Ms BADGER (Lyons) – Honourable Speaker, this state of the state has been unsettling, to say the least. Tasmanians are facing a myriad of crises which are exponentially rising as they remained unactioned with the urgency and at the scale that is required, from health and housing to the cost of living and the environment.
I started my response to the Premier’s address last year the same way. What has been actioned to assist in a meaningful way in the past 12 months? Not a lot. The state of our environment has continued to degrade. Destruction of our forests is continually subsidised by this Liberal government. Jobs have been slashed. Education and training opportunities have been diminished. More and more Tasmanians cannot put a roof over their heads. This week alone, I and I’m sure other MPs are hearing from Tasmanians who cannot afford fuel to just get to work. People are struggling to catch reliable public transport as an alternative, and indeed in my electorate of Lyons, many don’t have public transport at all.
Taking a step back from the state of the state for one moment and considering the state of the planet, in the face of global warming and with increasing extreme weather events fuelled by climate change, with illegal war escalating in the Middle East, and growing intergenerational inequality, Tasmania must rapidly turn the tide on the destruction of nature and sort out its finances to invest in essential social priorities if we are to have resilience in the face of the challenges around the globe that will and are impacting the lives of everyday Tasmanians.
The Premier mentioned the environment just once in his speech, but there was not a single mention of what this government would do positively for the environment in 2026 to protect it, to stop destruction of critical biodiversity, or to create new jobs and ecological resilience by restoring degraded ecosystems. Need we remind all members that our state’s greatest climate and biodiversity safeguard, as well as our greatest economic asset through agriculture and tourism, is our environment.
On our rivers and waterways, in January, a new UN flagship report declared the globe had entered an era of water bankruptcy. Irreversible damage is pushing many basins beyond recovery and Tasmania is not immune from such damage.
In The Mercury last week, we saw a damning story of farmers on the Tasman Peninsula struggling, and our seemingly infinite water sources like the River Derwent are also suffering. Just yesterday, the 2025 State of the Derwent river report was released from the Derwent Estuary Program, and it is a damning read as the health of this major waterway deteriorates across many of the monitoring sites.
We in Tasmania have an obligation to better protect our rivers and catchments. In 2026, the Greens will continue to fight to establish statutory water management plans and catchment authorities overseeing the monitoring of our rivers, from their catchment to the coast. Other states have already set up similar bodies, and it’s beyond time that Tasmania did too.
We must also safeguard our food production in the changing climate. We must protect our prime agricultural land. However, we’ve seen this government continuing to fail on action over invasive species. As rabbit populations grow and there are fears of future plagues, deer are costing us a fortune and, of course, so are cats.
In this government’s response to the 2024 State of the Environment Report, their flagship work on invasive and feral species was the 2024-29 Cat Management Plan. Well, welcome to 2026, when that plan still does not exist. Even the draft is not out. All we’ve got is a discussion paper released last week – that’s it.
Removing any doubt over future agricultural land use is one reason the Greens have tabled a bill in this place to ban fracking in Tasmania. Farmers, scientists and environmentalists have all lobbied for the state government to permanently ban fracking and it’s past time that they were heard. After last year’s moratorium extensions, tensions in the community remained, and they were unnecessarily high for landowners in 2025.
Without a legislated ban, our government could lift the moratorium with a stroke of a pen, as we’ve seen take place in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The Victorian government has read the writing on the wall and banned fracking. What possible reason could the Liberals and Labor have for keeping the farm gate open to future gas and oil possibilities in Tasmania? Indeed, I concur with what the honourable Dr Broad said when supporting essentially the same bill in 2017. He said:
It is far better for Tasmania’s economy to see an agricultural expansion other than fracking.
This is not going to be a huge resource, so why create that uncertainty? The last thing we want to see is people with mineral exploration licences in the middle of centre-pivot circles, which could happen without a ban.
The Greens and other stakeholders such as Frack Free Tas, TasFarmers and Farmers for Climate Action have all been working towards a ban on fracking in Tasmania for years, and the Green’s bill is a significant step to providing our farmers and future generations with genuine certainty that this practice will not be undertaken in the climate crisis.
Further on resilience: Tasmania can and should have a strong energy future with a decentralised, versatile grid for energy resilience. This means supporting community batteries, rooftop solar, and emissions reduction. This is something that the member for Clark, Mr Bayley, has been incredibly strong on. I am raising it because across Lyons, the communities are angry at this government’s plan to force through the north west transmission lines for Marinus. The Premier has repeatedly claimed this year that power bills won’t rise under Marinus. Premier, on behalf of the community in Lyons, table your evidence, because what’s publicly available states to the contrary. If Marinus is such a good deal for Tasmanians, then in the interests of transparency, release the whole of state business case unredacted. Tasmanians are ultimately the stakeholders most at risk if your deal is a dodgy one, so they deserve to see the details in full.
