Bulk-billing clinics promised to ease ED pressure
Ten Tasmanian GP clinics would offer 100 per cent bulk-billed urgent care in a move Labor says will ease ambulance ramping and bed block in emergency departments. LIVE ELECTION BLOG >>
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Bulk-billing clinics to ease ED pressure: Labor
By Helen Kempton
‘One serious incident away from a catastrophe’
Alarm bells over ambulance queues at Tassie hospitals
TEN GP Extended Care Clinics offering 100 per cent bulk billed urgent care will be established to take pressure off emergency department, Labor promised on Monday.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said the clinics would have 1000 patient visits available each day throughout Tasmania.
The 10 clinics – two in each Tasmanian electorate -would be open between 8am and 8pm seven days a week and provide 100 per cent bulk billed urgent care.
It would cost over $3m to run each centre amounting to a $31.6m annual commitment.
But Labor says the clinics would be a game-changer and save money and angst at the State’s overstretched hospitals.
“Access to GPs across Tasmania can be challenging and it is hard to get into a bulk billing practice,” Ms White said.
“If people can’t get in, or afford to go to a clinic, they go to the hospital or call an ambulance.
“This will mean people can see a doctor when they need one and it will help take pressure off hospital emergency departments and reduce ambulance ramping,” Ms White said.
“Too many Tasmanians don’t have access to affordable health care and that’s part of the reason why our emergency department staff every day struggle to keep up with demand.
“Labor’s plan will address that urgent need, particularly in areas like Hobart’s northern suburbs where one of the GP clinics will be located.”
Shadow Health Minister Dr Bastian Seidel said no Tasmanian should be forced to delay care because of cost.
“Our model has been endorsed as nation leading by the RACGP and this is a gamechanger for access to health care throughout Tasmania,” Dr Seidel said.
“These extended care centres will also be staffed by paramedic practitioners.
“We need to look at different ways of delivering health care and affordable healthcare in the community will take the pressure off our overcrowded emergency departments.”
helen.kempton@news.com.au
Post COVID-19 Emergency Act review promised
By Helen Kempton
RARELY used legislation which allowed the government to move in and take control of Burnie’s public hospital during the pandemic will be reviewed if the Liberals are returned to government.
“The COVID pandemic was the first time we have had to respond to not only a statewide health emergency, but a highly regionalised viral outbreak. It tested the Emergency Management Act and identified key areas we can improve to keep Tasmanians safe,” Mr Gutwein said.
He promised the review of the Act – parts of which have been enacted in the past during major bushfires and floods but never in full before the pandemic – would happen within the first 100 days of the Liberals forming government.
“We will release the draft Terms of Reference for public comment and consultation within this time frame and the review will commence in full once the public health emergency has been stood down,” Mr Gutwein said.
“This review will update and modernise key parts of the legislation to incorporate the lessons that have been learnt in responding to the unprecedented COVID pandemic – specifically the outbreak that the North West faced in 2020.”
In an unprecedented move, Burnie’s North West Regional Hospital was shut and deep cleaners and the army bought in after thousands of staff and their close contacts were put into quarantine after an outbreak at the facility.
Mr Gutwein said the Emergency Management Act 2006 was one of the most important pieces of legislation in the state’s arsenal for dealing with emergencies.
“It has been broadly fit for purpose since becoming law, however the COVID crisis, especially the North West outbreak presents an opportunity to review and update it so Tasmania is best prepared to respond to future challenges,” he said.
The review of the Act will also consider important amendments to other legislation such as the Public Health Act 1997.
“This will ensure our emergency management framework is consistent, robust and provides a strong foundation for our emergency response into the future,” he said.
“It’s important to note that our government will not make amendments specific to the State Emergency Service or its functions. The review will focus on Tasmania’s emergency response framework and functions when a whole of government response is required.”
helen.kempton@news.com.au
‘I don’t need back-up’: Gutwein
By Helen Kempton
PM tries to avoid Liberal candidate after alleged anti-Muslim posts
Bass cash splash as PM tipped to tour Agfest
Premier Peter Gutwein says Prime Minister Scott Morrison might not make it to Tasmania this election campaign but he can hold his own without backup from Canberra.
