Greens ’new deal’ on table
EMPTY houses would be taxed, Ashley Youth Detention Centre would be closed and a memorial built to those who died in Tasmania’s frontier wars under a Greens government.
The minor party’s leader Cassy O’Connor has handed down the party’s state budget response, vowing to strip funding from and increase taxes on “harmful industries” as the party promised during the election campaign.
And the pa rty said it would guarantee jobs for all young people with a living wage attached.
“We are proud to deliver the Tasmanian Greens’ 2021-22 Alternative Budget,” Ms O’Connor said on Wednesday.
“It accepts the positives in the State Budget, defunds the negatives, and reallocates funding towards more inclusive, sustainable programs.”
The party proposes a 1 per cent tax on homes left empty during the housing crisis and incentives for those who buy electric cars.
Among other key features are:
LAND returns, a treaty and dedicated Aboriginal seats in parliament; 4000 public houses and 2000 rent-tobuy affordable homes; DEVELOPMENT of a State Climate Adaptation Plan and Community Resilience Hubs; STAFFING increases in the health system, Ambulance Tasmania, and community health;
JUST Transition Unit to retrain and redeploy of displaced workers from high-emissions industries.
Ms O’Connor said the document represented “a Green New Deal” for
Tasmania. “It shows that you can have a sustained recovery from Covid, invest in genuine climate action and give real hope to young people for the future because we prioritise the health, education and housing needs of Tasmanians,” she said.
“This is a fully costed vision for the future, it takes real climate action, it invests in people, and it’s a real vision for the future.”
The Greens won two of the 25 seats in the House of Assembly at the May state election.