Labor has failed the Flinders Island community over almost 12 years in government. Most recently, the debacle surrounding the Flinders Island shipping service highlights Labor’s ineptitude and lack of interest in the people of Flinders Island.

The people of Flinders Island deserve real change – real change that only a majority Liberal Government can deliver.

First and foremost, we will deliver real change to Flinders Island’s shipping service by empowering the Flinders Island community to take control of the Island’s vital shipping service.

Rather than the state government subsidising a shipping service as has been done unsuccessfully in the past, we will provide $750,000 over three years to the Flinders Island Council to empower the island to be in control of its sea transport links. In conjunction with the Council, we will establish a board to manage shipping services to the Island, to ensure the shipping debacle that occurred in the last two years doesn’t happen again.

We will also ensure that as part of Infrastructure Tasmania’s state-wide infrastructure plan, that a 10 year ports plan will be developed for Flinders Island. Once the plan has been finalized, Tasports will be tasked to develop a schedule of priority works, expected to be up to $5 million.

Furthermore we will provide $180,000 over three years to assist the island to further develop its tourism industry, strengthen the Flinders brand and its penetration into key markets.

We will also:

• Provide $100,000 to develop a Whitemark Master Plan;
• $150,000 to enable the council and community to further develop renewable power generation and investigate and develop a community ownership model for the Island;
• $220,000 to towards maintenance on the Whitemark Link Road in 2010-11, and we will consider a formal transfer of the road to the State Government once due diligence has been undertaken;
• Funding of $30,000 over three years for the transition program to assist young islanders undertake further education or employment on mainland Tasmania.

Residents of Flinders Island will also benefit from the real change brought about by the Liberal’s policy to secure the ongoing future of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the introduction of “flying clinics.”

Only a majority Hodgman Liberal Government can provide the people of Flinders Island with the real change they need.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will provide $11.5 million to the Launceston Flood Authority for urgent and essential works to complete the works on the Lindsay Street Levee re-alignment.

This work, which is well underway, is essential to protect the suburbs of Invermay and Inveresk, and the homes and businesses of around 3,000 people which will be affected if the levees are breached as the result of a significant flood event.

The Launceston City Council has advised that, if the levees are breached, the homes of 1,500 people would be flooded. In addition, a further group of 1,500 would be forced to evacuate because of the loss of water, sewerage and power services.

Apart from the significant loss to private property and public infrastructure, including schools, roads and the Inveresk campus of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, this level of flood would bring with it major public health consequences, including the potential for disease.

The major flood of 1929 recorded what will happen in such a catastrophic flood.

The Launceston City Council has made a strong case for assistance from both the federal and state governments in the amount of $23 million. The Tasmanian Liberals commit to providing dollar-for-dollar funding, in partnership with the Australian Government.

This is essential work that must take place in the next two years to complete the levee works in Lindsay Street.

We would provide $11.5 million spread across financial years 2010-11 and 2011-12 to complete these important remedial works.

Video highlighting the issue in 2009 on the anniversary of the great flood of 1929

Invest $9.5 million in the economic and environmental future of Northern Tasmania by tackling the major and continuing silt problem in the Tamar River and establishing a single state authority to manage Tamar River and the Esk River catchments into the future.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will invest $7.4 million over three years to conduct a major dredging program consistent with Option 3 in the GHD Sedimentation Study Report recently provided to the Launceston City Council.

In addition, a Hodgman Liberal Government will establish at a cost of $700,000 per annum a Tamar and Esk Rivers Management Authority, to manage the silt problem in the longer term.

The authority would have a five member board, selected to ensure an appropriate mix of estuarine, marine, environmental and economic experience and knowledge.

To ensure local government involvement, the Authority would have an advisory group comprising of a nominee from each of the bordering local government councils: Dorset, George Town, Launceston, Northern Midlands, Meander Valley and West Tamar.

NRM North would also be involved as a member of the advisory group, given their ongoing work on catchment management.

Why this policy is needed
The appalling silt built up in the River Tamar is testament to a lack of action by the State Government and an embarrassment to all Tasmanians. Worse, it is a serious threat to many residents of Launceston in the event of a major flood.

It needs not only a significant capital injection, but also the will to act. A Hodgman Liberal Government will provide both.

The Legislative Council Select Committee into the Management of the Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers found:

The imprecision and inadequacies of the current management structure have contributed to the parlous state of the Tamar Estuary and Esk River systems, especially the significant and environmentally damaging siltation problem and the defectiveness of flood mitigation infrastructure in Launceston.

