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A re-elected majority Rockliff Government will deliver a number of new initiatives on Tasmania’s East Coast, to help strengthen the Region and make it an even better place to live, work and visit.

“Tassie’s East Coast is one of the most glorious places in Australia to live, work and visit,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

“Our transformative 2014 election pledge to rename the then Tasman Highway from Orford to St Helens to the Great Eastern Drive has really opened the eyes of the world to this beautiful region.

“Our Strong Plan for the East Coast builds on that, with a number of new initiatives. We will:

• Provide $1 million to assist Council in leveraging Australian Government funding to complete the St Helens/Georges Bay walking track, creating a safe walk and biking route. The track will allow a connection with the existing path at O’Connor’s Beach through to Stieglitz, protecting the known landslip area from future coastal erosion and connecting the township of St Helens to the rapidly growing Stieglitz area and Akaroa. Once completed, the multi-user track will stretch approximately 7km around Georges Bay.
• Provide $500,000 to complete the St Marys Evacuation Centre, including fit-out of kitchen, storage, recreational items, flooring and outdoor recreational spaces. This Centre can be stood up as an evacuation centre in an emergency situation, such as bushfires, and will become a community space that can be used for a variety of activities.
• Deliver $200,000 towards building a new Telstra Tower at St Helens, to ensure that during a natural disaster, people of this region can stay connected and have a reliable communication network.
• Provide a new oral health service for concession card holders and children on the East Coast, from St Helens to Orford, in partnership with the Royal Flying Doctor Service for the next four years, as well as an additional $4 million for 20,000 more dental appointments for general dental care, emergency dental care and urgent dental appointments and denture care, including children and adolescents.
• Provide four new community paramedics for the East Coast region, two to be based at the St Helens District Hospital and two at St Mary’s Community Health Centre. Community paramedics are fully trained paramedics with specialist training who are able to care for and treat Tasmanians. These community paramedics will have a dual role of responding to and treating non-emergency Triple Zero calls in the local community or the home, or treating minor illnesses and injury who present to these rural hospitals. We will also pilot a model that allows these community paramedics to prescribe a range of medications in line with nurse practitioners.
• Upgrading rural hospitals at St Helens and St Marys, by installing virtual infrastructure over the next 12 months to provide an immediate and vital link for hospitals to access the specialist expertise of our major hospitals, and so Tasmanians can see a hospital specialist without the need to travel into cities. We will also provide district hospital doctors with direct access to MyEmergency Doctor for immediate specialist advice. Free Wifi will also be rolled out in all district hospitals.
• Re-commit to the $5.2 million Strategic Regional Partnership signed in an MOU between the Break O’Day Council, Glamorgan Spring Bay Council, East Coast Tasmania, the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and Regional Development Australia. The partnership will develop strategies to enhance health services, education and job opportunities for young people and deliver tourism and infrastructure planning for the East Coast.
• The Premier said that the East Coast community would also receive direct benefit from a number of other 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future initiatives, including more GPs with our GP Guarantee, upgraded teacher house, the $50 million Regional Revival Fund and completion of Parks investment at Freycinet and Maria Island, as well as $6 million towards the Wielangta Road upgrade.

“Only a re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government and our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future will deliver for the East Coast,” the Premier concluded.