lost since Jeremy Rockliff started governing in minority.
Tasmania has crashed from the top of the national economic rankings, to sixth.
Retail trade in Tasmania is the most depressed in the nation, and has seen zero growth all year.
Hospitality say things haven’t been so tough for a decade.
The cost of living is smashing household budgets.
The cost of power is hurting business.
Young people are leaving for the mainland in record numbers.
Mineral exploration has fallen for six consecutive quarters.
Economic growth barely has a heartbeat.
Tasmania is projected to have the lowest growth in the nation over the next five years.
Building approvals have fallen by 50 per cent.
Projects are stalled across the state – public and private.
Nothing is getting done under this minority government.
Tasmania has nothing to show for the Liberal Party’s record debt.
Speaker,
If you can’t trust the Liberals to manage the finances, you can’t trust them with anything else, either.
And make no mistake: this budget will make our problems worse.
Spending on health will be cut by $236 million this year compared to what was actually spent last year.
Over the forward estimates, it’s $600 million.
And despite what the government will have you believe, their own budget shows they plan to cut $130 million this year from “employee expenses” compared to what was spent last year.
In other words, their own budget requires 1,000 health workers to lose their jobs.
Three nurses a day for the entire year.
Because Jeremy Rockliff and the Liberal Party have wrecked Tasmania’s finances.
And Speaker,
It’s budgets like this that make people so pessimistic about politics.
That break promises like a new heart center, and leads Tasmanians to believe there’s no point, because “they’re all the same”.
That pushes people into the trap of thinking this is just the way things are.
And that no one can be trusted, no one will make a difference, and nothing will get better.
But Speaker,
I cannot accept it.
I cannot accept that politics can’t make a difference in this state.
I cannot accept this is just the way things are.
Because we should expect better.
And because I know that change is possible.
Change – Labor’s vision and first steps
When I was Mayor, I was told things couldn’t be done.
I ignored those people then, and I’ll ignore them now.
So if anyone tells me I can’t change Tasmania for the better, I’ll do what I’ve always done.
I’ll ignore them, and I’ll point them to the vision for our state that I’m announcing today.
Speaker,
Labor is at its best when it’s in the business of building.
When it’s got a plan for the future centred around jobs and the economy.
When it’s proudly pro-development.
When it works closely with business, big and small, south and north.
When it’s got the backs of working people, in every corner of the state, doing great things like legislating for industrial manslaughter laws.
When its leaders recognise financial management as their first and most important duty to the people of Tasmania.
And when it brings the new leadership needed to help us be honest about the challenges we face, while allowing us to see there are better days ahead.
Jobs and the economy
Under my leadership, Labor stands for jobs.
Safe, secure, well-paid jobs.
Which is why it should come as no surprise that creating jobs through economic development is going to be my top priority too.
I’ve already announced we’ll be backing a stadium, and the 4,000 jobs it will create.
The project will lead to hundreds of millions of dollars of new economic activity, through tourism, hospitality, events and industries like sports medicine, player management and marketing.
And no, as long as the Premier sticks to his cap – which we will hold him to – a stadium won’t send us broke.
I’ve also announced we’ll be backing the UTAS move, and opposing the Liberals’ anti-jobs, anti-development legislation.
Because the UTAS move means even more jobs.
It’s 2,000 new homes, in the middle of a housing crisis, at a time when our building industry is crying out for more work.
It’s a $500 million science and technology centre – a massive construction project in and of itself.
But that centre will also set our state up for decades.
It’ll train scientists, engineers and technology professionals, in a century when those skills have never been more vital to our economic success.
It’ll offer our young people world-leading facilities, so they can stay in Tassie rather than move to the mainland.
There’ll be incredible opportunities for industry co-location and research collaboration – turning the knowledge and research of the university into thriving, sophisticated businesses and well-paid jobs for Tasmanians.
And it’ll be a massive boost for the CBD, just like the UTAS move so far has been.
It’s exactly the sort of development I want to see right across this state.
Which is why today I’m announcing that a Labor government will supercharge the Coordinator-General.
Long gone are the days when Labor said we’d abolish it.
