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Josh Willie MP Labor Leader |
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Budget Reply Speech
**Check against delivery**
Speaker,
This budget confirms what Tasmanians have been warned about for months.
Premier Rockliff has put Treasurer Abetz in charge of cutting jobs and services to pay for 13 years of Liberal waste.
Almost 2,000 jobs on the chopping block.
At least $1.5 billion being ripped from the essential services Tasmanians rely on.
More than $700 million in health cuts alone.
This is a conservative Government, led by Australia’s arch conservative Treasurer, handing down a slash and burn budget.
This is a budget that attacks core public services.
A budget that tells patients, students, teachers, nurses, families and working people that they are the ones who will pay for 13 years of Liberal waste.
Speaker,
The Treasurer’s budget is designed to please the top end of town.
But it will break the hearts of working people.
It was written by a tired, old, Liberal Government that has run out of ideas.
A Government that wasted the money.
Weakened the budget.
And now want Tasmanians to pay the price with cuts.
Speaker,
Those opposite will reach for excuses.
They will point to global instability.
They will point to conflict in the Middle East.
They will point to COVID.
And yes, those pressures are real.
Conflict across the globe is pushing costs up.
Higher fuel prices are flowing through freight, food, transport, tourism, agriculture, construction, and small business.
The cost of living remains high, and Governments must help where they can.
Because Tasmania is an island, off an island, we feel pressures differently from other places.
Freight matters more here.
Fuel matters more here.
Functioning ports matter more here.
Energy and fuel security matter more here.
That is why responsible government matters.
That is why budget discipline matters.
That is why long-term economic planning matters.
And that is why 13 years of Liberal waste has done so much damage.
Speaker,
Global events did not dig the fiscal hole Tasmania is in today.
The Liberals did that.
They wasted the money.
They blew the budget.
They have weakened our essential services.
And now, they are using cuts to try and dig their way out.
A deep cuts budget
Speaker,
Tasmanians deserve the truth about these cuts.
“Operational efficiencies” is budget language for cuts.
Tasmanians just want to know these simple answers:
What jobs are being cut?
Which services?
Which hospitals?
Which schools?
Which child safety supports?
Which community programs?
The Treasurer has even flagged he is coming after workers’ compensation.
Speaker,
The Government says frontline services will be maintained.
But the budget papers don’t say that.
Tasmanians will feel these cuts.
Our health system is already under enormous pressure.
Anyone who has been near an emergency department knows that.
Patients are waiting too long.
Ambulances are coming too slowly.
Nurses are exhausted.
Hospitals are buckling under demand.
And now this Government is cutting more than $700 million from health.
More than $130 million next year alone.
That is the same as sacking three nurses a day for a year.
That’s not back-office stationery.
Or a few empty desks in Hobart.
That is a deep cut to a health system already under pressure.
They’ve already tried efficiency dividends, and vacancy control.
What else is left?
Tasmanians deserve to know exactly where the $700 million is coming from.
Speaker,
Education is also being cut. Our schools.
Two hundred and thirty million dollars.
One hundred and fifty jobs.
The Government says they are back-end jobs.
But there is no such thing.
Those workers support teachers and students.
They support children with additional needs.
They support the system that allows schools to function.
As a former teacher, I know you cannot cut support from schools and pretend they won’t feel it.
13 years of Liberal waste
Speaker,
This is the budget the Liberals have delivered after 13 years in office.
A budget of cuts that asks Tasmanians to pay for Liberal waste on a staggering scale.
By our calculation, the Liberal Government has wasted more than $3 billion since coming to office in 2014.
Three billion dollars.
Almost half of Tasmania’s net debt today is a result Liberal waste.
Not COVID.
Not redress for victim-survivors.
Waste. Plain and simple.
Waste on failed projects.
Waste on cost blowouts.
Waste on consultants.
Waste on bailouts.
Waste on bad decisions.
Speaker,
Look at the Spirits alone.
Four hundred and three million dollars on the berth.
Eighty million dollars to bail out a Finnish shipbuilder.
Another secret $13 million bailout.
A $75 million bailout for TT-Line last year.
Another $506 million last week.
Nine million dollars for hull upgrades because the Liberals got the fendering wrong.
And even while TT-Line was being driven into the ground, they still found half a million dollars for executive bonuses.
Speaker,
The Spirits are just one example.
The AFL High Performance Centre - a $45 million blowout and counting.
The Bridgewater Bridge - a $200 million cost blowout.
And then, incredibly, a $100,000 party to celebrate it.
Metro’s ticketing system - $58 million.
Brighton High School - blew out by $44 million.
$47 million on a digital transformation program that hasn’t delivered anything.
Burnie Court - $25 million.
Marinus - $200 million.
Electronic road signs - $22 million.
$7.2 million dollars to not build a northern prison.
Six million dollars wasted on a dinner voucher program.
A $1.5 million grant to Origin Energy for Bell Bay hydrogen.
Ninety-five thousand dollars for brand ambassador contracts.
Associate Secretary salaries.
A Government media office costing more than $3 million a year.
And $113 million on consultant overspends in the last six years alone.