On Cethana pumped hydro in Lyons: the Premier said in Question Time just this morning that more had to be done with the federal government for the scheme. What exactly does that mean, Premier? More funding? How many more billions is this scheme now estimated to cost? Or is it more engineering work? Already we’ve seen alterations to this scheme made and there are concerns over the water table and drilling that are in the present plans. When will these concerns be addressed?
There also remain questions about how much energy the plethora of AI factories and data centres planned for Tasmania will be consuming – and how much water. This government has, and to their credit, spent time on ethical guidelines for the practical use of AI in this state, but what about the physical infrastructure and consumption boundaries?
On digital connectivity: in 2026, why is it the case in regional Tasmania that communities are paying contemporary prices for phone and internet connections and getting archaic service, if any? The recent reports from the Tasman Peninsula and Central Highlands have community members experiencing some of the worst connections, even after network or tower upgrades. Digital connectivity is an essential service, and I point to a letter that was shared particularly with the members of Lyons from the Miena Volunteer Ambulance Service, calling on Telstra to immediately outline exactly what they’re going to be doing to improve connectivity in that space, because we cannot be seeing Tasmanians who cannot contact emergency services or emergency services in rural areas who are unable to contact one another.
Late last year, communities in Dolphin Sands and St Helens faced serious bushfires. I acknowledge and thank the first responders, as others have done in this place in recent days. I acknowledge the resilience across both of those two communities, as well as the often overlooked role that local governments play. Glamorgan Spring Bay Council and Break O’Day Council did a tremendous job in the face of what happened and the respect that the community has for the support that they received was enormous.
I note that this government had a fantastic Dorothy Dixer about power poles in Dolphin Sands under the constituent questions recently. Every time that there is a fire up there, the poles burn out, and in the past few major fire events, a growing number of community members have requested support for underground power connection. Days after what happened in Dolphin Sands, I wrote to the Premier and the minister for Energy about getting support for that community for household owners to be able to put lines underground. There was no response until well and truly after the poles had been replaced with the same wooden poles that had already been there in the first place. It’s 2026 and underground power poles are not a revolutionary idea. It’s simple and it would help Tasmanian communities be more resilient in the face of increasing climate induced events such as fire.
It is now six months after the AFAC report into the 2025 summer bushfires that burned over 100,000 hectares of precious button grass plains, carbon-sequestering peat soils, and became perilously close to decimating ancient Huon pines, pencil pines and King Billy forests. Vegetation that has been unburnt for thousands of years and not found anywhere else on this planet.
Where is the Liberals’ comprehensive response to the various AFAC recommendations? We had a media release at the time. Is that the best that can be dredged up for protecting the outstanding universal values for everybody on this planet and generations to come? Parks and Wildlife were the lead agency on that 2025 bushfire. In the interim Budget that we saw released last year, they have much needed winch capabilities funded for just one year. Why is there nothing else in the forward Estimates? Where is Parks and Wildlife’s uplift in funding and continual funding for fire detection services?
The Greens warmly welcome Labor’s belated commitments on firearm-ownership caps. In 2026 there are more guns per capita in Tasmania than any other state or territory. As the Police Commissioner said in her 5 February letter to the minister for Police:
Public safety must take precedence over the privilege of firearms ownership.
I’d also like to read from the letter tabled this morning to Premier Rockliff, from Police Commissioner Donna Adams, who says:
As you are aware, there are now 157,022 registered firearms in Tasmania, owned by 36,598 licence holders. Almost 9000 licence-holders own six or more firearms. Firearms theft means that even legally registered and stored firearms can fall into the wrong hands, enabling serious criminal activity, including family violence.
The Commissioner goes on:
… I reiterate my support for the national firearms reform agenda, including a proposed firearms cap.
On family violence: reporting of family and domestic violence incidents is rising in Tasmania, so this government should be doing everything it can, everything in its power and strength to expand vital behaviour change initiatives. There was news recently that the federally funded Respectful Men’s Program, which was run by the Tasmanian Prison Service, had not been running since December due to staff shortages. That was seriously concerning. Although I am led to believe that that matter is now resolved and the program will be up and running in a matter of time, this is just one example of the many programs that require urgent action or that are operating below what is expected.
In 2025, 68 people were enrolled in the Justice department’s Family Violence Intervention Program, and yet only 26 completed it. By comparison, the Sober Driving Program saw 49 people enrol and 48 complete the course. Why, when we most need these programs for rehabilitation and behaviour change to keep Tasmanian women and children safe, is a state failing to deliver outcomes or failing to deliver programs at all?
