IT IS TIME TO LEAD
Hickey’s message to Hodgman
LIBERAL MP Sue Hickey has called for a radical rethink of the state’s health, child protection, transport and housing problems — saying the culture of waste and blame needs to end and “leadership” needs to take its place.
The Parliamentary Speaker has issued a call for a “new paradigm where we put people first and politics second”.
“It’s time to share the workload, the responsibility and if necessary the blame,” she writes in today’s Mercury. “But this takes leadership, which often struggles for air with the dynamics of a party system.”
She says it’s time for “action, bravery and a smart overhaul of some of our major institutions … It is clearly unsustainable (to) continue cobbling up band aid solutions.”
THE launch of the Western Wilds Drive will help spread the bounty of Tasmania’s tourism boom to some of the state’s overlooked attractions, Premier Will Hodgman says.
Launching the tourism initiative at Mt Field National Park yesterday, Mr Hodgman said the drive would complement the Great Eastern Drive, which had boosted visitor numbers on the state’s East Coast by 20 per cent.
“People all over Tasmania are benefiting from Tasmania’s growing visitor economy and the Liberal Government will continue our plan to not only increase the number of visitors, but for them to stay longer, see more of our state and spend more while they are here,” he said.
“There has been a heck of a lot of planning that has gone into this concept of journeys across our state.
“We’ve seen the success of the Great Eastern Drive and there’s no reason each region of our state can’t showcase itself in a way that not only makes it easier for people to get off the beaten track and spread the benefits into other areas of Tasmania, but also to enjoy themselves as well.”
Tourism Industry Council Tasmania chief executive Luke Martin said the west of the state was ripe for an ex- pansion of visitor numbers. “This is a destination that’s ready to come to the fore in its own way,” he said.
“The power of bringing together western Tasmania, which is an iconic destination in its own right, bring it together with the Derwent Valley and change the whole way people perceive this part of the state.”
The Western Wilds journey will feature story stops by local tourism operators and specially commissioned artworks showcasing indigenous culture, the mining industry, the thylacine and the development of the state’s renewable energy scheme.
The Government will spend $1.4 million over three years to deliver three new journeys, including a Northern Journey, a Southern Journey and a North-West Journey.