I’ve said we’ve changed, and I mean it.
Under my leadership, we’ll give the Coordinator-General real powers, and real teeth.
Because the Coordinator-General clearly hasn’t delivered on its mandate.
The massive investment backlog in this state is proof of that. There is $25 billion worth of capital waiting at our door. But none of it is happening because it is simply too hard to deal with this minority Liberal government.
And more to the point – business finds it impossible to get any of their issues fixed.
The Coordinator-General simply does not have the powers it needs.
Just look at its website.
It says Tasmania has an easily navigable and affordable approvals process – wrong.
It boasts that we have one of the lowest levels of government debt across Australia – wrong.
It claims the government is run with disciplined financial management – very wrong.
And it says there’s a stable political environment – self-evidently untrue.
This is an organisation that should be empowered to deliver a smoother approvals process – not just pretend those processes already exist.
Yes, it provides a point of contact.
But shouldn’t we aspire to something more than a marketing department, call centre and business dating service?
Major investors need more confidence than just an office to help them set up meetings.
They need a Coordinator-General with the powers to help them make their projects a reality.
They need a Coordinator-General with teeth.
Labor will legislate to ensure the Coordinator-General plays a key role in Tasmania’s long term economic development, just like it does in other states.
In Queensland the Coordinator-General has wide-ranging powers to plan, deliver and coordinate large-scale projects, while ensuring their environmental impacts are properly managed.
In NSW, the Coordinator-General has authority over Infrastructure NSW to ensure public infrastructure is aligned with major private sector projects.
Under the powers we’re proposing to provide the Coordinator-General, it would be able to declare an investment to be a priority project for Tasmania.
This would trigger powers to coordinate environmental assessments, apply zoning changes, and direct government businesses to provide support, not blockages.
It would enable proponents to access development assessment processes that sit above the planning scheme.
It would have the power to order information from public agencies and government businesses that’s required to complete assessments in a timely way.
It would be able to direct Infrastructure Tasmania and government businesses to get on with public investments that support or unlock priority private sector projects.
It would have the power-independent of government-to undertake or commission investigations that are necessary to support investment, infrastructure and development in Tasmania.
And the Coordinator-General would answer directly to the Premier.
They would have a mission to go in and actually get things done.
Actually fix problems.
Cut down on delays.
Bring back some certainty.
Put an end to investors being shunted from one agency to another.
Through one approval process after another.
It would be an agency with a mandate to deliver jobs, investment, and economic growth for Tasmania.
To bring projects that will create jobs and economic development to life right across Tasmania.
To send a message to the world that Tasmania is well and truly open for business.
And to help me deliver my vision to make Tasmania the easiest place to do business, and the best place to grow up, work and retire.
Tasmania cannot afford to say ‘no’ to opportunities like Origin Energy, Fortescue Future Industries and Woodside. I have met with and spoken to all of them and all left deeply disappointed by the inability to get their projects moving in this state.
This policy will help unlock private sector investment right across Tasmania.
And perhaps nowhere more so than in the renewable energy sector, where there is currently $25 billion of capital waiting to be invested in new energy projects, from windfarms to e-fuels.
That’s two decades of government capital spending, wanting to be invested, but being held up by this government.
Robbins Island has spent seven years dealing with planning and environmental approvals.
It took Whaleback Ridge four years just to get permission to start a development process
There’s no clarity about the North West Transmission Development.
And the key to it all-Marinus Link-is now something the Treasurer says he “hopes” gets built.
“Hopes”.
Not that he’s completely committed to.
Not something he’s going to move heaven and earth to get going as soon as possible.
But something he hopes might happen.
Remember, this is the key to $25 billion of investment in this state.
$25 billion of investment at a time when the government is having to slash its infrastructure budget by 30 per cent.
When their own budget is forecasting job losses, a slowing economy and more young people leaving for the mainland.
When the state’s finances are in deep trouble and the economy is looking shaky, there has never been a more important time to find ways to unlock private investment.
Our path to prosperity cannot be through government spending.
Which is why it’s not good enough that two decades worth of government capital spending is now apparently hinging on “hope”.