Mr Morrison had been due to attend Sunday’s Anzac Day ceremony in Latrobe.
“I was expecting him to be in Latrobe but things change,” Mr Gutwein said.
“Mr Morrison had been in WA (where there is currently a snap lockdown due to fresh COVID-19 cases) so he couldn’t come to Tasmania.
“He is a busy man and whether he comes to Tasmania before Saturday’s election or not will be governed by his diary.
“I don’t need the Prime Minister to hold my hand in an election campaign. I can hold my own.”
Mr Gutwein on Monday said he expected the election result to be closer than “what people think.”
And he reiterated he would only serve as Premier in a majority government and not work with the growing number of independents standing this election.
He pointed back to his performance during the pandemic saying Tasmania’s strong COVID-19 performance and fast decision making would not have been possible with a minority government in power.
The Liberals accused Labor Leader Rebecca White of backflipping on her commitment to only govern in majority.
But on Monday, Ms White said the party had made it abundantly clear that it was campaigning for majority government and there was no other option on the table.
Tasmania’s business community also come out in support of majority government saying while it respected and valued democracy, it believed it was vital Tasmania elected majority government on May 1.
“Now more than ever, the business community needs certainty and stability in our political leadership. Our economy is beginning the long process of recovering from COVID-19 and it is incredibly fragile,” the joint statement said.
“We believe that a minority government would bring significant instability and damage confidence. History shows minority government leads to higher unemployment, less investment and fewer opportunities for Tasmanians.”
$20m for small business under a re-elected Gutwein government
By Jarrod Lawler
Small businesses across that state would receive around $20 million in funding if Liberals retain majority government at this weekend’s state election.
The package would provide funding for a $2 million small business incubator to encourage entrepreneurs to grow their small business ventures and $10 million to get stalled building projects off the ground in order to boost Tasmania’s building and construction sector.
“Small business is the backbone of Tasmanian business,” Premier Peter Gutwein said.
“We have roughly half the people in Tasmania, around 100,000 of them to date, who are employed in small business,” he said.
The package would also include $800,000 in funding towards Business Tasmania to ensure there is one point of contact for small businesses for accessing information and support, and $1.2 million towards creating a financial counselling and advice support program for small businesses to assist them in accessing professional advice from the private sector.
“It is important that we continue the work that we are doing to ensure that we provide that certainty, to provide the underpinning that’s required, to ensure our small business sector can continue to take steps forward, and importantly hire people,” Premier Gutwein said.
‘PACK YOUR BAGS AND P!SS OFF’: INDEPENDENT FIRES AT BIG PARTIES
By David Killick
FISHERMAN Craig Garland says the major parties need to respect the will of voters at the May 1 election or “pack their bags and piss off”.
The straight-talking independent is making his fourth tilt for office, in the seat of Braddon at the May 1 election.
He says the major parties aren’t listening to ordinary Tasmanians and the best hope of keeping them honest lies in a minority government with independent candidates holding the balance of power.
“The fact that the Liberals and Labor have said that they will not govern in minority. This is a democracy,” he said.
“What they need to be told if they’re not prepared to govern in a democratic way, pack your bags and piss off.
“If you’ve got a balance of power with a couple of good independents, it’s going to hold them to account.
“Tasmanians have to wake up. Stand up and put your weight behind the independents. Put major party’s preferences second. Send a loud message to them.”
Mr Garland is campaigning on a platform that includes opposition to the Robbins Island wind farm project and Marinuslink power interconnector as well as the expansion of fish farms into the waters of northwest Tasmania.
He says the power projects will damage natural values, agriculture and forestry for the benefit of foreign owners.
“Labor and Liberal are both in lock-step. If you want salmon farms in the northwest, if you want Marinuslink, if you want the Robbins Island wind farm project, you vote for these major parties because they will force it upon us and you’ll hear about it after they get in.
“It’s a symptom of a bigger problem. All these projects we’re having forced upon us without community consultation.
“Robbins Island, wind farms, salmon farms, Lake Malbena and all the rest of it was about a government that’s so out of touch with the community.”
The fisherman received 1967 primary votes in Braddon in the 2018 state election — more than current Liberal MP Felix Ellis — and 2774 primary votes statewide in the 2019 federal Senate election.
