Tasmania state election: Labor takes aim at bill shock with cost-of-living promises

Tasmanians would be able to pay monthly instalments on all their bills from government-owned businesses including power and car registration to avoid quarterly bill shock if Labor wins the election.

Labor leader Dean Winter on the hustings on Wednesday.

Tasmanians would be able to pay monthly instalments on all their bills from government-owned businesses, including power and car registration, to avoid quarterly bill shock, if Labor wins power at the state election.

Opposition leader Dean Winter continued his campaign on cost-of-living issues on Wednesday.

“Tasmanian Labor wants to make sure that Tasmanians can pay their bills, Tasmanian Labor wants to make sure that Tasmanians have a guarantee when it comes to their billing,” he said.

“We know that it’s really tough when you get bill shock, one big bill a quarter makes it really tough for people to make ends meet.”

Mr Winter said Labor had announced a suite of measures to reduce the cost of living for ordinary Tasmanians, including plans to:

• Cap power price rises for every Tasmanian, so Tasmanians can manage their bills without the fear of sudden hikes.
• Give every child a $100 sports voucher, to help families cover the cost of extra-curricular activities and promote healthy, active lifestyles.
• Freeze car rego for every Tasmanian, to help families keep more money in their pockets.
• Half-price car rego for apprentices, to ease pressure on young people training for our future workforce.

He said that the costs of living plan was “fully funded with sensible savings found in our plan to fix the budget”.

“We will pay for our cost of living plan by making smarter choices – like scrapping the Liberals’ $10m dinner voucher scheme and ensuring publicly owned assets like Hydro work for Tasmanians, not against them,” Mr Winter said.

“These targeted measures will make a difference for thousands of households, keeping essential costs in check and giving households the certainty they need to plan ahead.

“Only Labor has a plan to ease cost of living pressure while also fixing the budget and protecting or public assets. We know that keeping Tasmanian assets in Tasmanian hands ensures we can keep costs down on essential services.

“After 11 years of the Liberals, Tasmanians can’t afford another four years of more debt, more cost increases, and more mismanagement.

“The only way to change the government – and get a Fresh Start – is to vote Labor.”

Originally published as Tasmania state election: Labor takes aim at bill shock with cost-of-living promises