Wooley: Vincent wastes no time getting into nitty gritty

New minister goes from pothole triumphs to the pitfalls of council amalgamation … but that’s just round one, writes Charles Wooley

Local government minister Kerry Vincent speaks to the media on November 27, 2024. Picture: David Killick

“I thank the member for the question to get me off the back bleachers. Over my short time – I am nearly five weeks old today in the ministry, I thank everyone from all areas of the Chamber for their support and encouragement for my two ministries. It has given me confidence to make sure I bury myself into the positions and do them as best as I possibly can.”

That’s how it began for Kerry Vincent.

After more than a decade as the mayor of Sorell, the recently elected member for the Legislative Council seat of Prosser has been fast-tracked into two difficult ministries. The new Minister for Local Government and for Infrastructure was on his feet answering his first seemingly prosaic parliamentary question about potholes on our West Coast highways.

The question was: “Does it concern you that our roads often require maintenance fairly shortly after being resurfaced.”

It wasn’t the usual Dorothy Dixer served up by a minister’s own party to allow the delivery of a prepared self-congratulatory statement.

The question was from a cross crossbencher and one that anyone driving on Tasmania’s highways might reasonably ask.

“Have you demanded answers over why our roads are not withstanding conventional use. Will you assess whether the current tendering process is serving the state well? What is your message to Tasmanian drivers who feel unsafe?”

Now in my experience of these matters that was the kind of question a minister might well dodge, preferring to take it on advice from departmental experts.

As in, “Thanks for the question. I’ll get back to you on that”.

But not ‘Big Kezza’.

Local Government Minister Kerry Vincent (left) and Local Government Association of Tasmania president Mick Tucker speaking about the government’s response to the Future of Local Government Review, last week. Picture: David Killick

In the overcrowded world of Tasmanian local government, he was always recognised as unusually (and almost freakishly) expert on detail.

And as Hansard reveals in this most recent session of parliament, potholes were something Kerry was keen to leap into with disarming honesty.

“You cannot hide it, and we do not want to hide it. It is there for all of us to see as we move around the state.”

And then he amazed the whole chamber with detail: “If you look at the West Coast, I have travelled down that road twice recently. As of 18 November, 355 holes were identified and 346 of them have been filled.”

An amazed intake of breath filled the chamber. It was as if the big bloke had been out there in the wild west counting them himself. Just as he did back home in Sorell.

Then the nitty gritty of road building just got nittier and grittier as he deliberated the options. Would a reseal fix the problem or do we need to look deeper?

We all know how roads recently resealed, especially in the bush, can break down quickly and in no time the lollipop men are back holding us up.

Kerry was clearly on the job and with so much detail I have abridged much of it.

“I have been talking to explosive experts who blast the gravel in quarries and grader contractors to find out how grading a road and the mixing of the top layers of the road can make a difference to potholes. I have been talking with anybody who has anything to do with roads to find out about not just fixing potholes but what we have to do in future to make sure our roads are better.”

Independent member for Franklin David O’Byrne during question time. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Now I know from my own short stint in local government in the happy shire of Sorell that this kind of stuff, potholes, drains and garbage collection is not sexy and usually not even entertaining.

But without such almost obsessive attention to the detail of running a state, potholes might be the least of our problems. Bloody great holes in governance might suddenly appear in the road ahead.

We forgot to build a port for our new ferries. What else did we fail to do? Yes someone has to attend to boring detail. It’s not much fun but there is a twist.

This week Lord Prosser’s brilliant emerging political career moved from the triumph of the pothole to the pitfall of council amalgamation.

Councillor Vincent in local government was a strong voice against the lunacy of Tasmania supporting 29 local councils. He has always maintained we should have about 12.

So, it was a salutary moment when it fell to him as Local Government Minister to release a “one-in-a-generation” $3m review of Tasmania’s local government commissioned by his predecessor Michael Ferguson back in 2022.

The report noted the “significant and detrimental impact of maintaining 29 councils” but then ruled out forced amalgamations.

Kerry Vincent, in his former role as Sorell Mayor, with then Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack, during an announcement on the Midway Point road upgrade in 2020. Picture: Richard Jupe

Without compulsion it is hard to see the majority of mayors, let alone most of the 300 councillors, willingly giving up their unnecessary positions for the greater good of the state.

But that’s not the end of it. Minister Vincent is a successful businessman and a great believer in running everything within his purview, as a business. Whether it’s a government business enterprise or local councils he wants them to operate “on the basis of business sustainability”.

If Kerry had to eat crow this week you wouldn’t know it.

He told me this was only round one. “Next comes the matter of tightening up the financials and the fiscals of the underperforming councils.”

We will see where that leads.

Meanwhile Lord Prosser should remain cock-a-hoop over his magnificent pothole performance in question time.

Not recorded in Hansard was that as the minister returned to his seat, David O’Byrne called from the cross-benches, “My goodness, a minister actually answering a question!”

That quip brought Kerry unheard of applause and general acclamation from the whole chamber. Demonstrating that although the new minister hadn’t yet brought down the absurd regime of 29 councils he had brought down the House.

Charles Wooley is a Tasmanian-based journalist