It was absolutely shocking news last week that TasTAFE are cutting $45 million over the next four years. Forty-five million dollars is not just a few corporate wages; this is course cuts, campus divestment and lost jobs – matters that the Greens have been raising for nearly two years. In 2024, minister Ellis told a short inquiry of the other place that:
Our government is committed to ensuring that there’s a strong future for TasTAFE. We’ve always said we want to see our hard working teachers and staff paid more and deliver more training.
What an absolute joke that is.
When TasTAFE transitioned to a GBE, teachers and staff were promised they would not be worse-off, that there would be no redundancies, in fact, they were promised that 100 new TasTAFE teachers would be employed. We’ve now seen automotive in the south reduced, with teachers made redundant; 12 arts, screening, media and lab tech courses subsidies cut; and then the courses were cut with 18 staff dismissed days before Christmas last year.
What are the next cuts to TasTAFE? This is the perpetual question that we seem to be asking. At a time when Tasmanians, particularly young people who are leaving this state literally by the plane-load, should have options for training that is equitably accessible, we are seeing their opportunities cut.
On the public defence land sell off that was announced by the federal government: it was disappointing that the federal government did not consult with the Tasmanian state government or, presumably, any state or territory government around the country before making their announcement. The Greens immediately called for the land at Dowsing Point to be used in the public benefit and not sold to the highest bidder. We welcome that the Liberal Party did the same, and the work that they’re doing, particularly minister Kerry Vincent, behind the scenes.
We also wrote to the relevant ministers about other parcels of land; parcels of cultural and environmental significance. We welcome the response that we got from the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, who indicated in her correspondence that she’s open to land returns at Fort Direction. However, we were disappointed about the land at Stoney Head and at Buckland, where minister Ogilvie’s response left it unclear if she was even aware of the announcement to divest from the land.
Speaking of land to be divested from, the exclusive lease over Halls Island at Lake Malbena is due for renewal on 31 March this year. That is a lease that should have never been renewed last year and it must not be this year. Lake Malbena must finally be returned to all Tasmanians. We have to, in the climate and biodiversity crisis, step up and properly protect and invest in our public lands in proper management. We have seen tourism change enormously since COVID. We had a conversation prior to COVID, when visitation numbers were so strong that we were having discussions about loving our wild places to death. We had reached a tipping point of how many people were too many for certain destinations and how we could better distribute visitation not only in the numbers of people, but in the economic contribution around the state, so that places like the west coast could see more visitation.
We are now at a point where visitation numbers in the state have returned to pre-COVID numbers, and we must start having that conversation again.
The greatest drawcard to Tasmania is our natural environment: the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. It is the highest rated on this planet. No other location can boast such a thing. It is time that we saw this state government properly stand up and advocate for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area with the federal government to ensure that this area is expanded to encompass areas such as the Tyndalls and Takayna, where we’ve seen MMG recognise the power of people in McKimmie Creek and move their toxic tailings dam elsewhere. We have to protect the Spero-Wanderer Wilderness as well.
That means moving on to other kinds of tourism, and there are so many that we can offer. Birding tourism is low impact and yet the visitors spend much more per night than other kinds of tourism that we’re currently supporting. Tasmania has so many endemic kinds of birds that people could come here and see and spend money on, and wouldn’t that be fantastic? Instead of doing such things, we’re seeing locations such as Maria Island, where we are literally destroying the habitat for swift parrots and the forty-spotted pardalote to make way for more sewage works. We have to get our priorities straight here.
In the same way the Premier hardly mentioned the environment in his address, neither did he properly mention or address the state’s debt. Instead, his big idea for our state in 2026 is a utopian style department, without many details of what that actually is going to look like. Last year, the Premier claimed he would lead a government with heart, and yet workers in State Growth were abruptly informed, via email no less, that 250 jobs would be lost through the cutting of that department.
With forecasts that Tasmania will be around $140 billion in debt by 2040, which risks losing our fiscal sovereignty, where is the leadership? Leadership that will establish a Tasmanian future that is clean, green, and connected for future generations? We desperately need a vision that backs the planet and the Tasmanian people if we are to be resilient in the face of the challenges that are to come.
In the 1970s, Olegas Truchanas said that Tasmania could be a shining beacon in an otherwise dull and largely uniform world. Today at lunch I had a meeting about tourism in this state and the future redirection that we so rapidly need to have. That quote is the one that everyone still pointed to, from the 1970s, that resonates so strongly with everyone now. The reason it does so is because it’s about protecting what is most integral and important about Tasmania what makes our Tasmania globally unique and irreplaceable. If we are going to see leadership like that, like we had then, to see inspiration such as what Olegas Truchanas brought, that is a long-lasting legacy. We have to see leaders return and protect what is most special about this island.
