Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In November last year I had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful state of Tasmania, particularly the beautiful city of Launceston where I spoke with several businesses and residents and I was absolutely overwhelmed by the sentiment against the current member for Bass. It was so intense that it would be remiss of me to let it slide and not inform my colleagues in this place about what I discovered. I have never experienced anything like it in my 10 years in parliament. Almost every single person I met spoke with absolute bewilderment about the lack of action by their local member. They have not seen him; they have not heard from him. They do not even know what he does.

I am advised that, despite being in town, the member for Bass failed to attend a major gathering of his constituents last year who were rallying against the impact of healthcare cuts in northern Tasmania. It is quite extraordinary, because the member actually worked at Launceston General Hospital as an administrator for years and claims a close association with healthcare delivery. Yet he did not even attend the march. He was missing in action and avoided the opportunity to address thousands of constituents on this vital issue. Facebook is no substitute for real face time. Despite a significant number of healthcare-related pleas on his Facebook page, the member for Bass has failed to respond to his constituents—despite advertising Facebook as a means of keeping in touch.

It goes on, and it gets worse. In October last year, the member for Bass trivialised the heavy effects of state Labor's budget cuts and was quoted in the Examiner on 14 October as saying, 'The sky doesn't fall in. Hospitals still receive patients and they still treat them.' The member for Bass appears to be the only person in Tasmania who does not believe that there is a healthcare crisis in the state. Instead of following the lead of the highly-respected and energetic Liberal candidate for Bass, Andrew Nikolic, and advocating for the hospital in the home program that was recently cut by the Tasmanian state government, the Labor member for Bass encouraged community fundraising to restore this vital program. As if this was not a big enough gaffe, he again trivialised the program last month when he said, 'If you have plenty of money, hospital in the home is nice.'

I went to Tasmania several times last year, and it does not take a genius to recognise that the forestry industry is incredibly important to the local economy. The member for Bass has again been conspicuous in his absence as Labor-Green governments in Hobart and in Canberra preside over the destruction of a proud and sustainable forestry industry. Jobs and lives are being destroyed in timber communities, and yet he is missing in action. The so-called 'forestry peace deal' imposed on Tasmania in August 2011 by the Prime Minister and the Tasmanian Premier has not delivered peace or security. It is a dud deal. We have got extreme environmental groups continuing to disrupt timber companies and campaigning actively overseas to destroy the reputation and markets of forestry-related businesses. The Labor Premier of Tasmania has referred to the actions of these groups as 'absolutely shameful', yet the member for Bass remains silent about the plight of thousands of constituents whose lives are being wrecked by this dud deal. What has the member for Bass done to address the lies and mistruths being peddled by the Greens overseas? Why hasn't he called for legislative action in Tasmania to increase penalties for those who engage in deceptive and misleading conduct that harms legitimate businesses? He has not done any of these things, but the excellent Liberal candidate for Bass has done these things and more. He publicly advocates for the people of Bass and fills the void created by the current member, who is always missing in action.

We saw in the Examiner on 30 June this year that the member for Bass was missing in action when he told his constituents he would not lobby Canberra to address silt issues in the Tamar River—once again putting him at odds with the local community. The excellent Liberal candidate for Bass, Andrew Nikolic, has actively advocated on this issue and has recently confirmed that an elected coalition government would provide $2½ million for emergency dredging of the Tamar River. (Time expired)