Unloved seat’s ticket to ride

NOT too long ago SouthEast Tasmanian councils got so fed up with being forgotten by politicians they asked to be moved into their own electorate.

In a submission to the Australian Electoral Commission, Clarence, Sorell, Tasman and Glamorgan Spring Bay councils said they didn’t want to stay in Lyons, which sprawls across central, eastern and northern Tasmania.

The councils said that by 2021 the region would have enough people to meet the population requirement for a single electorate.

The proposal was rejected. But, after years of political neglect, the southern part of Lyons is getting some more love.

During this State Election campaign, parties seem to be paying more attention to the needs of the region — a recognition that Lyons is now the state’s most marginal electorate and a big chunk of the votes will come from the South.

In the fake campaign before Christmas, the Liberals kicked things off by promising to spend $130 million to duplicate the Tasman Highway between Hobart and Sorell.

Now we are in the real campaign Labor and Liberal have promised improved bus services.

The Liberals announced a doubling of weekday bus services while Labor pledged a “Metro-like” service for Sorell to be integrated with Metro’s Greencard ticketing system.

It’s incredible how solutions to longstanding issues magically appear when an election is imminent.

There’s been little action on the woeful transport and traffic situation between Sorell and Hobart during the current Government’s term and before that when Labor was in power for 16 years. Hobart’s housing squeeze will only make the problem worse by pushing more people to towns like Sorell, Dodges Ferry, New Norfolk and Brighton.

These rapidly growing areas now need to be considered outer suburbs of Hobart and accordingly provided with services.

Continuing a focus on southern Lyons, the Liberals this week unveiled a new 7-12 high school at Brighton, and Labor has promised an upgraded K-12 high school in Sorell.

What do all these promises mean?

Hopefully at least a more usable public transport system for people living in the Sorell and Tasman regions given both Labor and Liberal have committed to this.

But the promises are also an acknowledgement that the result in Lyons will be crucial in determining who wins government.

For the Greens’ part they are hoping there is enough anger about fish farms among Lyons’ coast-loving communities to win back a seat they lost to the Liberals in 2014. POSITIVE-

looking jobs stats have provided a handy headline for the State Government as we enter the final two weeks of the campaign.

Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force figures published on Thursday show Tasmania’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since September 2011.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein hailed the 5.7 per cent unemployment rate as an endorsement of the Government’s economic plan.

Labor was quick to point out plummeting full-time jobs figures.

I say the jobs stats were positive “looking” because what is life like for a working Tasmanian in 2018?

When there are working people living in tents at the Hobart showgrounds because they can’t access housing, that is a worrying sign that being employed is no longer the ticket to the basics of life.