Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion, moved by the member for Bass. I agree with previous speakers that Tasmania does indeed have some challenges. But we need to be working together on those challenges not bagging the state of Tasmania, not talking down the state, not talking about all the problems in Tasmania, but actually looking at the opportunities that Tasmania has as a unique place, which other members from Tasmania would know. We have some great industries in which we can invest.

It was interesting that the first eight minutes of the 10-minute speech from the member for Bass were all about the state government and not about what his new federal Liberal government was going to do for Tasmania. He got to that in the last two minutes. But the reason that he cannot talk about that is that they are ripping hundreds of millions of dollars out of our state. They are ripping it out in infrastructure funding. They are ripping it out in rail funding. They are ripping it out in freight funding. We know that. Road funding to Tasmania almost doubled under the previous government, the federal Labor government. It went from around $400 million over the five years of the funding cycle to $810 million. That created jobs and constructed roads to increase our productivity.

We also had a package to deal with the freight situation in Tasmania. That was worth $40 million, $25 million to be delivered before Christmas, to allow some of those bigger and expanding industries to become more productive and get stuff across Bass Strait, because we know what an impediment that is. But the new government's solution, as we have heard, is a Productivity Commission inquiry. The last Productivity Commission inquiry said to scrap the trade equalisation scheme—

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