Speaker,
That’s not a careful, disciplined, or responsible government.
That’s not making every dollar count.
That is a Government that wastes money and then tells Tasmanians there is no choice but to cut $700 million from health.
And it doesn’t stop there.
Tasmanians are also paying legal bills for those opposite.
More than $300,000 for Minister Howlett.
Another 300 grand for the Member for Bass, Mr Ferguson.
120 grand for Minister Ogilvie.
Nearly 15 grand for Member for Lyons, Mr Shelton.
Tasmanians haven’t been told why they are paying legal bills for Liberal politicians at the same time jobs are on the chopping block.
At the same time hospitals, schools and child safety services are being cut back to the bone.
Police and emergency services are being cut.
TAFE is being cut.
But there always seems to be money for Liberal waste, stuff-ups and scandals.
Budget repair
Speaker,
Let me be clear.
Budget repair and discipline are necessary.
Treasury, economists, and experts have made that clear for several years.
The question is not whether Tasmania needs budget repair.
The question is who pays.
Under the Liberals, working people pay.
Treasurer Abetz has used his budget to answer that question very clearly.
Patients pay.
Nurses pay.
Students pay.
Teachers pay.
Public servants pay.
Children and families pay.
When Liberal waste piles up, they make everyday Tasmanians pay.
Speaker,
That is the old fight in our politics.
Liberals cutting.
Labor building.
Liberals protecting the top end of town.
Labor standing with working people.
Liberals see public services as costs.
Labor sees them as the foundation of a fair and decent society.
Liberals making everyday Tasmanians pay for their mistakes.
Labor fighting for health, education, TAFE, secure jobs and opportunity.
Speaker,
Their approach will not work.
Because the longer this Government stays in power, the more it will waste.
And the more they waste, the more they cut.
Labor believes in a different approach.
The first principle is simple.
Cut the waste first.
Before cutting health and education.
Before cutting TAFE and the services Tasmanians rely on.
Government waste must be put under the microscope.
Every failed project.
Every consultant.
Every bad decision.
Every dollar wasted through incompetence.
That is where budget repair has to start.
Second, protect the services that protect Tasmanians.
Hospitals and schools aren’t optional.
Police, child safety, housing, mental health, disability and community services are not optional.
They are the bedrock of a fair and decent society we have worked so hard to build.
Budget repair that weakens them is not reform.
That is going backwards.
Third, we must grow the economy, not shrink it.
Tasmania cannot cut its way to prosperity.
A weaker economy will not fix a weak budget.
Growth on its own will not repair the Budget.
But without growth, the task becomes even harder.
We need more private investment.
More productivity.
More development.
More young people choosing to build their lives here.
Labor will back good projects and responsible development because a stronger private sector is essential to a stronger budget.
Fourth, the task must be shared fairly.
The cost of budget repair cannot fall only on workers, students, patients and families through deep cuts.
The government must do its part.
The private sector must be part of the solution.
We must look at the capital program.
We must look at the way the government spends.
We must look at how major projects are planned, funded and delivered.
A serious budget repair plan cannot be built on cuts alone.
And finally, budget repair must start now before the choices get harder.
Delay is not compassion, and it is exactly why Tasmania is in this mess.
Delay only guarantees deeper cuts by the Liberals.
Speaker,
Ultimately, we had an election last year and Labor had a comprehensive plan to start the task of budget repair.
But Labor is not the Government.
We are still more than 3 years away from when the next election is due.
We cannot start to fix the budget from opposition.
But the Government can, and they must.
They are solely responsible for the state of our finances after 13 years of wasteful spending since they came to office.
It is the Government’s responsibility to manage and repair the finances until there is another election, and Tasmanians are given another choice.
Speaker,
If the Government is going to cut almost 2,000 jobs, it must tell Tasmanians exactly what those jobs are.
If the Government is going to cut more than $700 million from hospitals, it must tell Tasmanians exactly what those cuts are and what services will be impacted.
If the Government is going to cut $230 million from schools, it must tell parents, teachers and school communities what support is being taken away.
If the Government is going to rely on $1.5 billion in operational efficiencies, it must give Tasmanians the detail.
No more hiding, and no more pretending cuts of this size will not be felt.
Tasmanians deserve the truth.
Cleaning up the Spirits mess
Speaker,
Tasmania also needs vision.
Even in a difficult budget environment, governments cannot give up on the future.
As a former primary school teacher, I believe education is the smartest investment we can make in Tasmania’s future.
Labor has already announced that we will deliver five days of kinder in every public school.
And that we will provide free, universal access to pre-school for three-year-olds.
If Tasmania wants a stronger economy in ten years’ time, we need to invest in our children today.
Speaker,
I also want to outline another part of Labor’s economic vision.
A structural reform to clean up the Spirits mess.
To end the TT-Line bailout cycle.
And to fight for fair funding for Tasmania’s critical economic infrastructure.
The Liberals bought two ships and forgot to build a berth to receive them.
They sent TT-Line, which was a profitable business, broke.
They left taxpayers exposed.
Tasmanians have been forced to spend more than half a billion dollars on bailouts just to keep TT-Line afloat.
