Turnbull talks up city deal for Hobart during Tassie visit

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull is keen to negotiate a “city deal” for Hobart, which could help facilitate a light rail system and modern public transport network.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke of his vision for Hobart during a visit to the city. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull is keen to negotiate a “city deal” for Hobart, which could help facilitate a light rail system and modern public transport network.

Mr Turnbull, who visited Hobart yesterday for the first time since the Federal Election, told the Mercury of his vision for improved amenity, livability and housing affordability for the state’s capital.

“We’re very open, in fact enthusiastic, about talking about it. We are taking a very different approach to previous governments, both Coalition and Labor,’’ Mr Turnbull said.

“My view is we need to have ‘city deals’ like we do with Launceston — and we could readily do one with Hobart.

Under its Smart Cities Plan, the Government has a $7.5 million city deal with Launceston and another $100 million deal with Townsville.

Mr Turnbull said a city deal for Hobart would co-ordinate all investment.

It would then deliver a fully-integrated outcome for the city, he said.

“We work out what we want to achieve and that is going to be about improved amenity, livability, housing affordability and improved access to jobs, education and recreation,” Mr Turnbull said.

“The investment in urban infrastructure that makes a city more liveable is not a luxury. Cities are economic assets, it attracts tourism, it attracts businesses to establish here. One of Australia’s great assets is that we have some of the most liveable cities in the world.”

Mr Turnbull said he was aware of the plans by the University of Tasmania (UTAS) to expand into the CBD, particularly its push for a $400 million STEM centre, and the potential of the $300 million redevelopment of Macquarie Point.

He said light rail had the advantage of allowing passengers to hop on and hop off along the journey and he was aware of the work by sustainability expert Professor Peter Newman for a link between Macquarie Point and Glenorchy along the old train line.

“It (light rail) enables you to bring communities together in a way you can’t really do with alternative forms of transport — a very good example being the Gold Coast light rail,” he said.

In an interview which focused on the future of state and the lesson learned since the disastrous July 2 election result, the Prime Minister also acknowledged the requirement for more federal attention on Tasmania’s health needs.

He said Labor’s so-called “Mediscare” campaign cut through in Tasmania more than other states and contributed to the loss of the seats of the “three amigos” in Bass, Braddon and Lyons.

But he also said it was the duty of the government to win the trust of the people in the key area of health, which was identified by the Mercury as the No. 1 issue important to Tasmanians in the lead-up to the federal poll.

“I think it was quite clear that our policies supported the economic growth in Tasmania, but the Medicare campaign was extremely effective in those three seats,” he said.

“It was an outrageous lie, it was about as dishonest as a political campaign could be right up to the point of sending older and more vulnerable Australians text messages which purported to come from Medicare itself, which owing to a loophole in the law is not an offence.

“We need to address this vulnerability and restore the trust, especially the people targeted by Labor in the campaign.”

He said a lack of assurance among people about the Liberals’ commitment to public health had provided a base for the success of the scare campaign.

The Liberals suffered a swing of nearly 10 per cent in the Bass electorate.

Earlier Mr Turnbull said that the Liberals had to be more engaged with the people they represented.

He also conceded that legislation for the same-sex marriage plebiscite was unlikely to pass the Senate next week.

And he confirmed the Federal Government would introduce legislation next week banning people from Manus Island and Nauru from ever coming to Australia.

“The Bill will be introduced into the House next week and it is a critically strong part of the message we send to people smugglers,” he said.

Mr Turnbull was also greeted by more than 100 people protesting against the Government’s refugee policies when he attended an afternoon function at City Hall in Hobart.

He will give the keynote address at the Liberal Party state council in Launceston today.