Rapid action does need to be taken to address urgent environmental and waterway management challenges.

We now have a number of valuable studies that have been done on the Tamar Estuary, and the catchment area. The time has come for action.

What we will do

This policy offers real change to improve the management of the Tamar for today and the longer term.

After more than 11 years of Labor…
The ongoing, serious issue of silt in the Tamar River has been neglected over the past 11 years and it remains a serious problem.

Unlike Labor, the State Liberals are committed to fixing this and other associated problems for the Tamar and Esk Rivers and, if elected, a Hodgman Liberal Government will establish a single statutory Authority as a starting point to achieving this goal.

We recognise that the accumulation of silt in the Tamar River is occurring at an unacceptable level which is inhibiting recreation, tourism and other opportunities that the Tamar River represents to the wider region. The silt problem will, if not addressed, also affect local jobs.

Sadly, the upper reaches of the Tamar River, the gateway to Launceston, is barely navigable at times. There is also the potential that such high levels of silt may contribute to a higher risk of flooding.

The Tasmanian Liberals believe there are great opportunities for Tasmania, as the first cab off the rank, to capitalise on the NBN, and get the jump on our competitors.

As Premier I would work with the Federal Government to ensure a speedy roll-out of the NBN, and then actively pursue ways to capitalise on the benefits it presents to our states.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will:

• appoint a Minister to be directly responsible for Information and Communications Technology and the Digital Economy;
• create the positions of Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer in government. The Chief Technology Officer will put in place a whole-of-government strategy to encourage and create investment and jobs in ICT, while the Chief Information Officer will ensure that the Government itself is taking advantage of ICT in the way it operates and in the public services it provides.
• create a small unit called the Digital Economy Unit at a cost of $500,000 per year, which will answer directly to the ICT Minister;
• actively identify and pursue opportunities for Tasmanian businesses through the NBN, and look at ways to attract new businesses to the state through greater capacity broadband capacity;
• invest in educating and training Tasmanians, and Tasmanian business operators, to build digital literacy and increase the uptake of ICT, increase awareness and build our capabilities; and
• actively pursue opportunities to provide better, more efficient public services – in our hospitals and schools, in promoting regional development and social inclusion, and for the thousands of Tasmanians who interact with government each day, through more innovative, responsive and efficient ways made possible by this technology.

An already announced Liberal policy is to establish a new, expert, body – Infrastructure Tasmania – which will develop a state-wide infrastructure plan for the state within nine months of the election.

The NBN and fibre optic cable is of course vital social and economic infrastructure, and I can today confirm that proper planning of the roll-out of the Tasmanian broadband network will be a critical part of the State Infrastructure Plan.

Even before the tragically high number of deaths last year we still had the highest per capita fatality rate of any state. Only the Northern Territory had a worse record.

In 2009 the Northern Territory took action. It reduced speed limits, increased demerit points, doubled fines and got dedicated traffic police on the roads. The result last year was the Territory’s lowest toll for 30 years – a reduction from 74 in 2008 to 30 in 2009.

Through a similar range of measures the Victorian Government last year oversaw its lowest road toll since records began in 1952.

Here in Tasmania the Bartlett government did nothing to seriously tackle the problem and we saw our road toll rise from 40 in 2008 to 64 deaths in 2009.

Even that shocking rise was not enough to make Labor wake up and take action.

When asked about the disastrous road toll Police Minister Jim Cox said he’s “never seen a road kill anyone”. Perhaps that attitude is also the reason why Infrastructure Minister Graeme “goat track” Sturges keeps inventing reasons why the Midland Highway shouldn’t be upgraded to four lanes ?

Ref: Article in The Mercury

Labor not only has the wrong attitude to road safety, its ministers seem utterly incapable of initiating measures to save lives.

Throughout the past year I’ve highlighted new ideas and policies that can help reduce Tasmania’s road toll. I’ve spoken about driver training and education, tackling hoons, increasing penalties, improving our roads, and, for young people, linking behaviour at school to the ability to obtain a learner’s permit.

Videos and articles on road safety on my website here.

Under a Hodgman Liberal Government road safety will be a priority. A whole suite of initiatives are ready to be implemented to make our roads safer and start saving lives. These include:

Speed Camera Revenue

The Tasmanian Liberals understand that there is a general principle not to hypothecate revenue received from fines, but do not accept that principle in regard to fines paid for proven speed camera offences. Given that speed is such a large contributor to car crashes which cause death and injury, we believe the revenue from speed cameras should be quarantined to be used for road safety measures, including public education and physical infrastructure.

