Greg Barns: State government starting to show signs of complacency, arrogance

Now is the time for the opposition Labor Party to move from being a small target, which is the depressingly familiar route alternative governments pursue, and map out a reformist vision for Tasmania.

THE nature of politics these days is that governments generally run out of steam, become complacent and arrogant after a couple of terms in office.

There are exceptions, but that seems to be the rule of thumb. And so it is with the Rockliff government, manifest last week with a shrug of the shoulders about the worst housing numbers in the nation, and hypocritical comments about rehabilitation of prisoners.

Now is the time for the opposition Labor Party to move from being a small target, which is the depressingly familiar route alternative governments pursue, and map out a reformist vision for Tasmania.

The housing crisis in this state is a disgrace. The human right to shelter is given lip service by government.

While obscenely expensive football stadiums and handouts for corporates occupy the Rockliff government’s time and energy, each day there are thousands of people in Tasmania who are denied their right to housing.

The complacency of the government on the issue of housing manifest itself last week with an extraordinary comment from the Housing Minister, Guy Barnett. The background to Mr Barnett’s comment was the release of ABS data showing that, as Blair Richards reported in this newspaper, “Tasmania’s homelessness rate is increasing faster than anywhere else in the nation” (Mercury, March 23).

Minister for Energy and Renewables Guy Barnett.

The data shows that “at the 2021 Census an estimated 2350 people in Tasmania were homeless, up from 1622 in 2016 – a 45 per cent increase”. And there were 569 children under 18 who were homeless, including 325 under the age of 12.

Mr Barnett’s response to numbers that reflect a scandalous indifference on the part of the government to this systemic human rights failure? “Housing Minister Guy Barnett said the ABS data was disappointing but not surprising, and showed homelessness was an issue across Australia,” the Mercury reported.

This response is that of a government in office too long. When a government’s attitude and response to the marginalised and vulnerable in the community is so insouciant, you know it is bereft of ideas.

But this was not the only troubling and indicative of arrogance and complacency comment from the Rockliff government last week. The Minister for Corrections, Elise Archer, responding to criticism about an exploding wages bill in the prison system, said that Labor’s approach would lead to less rehabilitation for offenders.

A cheap line and one that shamelessly fails to recognise this minister and the government she serves in have presided over the worst set of numbers in recent memory when it comes to reoffending.

The daily rate of prisoner numbers has risen since the election of the Liberal government from 472 to 642, and the number returning to prison within two years of release is about one in two!

So don’t lecture anyone about prisoner rehabilitation when your own record is dismal.

The effort put into the ultimate bread-and-circus stunt, an AFL stadium, by the Rockliff government stands in contrast to its lamentable performance on improving social indicators such as housing, health, education and smart justice.

The premier says of course we can “walk and chew gum’’ at the same time. Ironically this was a phrase first used by former US president Lyndon Johnson, who presided over the great War on Poverty programs and who showed a commitment and enthusiasm for civil rights to the point where he risked his and his party’s political future. Mr Rockliff is no Lyndon Johnson.

Homeless Young Man Sleeping

But to dismiss the critics and commentators who rightly chide the government for its warped priorities with a glib phrase is, again, another demonstration of a government whose use-by date is up.

This should leave all of us wondering what we might expect from the Labor Party. Its best contributor, David O’Byrne, has a sense of policy nous. Unfortunately the caucus won’t let him in to inject much-needed capability into its discussions on direction and vision.

Capping electricity prices is not policy. Complaining about a budget deficit is not policy. They are both just attack points for an opposition.

Where is Labor’s policy on much-needed tax reform? What about reducing the size of local government? Where does it sit on housing issues?

While Labor has been right to oppose taxpayer funds being splurged because a powerful and arrogant sporting organisation has pointed a gun at a weak government’s head, it needs to spell out a serious policy agenda identifying where it would allocate that funding.

At present it is only the Greens, and it has to be said policy-driven independents in the Legislative Council like Meg Webb, Ruth Forrest, Rob Valentine and Mike Gaffney, who are injecting intellect and ideas into the discussion about this state’s future.

Tasmania’s future is, despite the spin from some, not particularly rosy. An ageing population and budget pressures tell us that. So there is no room for glibness and arrogance.

Hobart barrister Greg Barns is a human rights lawyer who has advised state and federal Liberal governments.