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

No, I do not. But I am happy to talk about expanding industries: industries like the salmon industry and agriculture, which are expanding in our state. We have been investing in the salmon industry and it is expanding. It will grow to be a billion-dollar industry for Tasmania. Does your laughter indicate that you do not support the salmon industry in Tasmania? Is that what it means?

We do support the salmon industry in Tasmania. We invested in it and it is creating jobs in Tasmania now.

Because of the jobs situation in Tasmania, we announced a $100 million jobs and growth package to support 2,500 jobs in 31 projects right across the state. What have we seen from the new government? They will not say if they are going to put that money in—$25 million a year over four years—like we said we would. There has been no indication of when or how that money will be delivered. Two and a half thousand Tasmanian jobs are relying on that money. It is very important to Tasmanians and they want to know when that money will be delivered, and they should be told when it is going to be delivered, because those jobs are so important for Tasmanians.

We did not hear from them any discussion about the NBN in Tasmania—the National Broadband Network. The National Broadband Network has been rolling out in Tasmania, and Tasmania was going to be the first state to have the NBN connected to the majority of premises in the state—200,000 premises were to have the NBN connected. It was, of course, slowed down due to asbestos, and we needed to be safe. But for the last three months under this government we have seen it almost halt. There has been virtually no construction at all, and we know what is coming next. Next, the NBN will not be going to people's premises; it will only be going to nodes in the street. You will not deliver on your commitment to deliver fibre to the premises in Tasmania. I hope I am wrong, but I certainly do not think that is the case.

We also saw other investments in Tasmania by the previous government, like the Midland Highway. We made a commitment of $500 million over 10 years. What have we had from those opposite? Only $400 million. There is $100 million missing from the Midland Highway funding.

I will now turn to two projects in my electorate, both of which are very important for safety. One in particular is the Summerleas Road/Huon Highway intersection—$17 million. It is very important for my community. It was promised by the Liberal candidate in the 2010 campaign, but now it looks like it will not be delivered. We cannot get an answer on whether or not it is happening, because I do not think the government knows.

They have also announced ripping out the SchoolKids Bonus to Tasmanians. It is very important for the Tasmanian economy. Next year 34,000 Tasmanian families will have children going to school and they do not know whether they are going to be getting that funding. They do not know whether they are going to be able to afford to pay for their kids' uniforms, because the new government wants to rip out the SchoolKids Bonus—34,000 families at an average of $15,000 per family over the life of their schooling. It is very important for the Tasmanian economy, and here the new government is ripping it away.

In recent days we have also seen confusion over Gonski funding—the funding for our schools. It is very important to have a good education. If you want good jobs, a good economy, and productivity in the state, you need children to be educated, and educated well. It is important money going into our state and the new government wants to take it away from Tasmanian schools and Tasmanian students. Are the new members for Bass, Braddon and Lyons going to stand up and tell Tasmanian families that they are going to rip money out from schools, as well as the SchoolKids Bonus? That's right, some of the government schools in Tasmania really rely on this funding. Students in low socioeconomic areas who rely on this funding want to know what is happening with their education funding—kids who are going to school in February next year. Some of the schools do not know what is going to be happening. They have been told, 'Yes, just 12 months, not four years.' How on earth are families supposed to plan for their children's schooling.

Then there is crime-prevention funding—some of the diversionary programs for kids at risk of not being in the workforce and kids at risk of not going to school. The crime-prevention funds are there. They were announced—a program that happens regularly. Community organisations, including in the electorate of Bass, are relying on that funding for diversionary projects for kids who are really struggling and need that support.

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