Tas Opposition Leader says Premier Will Hodgman is 'treading water' in first 205 speech to Parliament
The Tasmanian Opposition Leader has used his first speech to Parliament for the year to accuse the Premier Will Hodgman of "treading water", and to flag a Labor Facebook campaign to reconnect with voters.
In his official parliamentary reply to the Premier's State of the State speech, Labor's Bryan Green said Mr Hodgman's first year had been full of disappointments and broken promises.
"The Liberals are quickly finding out that one-line slogans do not translate into good policies," Mr Green told Parliament.
"There are no decisions being made, just a passing procession of committees, reviews, consultants and delaying tactics," he claimed.
Mr Green also attacked job cuts in the education and health sectors, before going on to spruik Labor's record in government.
He also pledged to set up what he called an "online portal" to connect with voters.
"Tasmanians will be able to log on and make submissions and leave comments and submit their ideas," he said.
"Every contribution will be read."
Labor "crowd-sourcing" policies: Rene Hidding
Outside Parliament, Police Minister Rene Hidding dismissed the "portal", saying it was proof Labor had run out of ideas.
"What the clear difference was that the Liberals have a plan, the State Government has a plan, it's out there, everybody can read it," he said.
"They can check us off against it, but the State Opposition stood up today and admitted they don't have any policies.
"They're essentially going into a crowd-funding process looking for policies from Tasmanians, and good luck, I hope they find some, that would be very nice."
Greens leader Kim Booth also delivered his formal reply to Mr Hodgman's address, labelling the Premier's speech "lacklustre" and "full of fluff".
Mr Booth called for a commission of inquiry into Forestry Tasmania, saying it was long overdue.
He also applauded Mr Hodgman's commitment to "reset" relations with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, but criticised the decision to declare a five-year moratorium on fracking, saying a permanent ban would have delivered certainty to the farming sector.
Mr Booth revealed the Greens would again push for Parliament's House of Assembly to be expanded to house an additional 10 MPs.
Asked about that proposal, Mr Hidding said all MPs agreed there were too few Lower House MPs, and indicated the Government would not act on the situation in this term of government.
"I don't think there's a person in the Parliament who doesn't agree that the 35-seat model is probably a better one, but it's not dysfunctional and in terms of priorities and costs, it's not something on our agenda," he said.