At the 2018 federal Braddon by-election, he received 6633 primaries: 10.6 per cent of the vote.
FARMING LIFE IS FERTILE GROUND FOR TASSIE POLITICS
by Simon Bevilacqua
LABOR candidate for Lyons Edwin Batt reckons running a big farm is a life lesson in responsibility and community.
Mr Batt owns Woodlands, a Melton Mowbray sheep farm.
His convict ancestors, English shepherds, arrived in the Southern Midlands almost 200 years ago. Grandfather, Harry, son of a convict, was critical in the building of Tasmania’s first hydro scheme, and his father, Charles, was a councillor who also served 19 years in state parliament.
“If you run a big farm, you have a responsibility to people in the district around you,” Mr Batt explained, saying this ranged from supplying firewood to jobs.
“People rely on you to get things right. You’re a resource for many people.”
Perhaps this helps explain why so many farmers enter politics.
Known as the Rural Rump, graziers were the most powerful voices in the early decades of state politics.
Farmers have tended to be Liberal Party candidates, but nowadays represent all parties.
A dozen or more candidates who earn their living off the land have thrown their hats in the ring for this May election, representing Labor, the Greens, independents and the Liberals. Then there’s also the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party.
Farmers account for the biggest single profession among candidates.
Perhaps the highest profile is sitting Liberal MP for Braddon, Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff, who grew up on the family farm on the North-West Coast. Mr Rockliff also worked on a cattle and sheep property near Hagley in the North and, after two years at New Zealand’s Lincoln University, received a Diploma in Farm Management, before returning to Tasmania to manage the family property at Sassafras, specialising in mixed cropping and lambs.
Sitting Liberal member for Bass, Health Minister Sarah Courtney has a Master of Wine Technology and Viticulture from the University of Melbourne and established a vineyard in the Tamar Valley, and sitting Liberal candidate for Lyons John Tucker and Labor leader Rebecca White also have strong family farming backgrounds.
Sitting Labor MP for Braddon Shane Broad grew up on a farm in Gawler on the North-West Coast and has a Doctorate in Agricultural science from the University of Tasmania.
Sitting Liberal MP for Braddon Roger Jaensch studied science at Monash University, focusing on land use in semi-arid areas of Australia.
He worked in the remote Gascoyne region of Western Australia in tourism, horticulture, and sheep and goat meat enterprises on farms.
Labor candidate for Bass Owen Powell was born in Scottsdale and grew up on a dairy farm.
He has a Bachelor of Arts and science with honours from UTAS and a PhD from the University of Queensland in land and water management in western Queensland.
Mr Powell, who unsuccessfully ran for Bass in 2018, also took time away from the family farm to go overseas to work in Palestine and Egypt, researching groundwater resources.
While it’s hard to think of a time he could need his multilingual skills in state parliament, it certainly cannot hurt that Mr Powell speaks fluent German and Arabic.
Greens candidate for Braddon, Tasmanian Arboretum president Phill Parsons, is a qualified horticulturist who manages a gardening business and tree nursery.
Greens candidate for Bass Mitchell Houghton is also a horticulturalist who owns and operates a small business, and independent candidate for Braddon Liz Hamer is a Strahan farmer who contested in 2018, polling 141 votes.
Mr Batt reckons farm life helps shape one’s politics, but that his time working interstate as a barrister and magistrate was also instrumental in his outlook.
After 23 years on the bench, he saw that poverty consigns generations to grief and jail. If he sentenced a child to detention aged 14 or 15, chances were that child would return to jail as an adult.
“If that child was Aboriginal, the chances were 100 per cent,” he said.
“I’m here to see the benefit of development spread more widely and fairly,” he said.
He points to Labor’s housing and education policies as ways to close the gap between rich and poor.
Mr Batt returned to run Woodlands, where he became a wool classer, chasing the holy grail of big frame sheep with fine wool, and over 10 years improved his finest wool from 22 microns to 17.
“I’m proud of that, I guess it takes a good eye, and plenty of good advice,” he said.
Mr Batt’s low rank on Labor’s ticket for Lyons means he is unlikely to be elected, but he can fall back on his work as a sheep-race caller at Kempton Festival, training horses, and as deputy mayor of Southern Midlands Council.
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