NO-BILLS WILL

PREMIER Will Hodgman will today reveal Tasmania’s state government sector is debt-free for the first time ever.

Mr Hodgman also will reveal an $800 million sectorwide surplus when he delivers his State of the State address.

“For the first time ever, the total state sector — that’s all arms of government, from the departments and agencies right through to the government business enterprises and state-owned companies — is net debt free,” Mr Hodgman told the Mercury. “No other Tasmanian Government has ever achieved that.”

The Premier will use his speech today to highlight the state’s economic turnaround, tourism boom and business confidence — and he will talk up the benefits of majority government, with polls suggesting another hung parliament is a likely outcome in March. Labor says the Government has simply been the lucky beneficiary of a strong economic environment and has not done anything to drive growth.

PREMIER Will Hodgman has trumpeted 185 pieces of passed legislation as the legacy of his Government’s four-year term.

Tasmania’s 48th Parliament has wound up and the campaigning has begun, along with the debate over what the Hodgman Government achieved in its legislative agenda.

The failure to have signature policies such as the TasWater takeover, mandatory sentencing and the reopening of protected forests for logging pass through the Upper House have threatened to overshadow the Government’s central message.

Mr Hodgman and his ministers have spent the final sitting week of the House of Assembly talking up budgetary measures and an economic turnaround as their legacy.

“Getting our budget back under control should not be understated,” Mr Hodgman said. “We had a budget we inherited that had deficits as far as you could see — a billion dollars worth of deficits.

“We have turned the budget around, we’ve reduced and eliminated the debt we inherited.”

He said his Government was able to invest in essential services and job-creating infrastructure.

Mr Hodgman nominated education reforms, more money for health and a wellreceived family violence package as major achievements.

The Government has extended at least 38 high schools to Year 12 and employed 300 additional frontline health staff.

Opposition parties have criticised the Hodgman Government for failing on big reform and picking fights on hotbutton issues to galvanise voters.

“We are the beneficiaries of changes to the national and international economies, and to the low price of the dollar,” Labor’s Michelle O’Byrne said.

“Every other element the Government talks about as being a success actually builds on previous governments’ decisions or work done by someone else.

“I can’t find the legacy they are leaving us.”

Economic issues aside, the House gave in-principle support to same-sex marriage in 2015, but rejected voluntary euthanasia legislation in May this year.

Since the 2014 election, the Government lost Paul Harriss for family reasons, and Adam Brooks was stood down over statements about a business email address.

Labor has lost low-polling leader Bryan Green, while the Greens lost leader Kim Booth, who quit politics, and Nick McKim to the Senate.

Getting our budget back under control should not be understated Premier WILL HODGMAN