Driver Education

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that any person who has had his or her driver licence suspended or who has been disqualified from driving because of an accumulation of
offences or a particular offence, should be required to undertake a short course which relates to driver behaviour.

In Government, advice would be sought from other jurisdictions which have had success with this initiative in improving driver behaviour.

Driver Training

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that, as well as sanctions to deal with driving offences, a responsible State Government would support incentives to encourage novice drivers to undertake professional training in defensive driving.

One incentive would be a rebate on the fee for a full driver licence upon providing proof of successful completion of a course which has been accredited by the State Government.

Safe Drivers

Consistent with our dual ‘incentive and sanction’ approach, the Tasmanian Liberals believe that there should be a rebate on driver licence renewal fees for drivers who can prove they have no driving convictions for the previous five years in any Australian jurisdiction, and who are not facing any unheard charges.

Black Spots

Permanent speed cameras should be installed at black spot sites which have been proven by police statistics to be common sites of crashes. The Tasmanian Liberals recognise that there is a cost for such equipment, so therefore the cameras would be rolled out over a period of time. In the interim, all recognized black spot sites in Tasmania should be sign-posted to alert road users.

Double demerits

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that it is time for Tasmania to join other Australian States in adopting a Double Demerit Point system for public holidays, including:

* On long weekends – when either a Monday or a Friday is a public holiday;
* Christmas – from 23 December until 2 January; and
* Easter – from midday on the day before Good Friday until midnight on Easter Tuesday.

Offences which would be covered include:

* Speeding;
* Not wearing a seat belt;
* Not wearing a motorcycle helmet; and
* Riding in the back of utilities, trucks, etc.

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that all measures to decrease speeding and dangerous driving during holiday periods and long weekends must be considered, and they should be adopted if they have proven successful elsewhere.

Experience in NSW and WA, which have both had Double Demerit systems for a number of years, has shown that fatal crashes and crashes overall decrease during Double Demerit point periods.

The Double Demerit point period would be advertised widely in the three Tasmanian daily newspapers on the day preceding the period, and on television and radio. As this Double Demerit initiative is centred on road safety, fine penalties would remain the same during the periods, and after three years, the Double Demerit point system would be reviewed by the Road Safety Council or other properly qualified people to assess its effectiveness.

Highway Patrol vehicles

Our Commitment – We will:

* Convert 12 vehicles to high visibility markings for Highway Patrol use in the first year of a Hodgman Liberal Government – i.e. 3 per Traffic Division. Remaining Traffic Division cars will be upgraded in the following year.
* Upgrade all other operational police vehicles to ‘suburban high visibility’ markings progressively over a five year period, as vehicles are replaced.

The Need

In the ongoing battle between Police versus Bad Drivers, the drivers are clearly winning.

They have little fear of detection and behave accordingly.

We need a ‘muscled up’ approach to highway policing that clearly serves notice that Tasmania Police – supported by the Government – are determined to win this battle.

Just over 70% of the operational Tasmania Police fleet are fitted with police lights and/or markings.

However, current vehicle markings vehicle colour does not sufficiently distinguish them from other special use Vehicles used by such agencies as Customs, Transport Inspectors, the State Emergency Service and private security firms.

In addition, police vehicles are not easily recognisable from a reasonable distance or in poor light.

This low level of visibility increases the potential for accidents, and has consequences both for officers and the travelling public.

Four-lane Midland Highway

The Midland Highway and Bass Highway form part of the National Highway Network and are the major freight and passenger route in Tasmania. Between 2001 and 2005 almost 40% of all Tasmanian crashes occurred on the National Highway (Bass and Midland Highways). Over the past 5 years, the Tasmanian Corridor Strategy has found that Tasmanian container freight has grown by 10.5% a year, but even with a more conservative 6% a year growth, Tasmania would experience a doubling of container freight in 10 years (by 2017).

Whilst population growth is not great, Tasmanians are moving from the centre of towns to urban fringes. The Strategy finds that there will be increased passenger travel. Passenger travel for education and services will also increase. Patient transport and travel by University of Tasmania staff and students are prime examples. General Freight transport by road is expected to double over the next 20-25 years. Tasmania will continue to have the highest level of car ownership per capita of any State.

Between 2005 and 2030, freight movements are forecast to increase by 70% and passenger movements by 40%. Freight carried by rail is forecast to increase by over 120% over the same period. Historically, the Port of Hobart was the main trading port for Southern Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Corridor Strategy has found that over the last 20 years, the Hobart port’s throughput has significantly declined, while the freight task between Southern Tasmania and the northern ports has continued to increase with more than 30% of containers leaving our northern ports originating from the south.

