WE CAN STILL WIN

Bec says she’s the underdog, but ...

LABOR leader Rebecca White has admitted her party is the underdog in the election — but is adamant she can lead it to victory on March 3.

Speaking at her official campaign launch in Launceston — where she announced a majority Labor government would remove any public school fees to create “genuinely free public education”, and would offer 3000 TasTAFE scholarships — Ms White said she remained confident.

Joined on stage by her one-yearold daughter Mia, Ms White said Labor could win — and that if so, this could be a state “where doing the right thing for each and every Tasmanian is a priority, and not a chore”.

“We have the opportunity to restore beds, we have the opportunity to restore justice for everybody and equality for everybody, we have the chance to rebuild our health system, our education system and ensure noone is left behind,” Ms White said.

Polling for the Liberals suggests a swing towards the government since the election was called, after the parties were deadlocked late last year.

TASMANIAN Labor leader Rebecca White has admitted that her party hopefuls are the underdogs in the State Election but is adamant she can lead them to victory on March 3.

Launching the party campaign in Launceston yesterday, she announced that a majority Labor government would remove fees for students at every Tasmanian public school to create “genuinely free public education” and would offer 3000 targeted TasTAFE scholarships.

Flanked by federal Labor leader Bill Shorten and her husband Rodney Dann and one-year-old daughter Mia, Ms White told the party faithful that they could win the State Election.

“We can make this election historic,” she said.

“Labor can win this election … we can bring a change of government in Tasmania.

“We have the opportunity to restore beds, we have the opportunity to restore justice for everybody and equality for everybody, we have the chance to rebuild our health system, our education system and ensure no one is left behind.

“We have the chance to again become the state where doing the right thing for each and every Tasmanian is a priority and not a chore.

“It means that we can once again become a Tasmania where people come first.”

But prior to the speech, Ms White admitted that Labor was the underdog in the political fight.

“There is no doubt that in a first-term Liberal government the Labor Party was always the underdog,” she said.

“We came off a very big defeat in 2014 and we have been building, we remain the underdog but we have a fantastic team of candidates who are fighting really hard and we can win this election. The feedback that we are getting on the doors, in the community every single day is incredibly positive, they are sick and tired of this Liberal Government.

“People are sick and tired of basically being ignored … Labor can win this election.”

Despite releasing internal polling showing that Ms White was the more popular premier, Labor has yet to release any figures outlining an increase in party popularity.

The Liberals on the other hand have released polling that suggest there has been a swing against Labor since the election was called — and that they can hang on to a majority in the Lower House of Tasmania’s Parliament.

But Ms White said despite the Liberal Party rolling out the announcements and

money for a range of promises, they were nothing more than a “giant con job”.

“They have been a do-nothing government, don’t care government and now all of a sudden they are willing to tell Tasmanians that they are getting on with the job, they want Tasmanians to believe that they will fix the crisis they created in the health system,” she said.

“But you can’t believe them. They want Tasmanians to believe that they will now start doing after four years in which they did not fund or build a single major infrastructure project in this state, but you can’t believe them.”

In front of the party faithful, including former premier Doug Lowe, former leader Bryan Green, state and federal MPs and most of the party’s candidates from around Tasmania, Ms White said Labor would prioritise investment in public health and public education.

“These are the core tenets that will set up our state for the future,” she said.

“Only Labor cares about the wellbeing and future of Tasmanians and Tasmanian families, and that’s why we have made fixing the crisis on our health system our number one priority.

“That’s why we are determined to do something about problem gambling and the enormous social and health impacts of problem gambling.

“Labor will take the fight to Canberra to stop Tasmania getting a raw deal. These are the issues that are crucial to all Tasmanians and these are the issues that will be front and centre of a government that I will lead, forming the core of the plan for our first 100 days.”

They also heard from paramedic Peter James — who has been working for nearly 42years — who said the crisis in Tasmania’s health system was the worst it had ever been.

“The crisis has never been worse than it is now,” he said.

“I’ve seen ambulances ramped all day.” Shorten said he would still go through with the policy if he also became Prime Minister.

“Bec’s election comes first, ours come second but we are not going to change our policy,” Mr Shorten said.

“We will back in the policy anyway.”

Before Mr Shorten launched the campaign, the chairman of the pro-pokies Love Your Local campaign Michael Best called on the federal Labor leader to reveal whether he supported the Tasmanian Labor plan to remove electronic gaming machines from pubs and clubs.

Mr Shorten said it was not an issue for him.

“I’ve seen this debate, at its heart it’s a state issue but with Bec White what you see is what you get,” he said.

Mr Shorten also said he would consult with his party colleagues and experts on whether he would follow Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on changing the ministerial code of conduct to ban sex between a minister and their staff following revelations of Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce’s affair with a member of his staff.