Jeremy Rockliff’s panicked UTAS move has been exposed as a scam, and is under attack from all sides after the stakeholder group it should appeal to most came out against it.
Following widespread condemnation by business groups, Save UTAS has now urged Tasmanians not to be fooled by the Liberal Party’s flip flopping on its position on whether the University moves to the city or remains at Sandy Bay.
With his forestry announcement going down like a lead balloon, this is now the second policy in a week that Mr Rockliff has managed to ‘collect the set’ of stakeholders from all sides of the argument criticising it.
Save UTAS says Jeremy Rockliff’s policy on UTAS is designed to look as if it will save the campus but it achieves the opposite.
After 10 years watching the University move into the city, the Liberals announced they would keep the University of Tasmania at Sandy Bay.
Despite making a big song and dance about it, it is still completely unclear what the Liberals' position on the move is. Almost half of the University has already moved while the Liberals have been in Government.
The Premier’s panicked, confused policy has created deep uncertainty for the university and for development right across Tasmania.
He either needs to make clear he will not seek to block the developments after all—as his Minister has suggested—or outline how he intends to fund the half a billion dollars the government will be responsible for because of his policy shift.
The Premier must clarify today – is the Liberal Party proposing to keep the UTAS Campus at Sandy Bay, or not?
Dean Winter MP
Labor Member for Franklin