State and Federal governments have recognised this trend with the progressive upgrade to dual carriageway of the Bass Highway between Devonport and Burnie (now completed).

Since the Tasmanian Liberals committed to a long-term four-lane Midland Highway plan, Labor has made many incorrect and deliberately misleading claims about the project, effectively seeking to sabotage efforts to attract federal funds for this project and sending a message that Tasmanians don’t deserve quality infrastructure.

Our policy also ensures that investment in Tasmania’s water and sewerage infrastructure is not compromised, and that local council dividends will not be compromised.

The four-point plan is:

1) Freeze prices for one year from 2010-11. While we are fixing Labor’s mess we will not expect Tasmanians to pay the 5% increase next year that Labor has demanded. This means that water and sewerage bills will be kept at current year prices for 2010-11 while we fix Labor’s mess;

2) Immediately conduct a comprehensive review of the current structure and operation of Labor’s failing water and sewerage reforms to seek efficiencies and cost savings, and to ensure the structure is best placed to access Federal government funding. To be completed by December 2010;

3) Provide a four year guarantee that during the next term of Government price rises on water and sewerage bills will remain at or below 5%;

4) Empower Tasmanians to reduce their own water and sewerage bills by introducing a State-wide framework for grey water and rainwater tank use, and water savings measures such as dual flush toilet and water saving shower heads, by providing financial incentives to encourage their take up.

Labor recently announced a political quick-fix to this problem by giving nearly $60 million to the water corporations over the next three years to lower bills to a 5% increase.

However, the Government will not commit to what will happen with water and sewerage bills in three years time and have only agreed to a review whilst the Regulator once again sets the price.

Labor’s approach is a band aid solution designed to limit the community backlash over the election period. In contrast, we will fix it and we will do it immediately.

The Labor Party and the Greens should focus on the issues that matter to Tasmanians, not hypothetical post-election scenarios.

One of the reasons Tasmania is heading in the wrong direction after 11 years of Labor is because it has been too focussed on short-term political problems than the long term interests of our State.

In Question Time today, both David Bartlett and Nick McKim were more interested in speculating on the March election outcome rather than any other issues of importance. I call on them both to focus on issues that matter to ordinary Tasmanians, and on delivering the leadership and vision that this State needs.

That’s why in Question Time today, I’ve urged the Premier to agree to my request for a bi-partisan case to be made to the Prime Minister for federal funding for a long-term vision for the Midland Highway. I also tried to get some clarity from the Premier over whether he would ever support a four-lane divided highway, which is what Tasmanians deserve and what a Hodgman Liberal Government will deliver. Regrettably, Premier Bartlett provided answers to neither.

I sought answers as to how the government would fund the water and sewerage concessions it backflipped on yesterday and highlighted the comprehensive bungling of these reforms by Treasurer Aird.

The Tasmanian Liberals have also focussed on our leadership and vision in road safety, the need for the Premier to be transparent over the Scott Gadd contract scandal, and sought assurances that Tasmania’s GST share will be protected.

The insular navel-gazing being conducted by Nick McKim and David Bartlett – because of the tangled web that the Premier weaved for himself flip-flopping on this issue – won’t help a single Tasmanian.

The election is seven months away. We have spelled out our position.

The failure of David Bartlett and Nick McKim to focus on the issues that matter to Tasmanians during the first Question Time after the long winter break, show just how out of touch with ordinary Tasmanians they have become in the pursuit of power.

It really is becoming a messy safety risk.

Over the past six weeks there have been thousands of extra truck movements on the highway due to the closure of the north-south rail link.  Combine that with heavy rain and the road even Labor calls a “goat track” is cracking up.

RACT public policy general manager Vince Taskunas confirms that sections around Ross, Oatlands and Pontville have become dangerous.

Southern Midlands Mayor Tony Bisdee says that repair programs were just “putting on bandaids” and not fixing the real problems. He added that the Federal and State governments needed to rethink their approach to the highway.

My mate Jeremy Rockliff (Liberal infrastructure spokesman) rightly points out that the current conditions highlight the need for a four-lane Midland Highway.

He said:

“The State Government’s own reports say there is going to be a 70 per cent increase in heavy freight on our roads in the next 20 years and if this highway is crumbling under the pressure of current traffic rates then it is certainly going to need attention over the next decade.”

• Click here to read The Mercury’s coverage

The only way to achieve the vision and leadership required to upgrade the Midland Highway to four lanes is to change the government. 

Vote Liberal in 2010.