Labor unimpressed by Rockliff government’s back-to-basics reset

Labor says that Jeremy Rockliff might struggle to convince Tasmanians that he’s not obsessed by building stadium at the expense of other issues.

Labor's Dean Winter speaks to the media on Parliament Lawns in Hobart on Thursday, July 20, 2023.

Labor’s Dean Winter says he has little faith in the government’s ability to reinvent itself after nearly a decade in office.

Speaking after news that Premier Jeremy Rockliff will on Thursdayannounce a back-to-basics reset of the Liberal minority government, Mr Winter said it sounded like a public relations strategy.

”Jeremy Rockliff got new spin doctors in his office and they’ve cooked up a reset,” he said.

“I just wonder whether this is Jeremy Rockliff’s admission that after ten years of Liberal government, they’ve got everything drastically wrong.

“Jeremy Rockliff is obsessed with building a stadium, and it seems to be at the cost of almost everything else.

“We’ve got ambulances which are constantly ramped at our hospitals, we’ve got over 55,000 Tasmanians waiting to see a specialist, over 8000 Tasmanians on the waiting list to get in for elective surgery, you’ve got our education system performing worse than it did in 2008.

‘Under almost every criteria, this government is failing to get the basics right and after ten years in government finally, there’s an admission from Jeremy Rockliff that he’s got the basics drastically wrong and he needs to reset.”

Mr Winter said Mr Rockliff might struggle to convince Tasmanians he was not focused on sporting infrastructure rather than the cost of living, health and education.

“When he goes to Canberra, he doesn’t argue for more money for health or housing. He argues for money for a stadium.”

Mr Rockliff will address a Committee for Economic Development of Australia lunch at Wrest Point on Thursday.

Along with the reset, he is expected to make another major announcement.

Acting Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff shared Mr Winter’s scepticism.

“In the past decade we have seen three Liberal Premiers, and more so-called “resets” than you can count.

“The result has always been the same – more policies to benefit the top-end of town and big corporations, while things get more difficult for everyone else.

“The government’s own statistics don’t lie. Critical measures in healthcare, housing, child safety, carbon emissions, and environmental protection are all significantly worse than they were when the Liberals took office.”

Independent MLC for Nelson Meg Webb called on the government to live up to its promises of transparency.

She said Tasmanians deserved to know who the government consulted with before announcing changes to the state’s planning system.

Given the shockwaves caused by the government’s sudden announcement, it intends to remove some planning decisions from local councils without consulting that sector, Tasmanians deserve to know who did have access to ministerial ears in advance,” Ms Webb said.

“Premier Rockliff’s claims of leading ‘the most transparent government ever’ has rung hollow of late.

“He needs to start demonstrating actual transparency with the immediate release of detailed ministerial diary disclosures for the last three months.”

Originally published as Labor unimpressed by Rockliff government’s back-to-basics reset