The same “hope” that the new port infrastructure would be delivered in time for the arrival of the Spirits.
The same “hope” the budget will return to surplus in 2030.
Speaker,
After promising the project for 11 years, this is not good enough.
Tasmanian Labor supports Marinus. We actually want to see it built.
Which is why today I’m again calling for the Tasmanian Government to either get going or get out of the way.
The Tasmanian Government has proven itself incapable of anything except delays and cost blowouts.
I have little doubt there will be more to come.
If getting this Liberal government out of the way will allow Marinus to finally get built, they should do it.
It will save Tasmania more than half a billion dollars in debt which would otherwise be added to the credit card.
And it will kickstart a renewable energy boom in the north and north west.
A boom that will be facilitated by a Coordinator-General with teeth, with the power to cut through red tape and get projects happening.
It will be a massive boost for the regions.
We will create thousands upon thousands of safe, secure, well-paid jobs.
We will capitalise on the fact we have the best water and wind resources in the country.
We will build on our 100 year history with the Hydro, and the incredible skills our people have built up.
We will double the state’s renewable energy production, supporting industry growth all across Tasmania.
We will unlock $25 billion of investment by getting Marinus done, and we will clear the way for dozens of new energy projects by fixing the approval processes that continue to hold them back.
By building on our natural advantages, we will make Tasmania the easiest place to do business, and the best place to grow up, work and retire.
Speaker,
People say I’m pro-development. They are right.
Because I know that development means a roof over someone’s head.
An opportunity for a local business.
An energy project that will power the future of manufacturing.
Revenue for the government to help fund schools and hospitals.
And a stronger economy for us all.
In nearly eight years on council, I voted for every development that came to me.
And I don’t intend to stop now.
I know Marinus is controversial.
I know Robbins Island and Whaleback Ridge are too.
And I suspect the Greens won’t like a Coordinator-General with teeth.
But I want every Tasmanian to understand I mean it when I say Labor has changed, and changed for the better.
That we stand for jobs, and aren’t afraid to take a position.
And that under my leadership, Labor is back as the party of jobs and economic development.
Speaker,
Activating the private sector is absolutely critical for our economy.
The Liberals have done enormous damage to the state’s finances.
Their mismanagement means the state government cannot afford to underwrite Tasmania’s economic growth.
I cannot stress this enough.
But I also cannot at the same time say the Liberals have mortgaged Tasmania’s future, while promising to do nothing about it.
And so I accept that if Labor is going to promise credible change for this state, we need to develop a credible plan to get the budget back under control.
Such a plan will take time to fully develop – it’s just five days since the Liberals handed down a budget that was $2.5 billion deeper in debt than even Saul Eslake had anticipated.
And such a plan would not be credible if it said all the damage the Liberals have done could be fixed overnight.
Make no mistake: their budget mess will take Tasmania years to recover from.
There is no magic wand.
We will have to treat their record debt like a family treats their mortgage – something to be paid down carefully, methodically and steadily over time.
But under my leadership, it’s not a task we’re going to shirk.
Which is why today I’m announcing Labor’s first steps towards paying down the Liberals’ debt.
Ten things we will do, from day one, to start getting the public finances back on track.
One, we will bring more consulting services in-house, as the Federal government has done successfully.
Two, we will conduct an audit of all outsourcing contracts to ensure taxpayers are getting value for money.
And we will not hesitate to renegotiate or terminate contracts that are not delivering cost savings, high-quality outcomes or which could be delivered better in-house.
Three, we will ban pork-barrelling and rorts to stop taxpayers being ripped off.
We will pass a law to make all government grants go through a rigorous assessment process.
Four, we will stamp out dodgy deals and the improper use of public money by enhancing the powers and independence of the Tasmanian Audit Office.
Our Auditors have the weakest powers of all any similar agency in the country and we believe that needs to change.
Five, we will ensure decisions are taken with a long-term view of the state’s finances, by including 10-year projections for debt and deficits in every budget, as Saul Eslake has recommended.
Six, we will improve the financial transparency and policy development capacity of the entire Parliament, by establishing a Parliamentary Budget Service.
