And we all have much to be proud of, and to celebrate, as we look to the future.
While this is a great opportunity for the Liberal family to be together, I want to acknowledge the passing of members of our extended family.
Roger Groom served our party and our state with great distinction, as a minister in both the Robin Gray and Ray Groom Liberal Governments.
Roger served the electorate of Braddon for 21 years, introduced the Bass Strait ferry Abel Tasman and encouraged the start of the salmon industry.
On a personal note, Roger was very kind and supportive of me as Young Liberal President in the early 1990s.
I looked up to Roger as a measured, hard-working and considered Minister in the Ray Groom government.
Our thoughts are with the Groom family as they mourn the loss of Roger and his wife, Gay, in recent times.
And earlier this month we lost Robin’s devoted wife Judy.
As I expressed to members of the family recently, Judy was a much admired and loved ‘First Lady’ and many, many Tasmanians will be saddened at hearing this news.
On behalf of all of us, I extend my condolences to both families who are rightly proud of the contribution Roger and Judy made: our lives are richer for having them as part of our Liberal family.
Today I want to thank all of you for your support and hard work that ensured the Tasmanian Liberal team won an historic fourth term.
It really is a remarkable achievement.
And one that is so important for the future prosperity and success of our state.
We could not have done it without you.
We haven’t wasted a minute getting on with the job after that election win.
We’ve hit the ground running to deliver our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.
It’s the plan we proudly presented to the people of Tasmania.
It’s the plan the people of Tasmania expect us to deliver.
And we won’t let them down.
We promised to get 78 actions done and delivered in our first one hundred days.
And that is exactly what our capable team did.
All 78: delivered.
Plus, another 187 for good measure!
They included strong action on cost-of-living relief, on health, and housing.
At State Council last year, I announced our key policy commitment of a Renewable Energy Dividend.
As I said, Hydro was built by Tasmanians, for Tasmanians, and now Tasmanians will rightly reap the rewards of this Tasmanian success story.
Because when Hydro makes money, Tasmanians save money.
We have put $250 into every Tasmanian household and $300 to 35 thousand small businesses.
This is meaningful.
I was written to by pensioner Annette, who described the dividend as an “energy blessing”.
Annette expressed her delight and surprise at the impact it made and she was very grateful.
We’ve also cut public transport fares in half.
And ripped up the Labor-Green Hydro charter which focused on selling our energy to Victoria and replaced it with a new one that puts Tasmanians first.
We’ve stamped out stamp duty ensuring first homebuyers don’t pay a cent of stamp duty for any home valued up to $750,000.
We have reignited the dream of home ownership in Tasmania, for young Tasmanians.
And we have stepped in where the Federal Government has failed up to step up: delivering our new GP Guarantee.
We’ve recruited more doctors, nurses, and paramedics.
We’ve made enormous progress towards our goal of ending ramping.
And the data confirms our plan is working.
With more than 80 per cent of ambulances across Tasmania transferring patients to the Emergency Department within 60 minutes in May, June and July.
Put simply, the new protocol is working.
The naysayers said it couldn’t be done.
We did it.
This is a significant achievement and I thank our dedicated healthcare workers for achieving this.
On Day 100 of our new term, we immediately released our next 100-day plan.
So, Tasmanians know exactly what we will deliver.
Ministers know exactly what needs to be done.
And keeping our Government departments accountable to our plan.
That’s real transparency, and that’s accountability.
In 12 days’ time, the Deputy Premier and Treasurer, Michael Ferguson, will deliver a budget that will ensure Tasmania continues to be the best place in the nation to live, work and raise a family.
It’s a budget that will deliver our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.
It’s a budget that continues record investment in health, housing, and education.
It’s a budget that delivers record cost-of-living relief.
We’ve got a proud record when it comes to delivering infrastructure.
And this Budget builds on our decade of delivery, providing the intergenerational infrastructure we need.
