I have been lucky enough to represent the people of Bass at both a state and federal level. As the Federal Member for Bass I fought for increased funding for roads in Bass and in particular the East Tamar Highway.

I was particularly pleased to secure $60 million of funding for the East Tamar Highway upgrade in 2006 on behalf of the community and I welcome the completion of the works and the opening of the Highway today.

For many years, the East Tamar Highway was the poor cousin of the state’s highway network and I hope that the area and the community can now benefit from improvements this infrastructure upgrade will bring.

Mr Speaker, on the adjournment tonight I just wish to rev up the Government to get behind the V8 supercars.

The issue of supporting this very important Tasmanian event should not be lost on the Government. It has actually been the matter of a lot of public discussion particularly in the north but I know that there are motor sport lovers from all over the State and indeed business people in the tourism and hospitality sector who really value the event and want to see it continued into the future. We are now seeing the quite unusual step of the Launceston City Council, which has overnight written to the Premier urging her to get behind the event, stop the platitudes and get on and secure the contract.

Tonight I want to draw the attention of the House to two different dates, the first of which is 17 November last year when the former Minister for Tourism, Ms O’Byrne, put a motion on the Notice Paper stating that:

“the new three-year, $1.7 million funding agreement between the State Government and the Australia V8 Supercar Company guarantees a round of V8 Supercar championships at Symmons Plains in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The language plainly says that it has guaranteed the rounds. After a response in the local media it emerged that 2011 could in fact be the last time the event is staged in Tasmania if the deal is not satisfactorily closed.

It was on 12 April that the Premier came into the House very upset about what she described as an ‘alarmist beat-up in that terrible rag, the Examiner’ where the headline was, ‘V8 Supercars Axed’. She said that was wrong.  She said a new deal was announced in November last year to bring the V8 Supercars to Symmons Plains for three years. Then she admitted that a contract is currently with the company to stage the 2011 event, with agreement to ‘discuss arrangements for the subsequent two years’.

I say to the Premier and the minister at the Table, who is a local northern member, and to the Government, lose this event at your peril. The Northern community must have this event into the future, seeing 55,000 and more locals and interstate people patronise the event and enjoying the sport. More importantly for the Tasmanian economy, which has stalled and needs life support, the Government needs to make sure that it closes the deal, gets a good deal for taxpayers and, very importantly, gets a good deal for the people of Tasmania.

Today we see yet further evidence that the inaction and anti-business agenda of the Labor-Green government is hurting Tasmania’s economy.

1. The Government’s own Building and Construction Industry Training Board said in its annual report released last week that recently 2,000 jobs have been lost in the construction industry alone and construction activity is expected to drop by 20 per cent over the next three years.
2. Insolvency and bankruptcy figures show that the number of people and businesses going to the wall is over 16 per cent higher in the March quarter of 2011 than for the same three months in 2010.
3. And we’ve also seen in today’s NAB Monthly Survey that confidence in the Tasmanian economy is at -21 and business conditions are now rated at -30, confirming that Tasmanian businesses are completely losing faith in this Labor-Green Government and their lack of vision.

When Ms Giddings was Economic Development Minister in 2006 she predicted that:

“If the Greens gain the balance of power, businesses will lose the confidence to invest in our state and as a result, Tasmanians will start losing their jobs.” – Lara Giddings, 18/2/2006

How right she was.

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that we should be doing everything we can to grow the economy. A good start would be to cut the cost of doing business in Tasmania, cutting red tape and reforming planning and that’s why the Liberals have introduced legislation this year to address each of those issues.

We simply can’t afford a Labor-Green Government that wants to close down industry and business in Tasmania.

Will Hodgman is the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Economic Development

A State Government-funded industry organisation is helping to close Tasmanians businesses down because of the problems in our economy and labour market.  This is happening across different trades and industries – from hospitality to traditional trades.

The Centre for Tasmanian Industry has told the Tasmanian Liberals that the skills crisis is adding to the problems that businesses are facing and many businesses simply can’t cope.

The Centre recently helped to close down a business that couldn’t get qualified refrigeration trades-people, despite the fact that the business was otherwise successful.

At a time when we have declining retail sales and the highest unemployment rate in the nation the Labor-Green Government should be doing everything they can to rescue the economy.

Instead, they are sitting on their hands and the only plans they do have are to sack teachers, nurses and police and shut down our vital native forest sector.

Will Hodgman is Tasmanian Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Economic Development

While the Tasmanian Liberals welcome the announcement from National Foods regarding a $132 million investment in cheese manufacturing in Burnie and King Island, it is regrettable that more than 40 jobs in Launceston have to be sacrificed as a result.

While we welcome the investment in Tasmania, we are extremely concerned about the net loss of jobs, especially in the north of the state.

Once again, we will see northern Tasmanians lose their jobs while the Labor-Green Government is sitting on its hands. The closure of the Kings Meadows plant is yet another industry loss in the immediate region, after the closures and downgrades at ACL Bearings, Waverly Woollen Mills, James Nelson Textiles and the Westpac Call Centre.

When will this Labor-Green Government realise that an economic development plan is desperately needed and thousands more jobs are at risk while they push far left wing agendas instead of focusing on the issues that matter to Tasmanians?

I do not specifically blame the company or the government for this loss of jobs:  however I do expresss loud and clear my anger that the Northern economy continues to languish and the Government offers no policy to create new job opportunities which could take up the release of labour.