PM says temporary visas could be tied to Tasmania in bid to boost state’s population

THE Prime Minister says he is willing to adjust Australia’s migration program to tie some visas to placement in Tasmania to help boost the state’s population.

From left, Premier Will Hodgman, Hydro Tasmania CEO Stephen Davy, Energy Minister Guy Barnett and Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Lake Plimsoll on the West Coast. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

THE Prime Minister says he is willing to adjust Australia’s migration program to tie some visas to placement in Tasmania to help boost the state’s population.

In an exclusive interview with the Mercury to mark his first visit as Prime Minister to Tasmania, Scott Morrison said on Friday he had a “very good chat” with Premier Will Hodgman about ways to increase Tasmania’s population.

The PM hinted the pair had discussed making the granting of some temporary visas conditional on settlement in the state.

“We already invest in … services and infrastructure but where the migration program can assist is how we run largely our temporary visa programs,” Mr Morrison said.

“That’s where you can make a lot of these visas conditional about where people are and we’re doing a lot of work on that at the moment and we want to work closely with state governments who are interested in having some of those levers being pulled for their benefit.”

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Mr Morrison would not be drawn on Mr Hodgman’s response. But he said his Government would be guided by the wishes of his Tasmanian counterparts.

“It’s a challenge for Tasmania in terms of its population but it’s got to be done at the right pace and the right scale for Tasmania and it’s got to be very much a Tasmanian plan,” he said.

“What I’m looking for is to work with states who have those plans and we’ll work with them.”

A spokesman for the Premier said Tasmania had applied for a “significant increase” this year in the state’s allocation under the national skilled migration program.

“We are currently awaiting an outcome from the Commonwealth Government in respect of our 2018-19 application, and we welcome the Prime Minister’s support,” the spokesman said.

The State Government’s population strategy would have Tasmania grow to 650,000 people by 2050 in a bid to drive economic growth, create jobs and improve living standards. Tasmania is already a settlement area under the Federal Government’s refugee program.

Pumped Hydro is ‘fair dinkum power’

PUMPED hydro development on Tasmania’s West Coast has “a real obviousness to it”, according to Scott Morrison.

The Prime Minister visited potential pumped hydro site Tribute Power Station at Lake Plimsoll on Friday in his first trip to the state’s West Coast.

Hydro Tasmania’s proposed development would install a new pumped hydro capability at the station, linking Lake Plimsoll and Lake Murchison, which would potentially add 500MW of power capacity — almost doubling that of the entire West Coast.

Mr Morrison labelled pumped hydro “fair dinkum power” and “a cracker of a project” but said he would not get ahead of the feasibility studies by committing funds to the development.

“I think take it one step at a time,” Mr Morrison said.

“I can see the vision — it’s pretty clear.”

Nor would Mr Morrison commit to funding a second Basslink cable to assist with power exports to the mainland, arguing it could be done “completely commercially”.

He added: “You’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to get the timing right on this, otherwise you run the risk of increasing the value of the asset base which drives up electricity prices.

“The timing of these things has to be very carefully weighted, which is why we’re not getting ahead of ourselves on these things. These things are fairly self apparent but I think they’ll be commercially self apparent too.”

The proposed Lake Plimsoll development is one of 14 options Hydro Tasmania is examining as part of an Australian Renewable Energy Agency-funded pumped hydro study.

Hydro Tasmania chief executive Steve Davy said pumped hydro, which allows the reuse of hydro-electric water, was the next generation of Tasmanian hydropower.

“This could be an exciting project for the West Coast, not only producing additional energy capacity but also injecting investment and new jobs,” Mr Davy said.