New schools, rebuilt hospitals, the Midland Highway, the Bridgewater Bridge and new ambulance stations – we have delivered and will continue to do so.
It’s a budget that provides a sensible pathway to surplus.
The thing that makes this Liberal Party great is that we back Tasmanians with the relentless energy to prove wrong anyone who says it can’t be done.
This party, this government, is about protecting that Tasmanian can-do attitude and not allowing it to be eroded by the naysayers, the whingers, those who put blinkered ideology above freedom of choice.
Our eyes are firmly focussed on the things that matter for everyday Tasmanians.
Ensuring Tasmania is open for business.
Ensuring the economic development we need to keep creating jobs.
Ensuring our children and their children can own their own homes, just as our generation was able to do so.
One of the fundamentals of Liberal beliefs is smaller Government and cutting red tape.
And we have done this in spades over the course of the last decade.
We’ve simplified stamp duty on corporate restructures; earlier issues of titles for new subdivisions; a single civil and administrative tribunal; and we are removing barriers for workforce housing for farmers.
These are just some of the examples.
We have also slashed red tape in health care by providing greater access through our pharmacies.
This includes making it easier for Tasmanian women to access everyday medications over the counter.
We will do whatever needs to be done to support our community.
And this includes our business and investor community.
We will continue to slash red tape and cut through any obstacles that makes doing business harder.
There is more to do.
In recent days, we have seen a planning decision derail a much-needed retail development at Stoney Rise in North West Tasmania.
A retail development that would provide for a medical centre, a supermarket and other speciality stores.
It’s not good enough.
We cannot allow decisions like this to stand in the way of economic growth, of jobs, and of progress.
We will take a good hard look at the rules that led to this decision.
And we will take action to ensure common sense prevails.
Ours is a great party.
A party of commitment.
A party of reward for individual effort.
We have proven the pundits wrong in securing a fourth term.
And we will not allow Labor or the Greens to again take our great state down a road to ruin.
We will keep building on what we have achieved.
With hard work, and an unwavering determination to listen and to deliver.
What I have learned throughout my time as a member of Parliament is that persistence pays off.
Nothing comes easy.
It takes hard work.
We fought – Will Hodgman, Peter Gutwein, myself and others – fought for 12 years to get to the Government benches and turn Tasmania around.
And what we are seeing is that same determination in other parts of Australia where the blue wave is building right across the nation.
Led from Tasmania.
It gave me great pleasure in contacting the new chief Minister of the Northern Territory after her resounding win.
Congratulations Lia.
I look forward to our ranks again being bolstered in October when David frees Queensland from an inept Labor Government.
And also, to the day, in the not-too-distant future when Peter Dutton is elected Prime Minister.
In Peter, we have a strong and passionate leader of Liberal values.
We have a man of principle, with the desire and ability to take our nation into a better future.
Australians know where Peter stands, and what he stands for.
He will stand up to the union bullies who have corrupted building sites across the nation.
He will stand up for ordinary working families who have been devasted by the Federal Government’s inability to control inflation and interest rates.
He will keep our nation safe.
And together with Federal Liberal candidates and members Bridget Archer, Susie Bower, Mal Hingston.
And our Senate team at the next election Claire Chandler, Richard Colbeck and Jackie Martin.
Together with Peter.
And I know they all support Peter standing up for our hardworking men and women in the salmon, mining and farming industries.
And I believe he will stop Tasmania being shortchanged by Canberra, just as our outgoing Federal Member for Braddon Gavin Pearce has.
Gavin has turned a marginal seat into a Liberal stronghold.
Gav, we are proud of you, proud of your family and all that you have achieved, and most importantly the commonsense values that you stand for.
So, to our Liberal family, with determination and hard work we will keep this island state punching above our scale, showing the rest of the nation, and indeed the world what it means to be Tasmanian.
What it means to be there for each other, to take challenges head on, and to never give up.
Thank you for being here today and thank you for being part of this great Liberal family.