It’s not sustainable.
Speaker,
Bass Strait is Tasmania’s highway.
It is our only intercity transport corridor.
It is how our produce reaches mainland shelves.
It is how our farmers, fishers, manufacturers, and exports reach the rest of the country.
It is how visitors come to our caravan parks, restaurants, pubs, small businesses and tourism operators.
It is how Tasmania connects to the national economy.
Every other state has highways connecting it to the rest of Australia.
Those highways receive long-term Commonwealth capital funding.
Tasmania’s highway is Bass Strait.
But Tasmania is expected to carry the capital cost alone.
That is not fair.
And Labor will fight to change it.
Speaker,
The Commonwealth provides operating support through passenger and freight equalisation schemes.
Those schemes matter, and they help. But they do not solve the capital problem.
They do not pay for the vessels, berths, and terminals.
They do not fund the infrastructure that keeps Tasmania connected to the national economy.
That is why today I announce a Labor Government will pursue a structural reset of Tasmania’s Bass Strait gateway.
TasPorts will cease to exist as a Government Business Enterprise.
Labor will reclassify TasPorts from a Government Business to a dedicated transport infrastructure entity within the State Government and change its name.
We will transfer TT-Line’s vessels, associated assets, and debt to the new entity so that TT-Line can focus on what it does best.
Running a reliable Bass Strait service.
Ferrying passengers, vehicles and freight.
Supporting tourism.
Supporting producers.
TT-Line will emerge debt-free, and become a lean operating company capable of returning dividends to the State Budget.
The new transport entity will focus on maintaining major maritime infrastructure.
Performance will be measured on asset condition, network reliability, and capacity utilisation, instead of operating without adequate oversight and plundering for profit.
Debt will be treated as transport infrastructure investment, consistent with how roads and rail infrastructure are treated.
Speaker,
This reform will retain full Tasmanian Government ownership and operational control of TT-Line and the new transport infrastructure entity.
This is about fixing the structure, and reducing risk.
It’s about putting Tasmania’s most important transport corridor on a more sustainable footing.
Speaker,
Labor will also fight for a long-term Commonwealth Sea Highway Funding Agreement.
That agreement would recognise Bass Strait as part of the National Land Transport Network.
Because Bass Strait is part of our national highway - and it should be funded like it.
If the mainland benefits from Tasmania’s produce, freight, visitors and economic contribution, Tasmania should not be left to shoulder the infrastructure burden alone.
Speaker,
This is a serious structural reform.
It would end the cycle of TT-Line bailouts.
It would lower Tasmania’s long-term financing costs on critical transport infrastructure.
It would align Bass Strait’s funding with how every other state’s highway network is treated.
And Tasmania’s financial health will be better off in the long-term.
Speaker,
This is ambitious.
There is no doubt about that.
But this is the sort of thinking that has served Tasmania well in the past.
When Eric Reece backed the Hydro, he understood that Tasmania’s natural advantages could be turned into lasting economic strength.
When Jim Bacon brought the Spirits here the first time, he understood that our island connection to the mainland was not just a transport service.
It was economic infrastructure.
It was about giving Tasmania a stronger connection to the rest of the country.
We are still reaping the rewards of those decisions from Labor Governments.
That is the ambition Tasmania needs again.
Not more bailouts.
Not more patch-ups.
Not more Liberal waste.
It’s time Bass Strait was recognised as what it really is.
Tasmania’s highway.
Our connection to the national economy.
Critical economic infrastructure that benefits the whole country.
Conclusion
Speaker,
This budget confirms the consequences of 13 years of Liberal waste.
It confirms almost 2,000 jobs are on the chopping block.
It confirms $1.5 billion in cuts.
It confirms deep cuts to health.
It confirms cuts to education.
It confirms Tasmanians will be forced to pay for Liberal waste through the services they rely on.
That is the choice before this state.
A conservative Liberal Government led by Treasurer Abetz and his cuts agenda.
Or a Labor Party that will fight for hospitals, schools, working people and everyday Tasmanians.
Speaker,
Tasmania faces hard choices.
Labor knows that.
But hard choices should not always fall hardest on the people with the least power.
Not on the nurse.
Not on the teacher.
Not on the student.
Not on the cleaner.
Not on the child safety worker.
Not on the patient waiting for care.
Or the family trying to make ends meet.
Tasmania should not have to accept a future where working people are told to carry the burden of Liberal waste.
That is what this budget does.
It cuts hospitals, schools and jobs to pay for waste.
After 13 years of the Liberals, Tasmanians are being asked to pay more and get less.
Labor offers a different path.
Cut waste before services.
Protect the essentials.
Back business, development, skills, and productivity.
Budget repair that is fair.
Investing in the early years.
Strengthening TAFE.
Cleaning up the Spirits mess.
Fighting for Bass Strait to be treated and funded as part of the national highway.
Speaker,
That is the choice.
More Liberal waste.
Deeper health cuts.
And more pressure on working people.
Or a Labor Government with the discipline to repair the budget, the courage to stand up for working people, and the vision to build the future.
Thank you
