‘Absolutely, completely fatigued’: Peter Gutwein opens up about his August health scare

The Premier has slammed New South Wales in an exclusive end-of-year interview with The Mercury, stating he is ‘very worried’ about the mainland state’s approach to Covid-19. FULL INTERVIEW >>

DESPITE a health scare that left him hospitalised, Premier Peter Gutwein says he has never been fitter and won’t be relinquishing his key treasury portfolio.

In an end-of-year interview with the Mercury, Mr Gutwein allayed any concerns about his health and said he was “just absolutely completely fatigued” in August when he was taken to hospital for tests.

“I just worked myself into the ground,” he said.

“We ran pretty hard through the election campaign and then I planned to take a short break in the July school holidays with my family and people would recall that’s when Victoria started its last wave when it had significant shutdowns and so I didn’t get a break.

Premier Peter Gutwein for end of year interview. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“And then I pretty much worked seven days a week right through from that.

“In fact, when we sat down, and I was discussing it with one of the physicians and he said ‘look physically you look fatigued, you’ve obviously been working hard, could you explain your work habits, how many days a week do you work?’ and we worked back and it had been 46 days that I’d actually come into the office.”

Mr Gutwein said a few days break, handing two of his portfolios to other ministers and resuming his daily exercise regimen had restored his physical health.

He trains and walks up to 40 minutes every day.

“A couple of days on the couch, watching Netflix, eating a whole heap of junk food that I don’t normally do and then a little bit of balance introduced into my working life – it’s just provided the space that I need to ensure that rather than working seven days a week, I get by on six.

Premier Peter Gutwein for end of year interview. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“I’ve never felt fitter, I still train every day.

“I got into a habit of doing a range of push-ups and sit-ups and other stretching as a result of the training that I had for a long period of time in taekwondo and I’ve just kept that habit up.”

Mr Gutwein dismissed any suggestion his deputy Jeremy Rockliff may quit at Easter.

“That’s the first time that I’ve actually heard that, so I would put that down to being a rumour,” he said.

Mr Gutwein said he had not had any contact with former Liberal minister and party treasurer Adam Brooks who won a seat in Braddon but resigned before the polls were declared after being charged with firearm offences in Queensland.

“I haven’t personally had contact with Adam for a long time. The most I know about him is what I read and I see in the Queensland press in terms of his trials and tribulations,” he said.

Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian reporter Sue Bailey interviewing Premier Peter Gutwein for end of year interview. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

EXCLUSIVE Q&A

Should we have had an early election?

Well on the basis of the result, yes. The parliament was plunged back into minority and minority governments just don’t work. You need to be able to have a strong majority government and that’s what I ran on and that’s what we’ve delivered.

Were you disappointed you didn’t win any extra seats?

We won the unwinnable third election for the Liberals and 13 seats is majority.

Premier Peter Gutwein gives his speech in the Tally room, Hotel Grand Chancellor. 2021 Tasmanian State Election. Picture: Richard Jupe

What is your relationship with Kristie Johnston like?

She brings an independent view to the parliament and we’ve had a good professional working relationship.

What do you say to people who can’t afford a home and are on the long waiting list for housing?

It’s a difficult and challenging set of circumstances. To fix a demand side problem, which is the fact that we just don’t have enough dwellings, the way to solve that is to build more and that’s why we’ve rolled out the $615 million affordable housing program, the largest ever in the state’s history. That’s why we’ve got now more than 4000 dwelling approvals that have come across council tables over the last 12 months.

We are building houses as quick as we can possibly get them out of the ground.

Now, that’ll increase supply, and should put a dampening effect on the increasing prices we’re seeing in regards to rent.

Is it worrying that education results in areas including literacy are still lagging?

One of the reasons why we do invest as much as what we do is that we wanted to see more teachers on the ground. Now across the term that I’ve been in government, we’ve seen more than 250 teachers and teachers’ aides and other support staff that had been introduced to our schools.

We were very determined the dislocation that occurred between year 10 and college was overcome by ensuring that we could have extension high schools to provide a year 11 and 12 options in the schools. that kids were used to attending. That’s starting to see fruit in terms of the retention rates and that’ll stand us in good stead in terms of having a job ready, generation as well.

Do you focus too much on sport?

Well, as a government, I’m very proud of the fact that we’re investing record amounts into health – more than $10 billion over the last four years in our budget – education, no government has ever spent more. We have a significant affordable housing program, $615 million that we’re spending, and then in terms of infrastructure that underpins our economy, again, as a government, we’re investing more than any previous government before us.

Premier Peter Gutwein with Minister for Sport Jane Howlett. Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein at Blundstone Arena in relation to Hobart securing an Ashes Test. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

I think sport, though, brings people together. I think sports are one of the fabrics that underpins our broader community. For a state in the Federation, I think it’s important that Tasmanian children have the same opportunities as kids do in other states. That’s why I’ve been championing so much the fact that we get on to the national stages, that we have our own basketball team. The work that’s been done there’s excellent – that stadium will stand us in good stead not just for sport, but MyState Arena will become one of the premium entertainment centres in the country.

In terms of cricket, I’m very pleased with the outcome that we’ve got the upcoming Ashes Test. I think that’s a signal that we deserve the same opportunities that other states get. We’ve had debate for 30 years now about an AFL team and I want to see that delivered in the next 12 months.

What would you like to be your legacy?

I’d like to think that my legacy could be one that helped build a range of important matters for the state both across the sporting but also housing, health, education that people will look back in 20 years’ time and say that was a period that Tasmania actually invested, that it captured the moment, and importantly, all Tasmanians are better off for it.

I think the opportunities in front of us are just so special at the moment. There is a moment right now for Tasmania, I think in terms of the fact that we have 100 per cent renewable energy, that in terms of climate, which is part of the international discourse, and we’ll be moving forward to net zero, we’ve achieved six out of every seven years. The opportunity that we have to attract investment, the opportunity that we have to provide for Tasmania and Tasmanians has never been better. And what I want to do, and what I would hope my legacy could be, would be that when people look back we actually did grasp those opportunities for them.

CEO of Hobart Airport Norris Carter with Premier Peter Gutwein, are excited to welcome tourists from New Zealand over the school holidays. Picture: Richard Jupe

Did you open the borders too early?

In terms of opening the borders, it was important that we did that later than other states, that we got our vaccination rate up to above 90 per cent. Other states opened, in some cases, below 80 per cent and I think that was too early. In terms of where we hit into the future, lockdowns are certainly something that’s not on my radar. But I do have to say that I’m very worried about New South Wales, and NSW is looking like a super spreader event for the entire country.

Do you think Labor can recover from its woes before the next election?

I think it’s a political truism but if you can’t manage yourself, you could not manage the state.

I believe that my focus very clearly is going to be on making certain that we get the job done. And if we get the job done, it doesn’t in my mind make any difference what occurs with Labor but I think that they are going to be in difficulties for some time.