We will negotiate a deal to enable a Treasury officer to be based within the Federal PBO to help reduce the cost.
Seven, we will establish a Review and Evaluation Unit in Treasury so failed programs and policies can be identified and ended.
Eight, we will examine opportunities for shared services across agencies – creating shared service hubs, reducing duplication and lowering operational costs.
Nine, we will explore merging the generic IT infrastructure of various government departments to reduce maintenance costs, strengthen buying power and improve cybersecurity.
And ten, we will introduce performance-based budgeting that links government spending to measurable outcomes.
Under the Liberals, spending has increased substantially but key service delivery outcomes have declined. We will hold ourselves to a higher standard when we allocate public money.
We estimate these measures, taken together, will save at least $150 million over the next four years.
And Speaker,
Every dollar saved with this policy will go directly towards debt reduction.
We will not, like the Treasurer, comically be allocating $3 of new spending for every $1 saved.
Because that isn’t how debt reduction works.
I acknowledge these measures are not going to fix the Liberals’ budget disaster overnight.
The hole they have dug is so deep that it’s not credible to suggest that is even possible.
Digging ourselves out again will take years and years of discipline and hard work.
I acknowledge that much more will have to be done.
But I’m willing to do what’s required to get Tasmania out of the financial mess the Liberals have put us in.
And Speaker,
I must say it gives me a bit of déjà vu.
When I was elected Mayor of Kingborough, I inherited a shocking set of finances and plans afoot for massive rate hikes – after the council had already put them up by 50 per cent over the past 10 years.
But just as I am today, I was determined those ten years of failure would not be repeated.
I got in and set a plan. A plan to return to surplus and cap rate rises to just 2.8 per cent.
I built a fiscal strategy and actually stuck to it.
Came up with a vision to grow the region, grow our economy, and grow our rates base.
We rebuilt Kingston, built a destination playground for families and focussed on what mattered – like cleaning up and re-opening beaches and backing in more homes for young families who needed them.
And my last budget delivered that surplus.
I did it without cutting a single job, while capping rate rises, and while helping the community through COVID.
Admittedly, the council’s budget problems were not as severe as the financial problems Tasmania faces today.
And of course Kingborough, while it’s one of the larger councils, is nowhere near the size of the state government.
But that experience taught me that getting the finances under control can be done with hard work and discipline.
I delivered one more surplus than Jeremy Rockliff and Michael Ferguson ever will.
I proved that a strong focus on growing the economy can go a long way.
And that investments which didn’t seem possible-like building the best park in the entire state-are achievable.
But only if you put in the work to get the finances under control first.
Conclusion – contrast
Speaker,
The contrast couldn’t be clearer.
Jeremy Rockliff’s third budget is a disaster for Tasmania.
A minority government disaster.
It puts the Liberals’ short-term political interest ahead of Tasmania’s best interest.
It ruins any remaining claim the Liberals had to responsible financial management.
It is a plan, by their own numbers, for job losses.
It’s a plan for lower economic growth, more young people leaving the state, and more people giving up looking for work.
It’s a plan to slash funding for essential services and to go back on the promises made only six months ago.
It’s a bleak vision, from a 10-year-old minority government, that underestimates the potential of Tasmania.
Instead, I offer Tasmanians hope and a vision for the future.
A future based on a strong economy and secure, well-paid jobs.
Where we back development every day of the week – and actually have a plan to cut red tape and get projects moving faster.
A plan to unleash $25 billion of private investment, by getting Marinus built.
To facilitate the world-class university we need to give our young people a reason to stay here in Tassie.
To build 2,000 new houses.
To back our regions and the productive industries they’ve built up over decades.
And to start getting Tasmania’s finances back under control.
The Labor Party has listened, and has changed.
It is back as the party of jobs and economic development.
It is back in the business of nation building.
It is proudly pro-development, pro-business, and pro-workers.
And it is the party of responsible financial management in Tasmanian politics today.
I offer Tasmanians new leadership.
I offer a renewed Labor Party.
With a plan and a vision for the future.
To deliver the change Tasmania needs.
Thank you.
