Please click on the links to open the full policy statement on the Liberal website http://tasliberal.com.au/policy

Drive our Economy Forward
Backing Business to Invest in Renewable Energy
Four-Lane Midland Highway
Getting Better Returns from Government Businesses
Making Tasmania a Magnet
Protecting and Creating Jobs in our Tourism Industry
Statewide Residential Planning Code
Tasmania’s World Class Tarkine – Growing our Tourism Potential
Fixing Tasmania’s Critical Infrastructure
Farming for the Future
Urgent repairs to the Midland Highway
Building Better Regional Roads
Abolishing Land Tax
Putting Tasmanian Products on the World Stage
Deliver Accountable Government
A New Culture of Accountability and Transparency
Fixed Terms
Greater Budget Honesty
Achieve Better Health Results
Smarter Health Care for the North
A New Generation Royal Hobart Hospital
At-Risk Children
Better Quality of Life for Tasmanians with Disabilities
A Fairer Tasmania
The Sooner the Better: No more Endless Waiting Lists
Upgrading the Mersey
Equity for North-West Cancer Patients
Exciting new health services for Tasmanians with the Royal Flying Doctors
More step down beds for the Huon
Raise Education Standards
Free Bus Travel for Students
Pathway Planning
Supporting students with Autism
A better deal for Teacher Aides and Support Staff
Better retention and results – ending the experimentation with our education system
Protect our lifestyle & strengthen our community
Continuing to make our Roads Safer
Double Demerits
Forest Protests
Linking Responsibility – At School and on the Road
Mandatory Employment Screening For All People Working with Children
Parole Board
Police Highway Traffic Patrols and High Visibility Police Vehicles
Police Workers Compensation
Road Safety Authority
Sentencing Advisory Council
Sex Offender Programs
Tougher Sentences for Sex Crimes
Vehicle Impoundment Program
Saving lives – providing specialist smoke alarms
Light Rail in Hobart

Fixing Labor’s Water and Sewerage Debacle
Using social media to reduce street violence
Supporting our Surf Life Savers
Strengthening Penalties for Arson
A Plastic Shopping Bag Free Tasmania
A New ‘Chance’ for young people in Glenorchy
Lights for King George V Oval, Glenorchy
Tackling Tamar Silt
Protecting Launceston from Flood
Devonport Aquatic Centre
Recognising and supporting grandparent carers

Today’s a great day because, Levi House in Launceston has won a tender to receive a $4m grant from the Commonwealth Government to refurbish a building for housing the homeless (see an excerpt of the announcement below). 

As a volunteer at the current Levi House shelter, in fact today I’m feeling pretty tired because I was on roster last night as one of three overnight supervisors for the 15 people who needed a warm bed and nourishment.

I’ve been working with Sharon Smith, Ixa De Haan, Andrew Fair and others to get the project up since my earliest days in parliament. It’s been a long road, requiring vast amounts of perseverance and commitment and I’m really stoked that its finally got there.

I’d also like to thank the two governments involved for today’s announcement. In a way, I think the project proposal just got better and better over time so in a way it’s a blessing in disguise that the Bartlett Labor Government was too sluggish to spend some of the $60m housing funding they’ve been sitting on all this time.

I want to share one important lesson I’ve learned over the last year: I’ve been a politician and currently I’m not. Despite my best intentions, it couldn’t be more different being a politican writing letters, supporting someone else’s good idea and actually pitching in as a worker, sleeping in simple conditions and spending hours during a freezing winter night talking to people who are experiencing hard times. Sometimes people are homeless because of their own foolish decisions and often good, decent people just like your next door neighbor suddenly find themselves victim to bad luck, illness or abuse.

Whatever the reason, the important thing is that our community doesn’t ignore these people – but exercises wholesome values of respect, dignity, support and encouraging responsibility for future decisions to help them get back to their true potential.

Except from Government media release:

The Door of Hope project will receive more than $4 million in Rudd Government funding and will see a 20 unit facility constructed in an existing building owned by the Door of Hope Christian Church.

The NBESP funding for the capital works of the project will be complemented by recurrent funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.

Under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, the Tasmanian Government has submitted an Implementation Plan that outlines how $18.9 million over four years will be spent.

Under this agreement Housing Tasmania will lease the Door of Hope homelessness facility and will advertise in the future for tenancy management and support services from the not-for-profit sector through a tender process.

A day in the life of Tasmanian Labor: Tuesday August 25 2009.

On Health: People in the north-east are doing it tough on health and are rightly angry about the debacle surrounding the treatment of Dr McGinty. But Health Minister Lara Giddings today had the solution to people needing health care in the north-east. She said that anyone with a problem should: “…ring 000 like everybody else in this state does”. That’s a healthcare “solution” Labor-style.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/25/2666478.htm

On Housing: Labor tried to deal out its usual big serving of spin today, but the attempt fell apart when upset by a few facts. The Human Services minister was trying to talk up Labor’s public housing record when Liberal MP Brett Whiteley raised the issue of an elderly couple who’d been living in their car for three months, unable to get help from Housing Tasmania. The Human Services Minister then said the problems dated as far back as the 1960s and that public housing needed to be overhauled. She’s right about that! After 11 years of Labor, public housing waiting lists have increased from 1248 in 1998 (according to Shelter Tasmania) to more than 3000, according to the May Housing Tasmania KPIs obtained by the Liberals.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/25/2666187.htm

On Ethics: Every now and then Labor tries to make noise about establishing an ethics commission. But not too much noise because that’s slippery terrain for Labor. So usually it’s just a few nice words that commits to nothing and talks about the possibility of perhaps setting something up at later time, maybe. When real ethical issues arise you see Labor’s true position. Like today, when the Legislative Council started debating an interim report on senior appointments. One of the committee members who released the report today said: “I just find it extraordinary that the government chose not to address the substance of the report, or the select committee’s report.” The report described the evidence of former premier Lennon and former deputy premier Kons as “unreliable” and recommended they face the privilege committee. Bartlett doesn’t even want to go that far, instead claiming the report was “flawed”. Contrast this constant evasion and delay with the Liberal position: The Liberals will establish a powerful Anti-Corruption and Ethics Commission and fund it with $7 million over the forward estimates.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/25/2666188.htm

That’s a day in the life of Labor.

The good news in politics today? Liberal Vanessa Goodwin was sworn in as a member of the Legislative Council after her victory in the seat of Pembroke. Congratulations to Vanessa and the people of Pembroke.

Change is coming.