Ms BADGER (Lyons) – Honourable Speaker, it gives me no pleasure whatsoever to stand here today. This is exactly what I and many Tasmanians dislike in politics, and that is a move without a clear outcome. It is not clear what Labor’s plan actually is here.
Members interjecting.
Ms BADGER – Yesterday, in Mr Winter’s letter to the AFL, he said that this government had in the past 24 hours lost the confidence of majority of members. To be clear, what had changed in that 24 hours is Labor’s position, because this crossbench and the Greens have been consistent throughout, so this should not come as a surprise.
Labor needs to be upfront with Tasmanians because it is them who change their mind. Be upfront with Tasmanians and tell them what you are going to do, before the end of this debate. You owe it to Tasmanians, you owe it to everybody on the crossbench and the Greens. Stand up and say what you were going to do. Are you going to negotiate with the crossbench? What are you going to do if the Governor or the Acting Governor comes to you and says, what are you going to do?
You can do it now. You do not have to send Tasmanians to a costly election that will probably just yield the same result.
Tasmanians have just elected this minority parliament, and to be very clear, minority parliaments can yield fantastic outcomes for this state. They have done in the past.
Members interjecting.
Ms BADGER – You can laugh.
A member – Why are you doing this?
Ms BADGER – We got the Douglas-Apsley National Park, extensions to Freycinet, gun law reform and gay law reform. Minority governments fall apart when people in power walk all over others, when there are threats from the Premier to the Legislative Council – that is when things start to fall apart. When you completely undermine and disrespect local government, like you did on the Development Assessment Panels (DAP) – that is when things start to fall apart. People lose confidence in governments when they override existing processes and protocols for special projects, such as the special and enabling legislation that you have been pushing through this whole term. What is worse, most of that special legislation was totally eliminating a genuine voice for Tasmanians to have a say on their future in this state.
Fiscal responsibility and investment and resource priorities have been totally warped on this Premier’s watch, and that is something that the Greens have been consistent in calling out in this term of parliament. More than enough has been said already on the stadium, but another big budget item that has been noted in this place several times and has already been massively blown out on initial investments is Marinus. Tasmanians have heard crickets from both sides about whether they will be seeking a carve‑out from the Australian Energy Market Operator’s Integrated System Plan rebalancing. The estimates for transmission projects in Australia have been seriously underestimated, and in the past two years, those costs have increased by 55 per cent. What does that mean for Tasmania’s budget future in the years to come?
A billion‑dollar stadium – absolutely terrible. Let us not forget either that in my electorate of Lyons, we have the Cethana Pumped Hydro that has doubled in cost to $2 billion and has to be reworked, and does not even need to be designed the current way it is. We can do it better.
I echo the comments from other members, and I thank the Premier for his exceptional work on the commission of inquiry. However, after the recommendations were supposed to be adopted by this government, diversions for youth offenders have decreased from 54 per cent to 36 per cent as your tough on crime approach progresses, and this is happening on this Premier’s watch.
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) is this state’s, indeed this country’s, greatest intergenerational asset. It is our biodiversity safeguard in a climate and extinction crisis. One of the greatest risks to the TWWHA is climate change, and what is this Rockliff government doing? Mr Bayley spoke yesterday on the 2024 State of the Environment Report recommendations and the complete absence of any investment into them. It is a failure of this government and it is an utter failure of this Environment minister. This summer, over 100,000 hectares of wild places burnt, and this Premier stood in this place in Question Time at the start of the month and committed to a full independent public review of the response. Yesterday, a spokesperson contacted a constituent of mine and suggested otherwise, and indeed confirmed that the terms of reference on that review are not even properly decided. These reviews are absolutely critical to the TWWHA and our intergenerational assets, and the Premier should understand that. He committed in this place to having the full public input and transparency, so has he backflipped? What is actually happening? How can Tasmanians trust this inconsistency?
It is the Rockliff government who are leasing the TWWHA, a public land of outstanding universal values, to a company in a court‑ordered liquidation, a company that is thousands of dollars in arrears for overdue invoices to Parks, a government organisation. That now being a fantasy is just the thin edge of the wedge of all the expression of interest projects set to privatise our public lands. You cannot bluff Tasmanians into thinking that the cost of the Tyndall Range project is still $40 million. If it is not, be transparent and release your new business case.
In recent weeks, we have seen members nearly in tears on motions over the AFL. When that last happened, it was only days after there were cuts in the Family and Domestic Violence Unit. Let us take a moment in this place to check our priorities and our privileges. What message are we actually sending to Tasmanians? This Rockliff government has totally lost touch with everyday Tasmanians, and despite the Greens’ prior no‑confidence motions in this Premier and members of the Liberal government, I still underestimated the present anger of Tasmanians towards this government.
Yesterday, I woke up, as I know many other members of the Greens did, with an inbox brimming with messages from Tasmanians who feel completely rejected, who do not feel heard or seen any longer. They feel that this Rockliff government has strayed so far from its basic function, from the core work of government; looking after people over profits and private entities.
This government is sending future Tasmanians into economic debt and environmental debt. I warn all members that economic debt can eventually be serviced, but we are heading to irreversible environmental tipping points. We cannot continue on this present trajectory, which is why the Greens are supporting the motion.
