Bacon breaks ice

LABOR Shadow Treasurer Scott Bacon has moved to make peace with the Federal Group, but says the State Opposition won’t back away from its policy of banning pokies from pubs and clubs by 2023.

Before a public event at the Federal Group-owned Wrest Point, Mr Bacon stepped into the lion’s den and approached a group of key members of the influential company, including group chief Greg Farrell.

It was the first meeting between a senior member of the Labor Party and the head of the company which holds the state’s monopoly on pokies, since the ALP’s announcement last year it would remove the machines from pubs and clubs if it wins next month’s state election.

Mr Bacon said it was a civil meeting and he told Mr Farrell Labor still wanted to work with Federal Group despite the differences in opinion over the policy.

Mr Farrell has declared war on Labor following the announcement, with Federal launching a campaign opposing the policy.

“I just saw Greg Farrell and Daniel Hanna from Federal Group and Paul Jubb from the THA and thought I would break the ice,” Mr Bacon said.

“It was all very cordial. Even if we are fortunate to win the election we still want to work with them on the transition package. I felt totally fine, we are not backing away from our policy — we think it is the right one.”

At the Committee for Economic Development of Australia event, Mr Bacon and Liberal Treasurer Peter Gutwein both proclaimed their respective party’s economic performance and prospects.

Both committed to releasing financial updates on policies before the March 3 poll, but aimed a few attacks at the track record of their opponents.

Mr Gutwein said the Liberal Party had Tasmania better placed now than at any time in the state’s history.

“Increased investment is, in turn, a large and obvious reason why Tasmania’s employment market has gone from strength to strength,” he said.

“Over the period of minority government in excess of 10,000 jobs were lost and unemployment peaked at 8.6 per cent.

“The position today is a complete contrast.”

Mr Bacon said Labor would commit to benchmarking its budget reporting against New Zealand, where it provides a summary of initiatives document, which provides a single source of all initiatives in the budget.

Mr Bacon also said he would submit Labor’s single biggest election commitment — its $560 million health package — to Treasury for costing.

“I challenge the Liberals to ensure that all of the party’s policies are submitted to Treasury with enough time for them to be fully costed,” he said.

“Because there are a lot of them, at current count, the Liberals have made more than $2.5 billion worth of promises.”

The two will go again at the Mercury/ TCCI Treasury debate at the Old Woolstore Hotel on Monday.