Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Honourable Deputy Speaker, it is fantastic to deliver a speech in your company for the first time.
I want to say a few things about this minority government that we find ourselves in, and restate the reality of the situation that’s brought us here. We are in the 52nd Parliament. Just three months ago we were in the 51st Parliament. The pathway to us getting to where we are today is that the Labor Party opposition moved no confidence in the Liberal Government, Jeremy Rockliff, and that was successful. The Greens supported that, as other members did.
At that point, we reached out to Labor and offered the opportunity to work with Labor to avoid an election and to have a conversation about what collaboration and working together could look like. However, Labor didn’t take up that opportunity. Then we found ourselves, as a result of Labor’s decision, in an election. We went through an election, and it was a contest of ideas. It was a debate that we all held with Tasmanians about what sort of people they wanted to represent them. What ideas they really cared about.
When we spoke to people in the community, we heard loud and strong that people were seriously concerned at the way the Liberal government’s management of the budget had brought Tasmania to its knees, and we could see the impacts on the essential services in health. We could see that the lack of delivery of health services and the lack of delivery of housing – public housing, social housing – for people in need.
We could also see that the decision by the Liberals, supported by the Labor Party, to build a stadium was an appalling balancing of priorities, and very strongly in the electorate we heard people say: ‘We don’t want that.’ Overwhelmingly they said they want protections for this beautiful environment.
The Greens, and a more progressive crossbench, were returned, and exactly the same numbers of Liberals and Labor Party members as before the election. We reached out to the Labor Party. We reached out and made every effort to negotiate, to talk about collaborating and working together to form a stable government arrangement. They didn’t take that opportunity up.
Now, we are here in a parliament and, from the Greens’ point of view, we have no confidence, and we have not given confidence, in the Liberal government. Neither do we have confidence in the Labor Party today, to be able to take up that role. We are here to get outcomes for Tasmanians. Watch this space, because I am hearing Labor developing a narrative which is not, I believe, the sort of thing that Tasmanians want on day‑one back in parliament. Yet the sort of divisive, negative language already that is developing a narrative, manufacturing division where there is no reason to have it, because – watch this space. The Greens’ reform agenda for this term of parliament is very progressive, and we look forward to working with the Labor Party to delivering it. We look forward to working with members of the crossbench to deliver it. We look forward to persuading and getting the support of the Liberal government to deliver it. We will do everything we can.
Regardless of whether you’re sitting in government or sitting in the Labor Party, from the Greens point of view, we don’t really care. We just want to achieve change for the people who voted for us. We will do everything we can to make that change happen, and we will work collaboratively. We are really very excited to be in an expanded and unified and strong crossbench who are working together strategically to make the opportunities in the parliament that Tasmanians have voted for. We will come in here and work in good faith. We don’t want to be part of that divisive politics. We will call out things that we are outraged by. That’s our job. We will speak with the confidence of our convictions, because we’re very clear about the things we want change on. Love us or hate us, people know exactly what they’re standing for – what we stand for. We will hold true to that, and we will work with other people in this place in good faith.
