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THE Liberal Party faithful cheered and applauded Premier Will Hodgman as he promised to improve education outcomes, infrastructure spending and reduce the cost of living for Tasmanians if elected to a second term in government.
Party members gathered in Launceston for the Premier’s address at the Liberals’ annual state council yesterday in an event that seemed more like a campaign launch than a conference.
From inside a truck emblazoned with campaign logos – tweaked slightly since the release of the State Budget to read “Building your future” – Mr Hodgman espoused his Government’s achievements and offered insight into what the future might look like with a re-elected Liberal government.
Mr Hodgman’s speech focused on a list of 43 targets developed as the framework around which election policies will be shaped.
Targets were spread across six primary areas of economic strength and jobs growth, cost of living, health and education, safety, protecting the Tasmanian way of life and infrastructure investment.
Mr Hodgman described the plan as a “snapshot” of what his Government would focus on in the lead-up to the election, which is due in March.
“There is a lot more that we will say between now and the election ... that we will release by way of policies to achieve the targets – the bold targets – that we are setting out today,” he said. “It’s a plan that captures our vision and our priorities, it is a plan we’ll add to.
“It is certainly not job done, it is job just begun, and at the election Tasmanians will have a very clear choice.”
Mr Hodgman described the targets as “bold,” promising no new taxes, reduced household bills, support for vulnerable Tasmanians and an increase in infrastructure spending of about $70m per year.
As reported in the Sunday Tasmanian, the first set of measures focused on economic strength and job creation, including a target of reducing Tasmania’s unemployment rate to the best in the country by 2022.
Mr Hodgman yesterday told the crowd jobs and the economy remained his Government’s No.1 priority.
The document also refers to protecting “what makes
Tasmania unique”, including the state’s low-rise cities.
Deputy Labor Leader Michelle O’Byrne criticised the plan, saying it was a concession that the Government had achieved nothing in four years.
“The so-called targets the Premier has released this morning in his new glossy brochure serve only one purpose and that is to highlight a government that has failed to work for Tasmanians over the almost four years it has been in office,” Ms O’Byrne said.
“The Liberal Government has failed to deliver on jobs and the economy, it has slashed frontline services across the board and has created a health crisis which has left Tasmanians unable to access even the most basic care.”