· A Hodgman Liberal Government will establish a network of base stations across Tasmania so farmers can use GPS technology for precision farming that brings greater efficiencies and a lower carbon footprint

· The Policy will have wider application for other government and industry sectors including Infrastructure planning and development, emergency services, construction and mining.

· Global Navigation Satellite System network must be part of infrastructure plan for Tasmania

The Liberal policy initiative to establish Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) infrastructure around the state to help Tasmanian achieve its agricultural potential can also deliver significant benefits across the Tasmanian government and industry sector, and should be a key plank of any comprehensive infrastructure plan for Tasmania.

This new $1 million policy initiative was launched last week by the Leader of the State Opposition, Will Hodgman and will establish a network of GPS base-stations across the Tasmania that would put Tasmanian farmers at the cutting edge of new technology; enabling them to boost productivity, use water more efficiently, and reduce chemical, fertiliser and fuel inputs, as well as their carbon footprint.

However development of such infrastructure will also have wider application for other government and industry sectors including Infrastructure planning and development, emergency services, bushfire management, construction and civil engineering, mining, forestry and disaster monitoring and management.

The Tasmanian Liberals will determine the requirements to build a high accuracy satellite positioning network across Tasmania that will be able to pinpoint a position and height above sea level anywhere in Tasmania, reduce the cost of entry to high accuracy positioning and navigation, and provide an official state reference standard for the measurement of position in Tasmania.

The state government must include this Liberal Policy initiative in its long awaited infrastructure plan for Tasmania.
Jeremy Rockliff MP Shadow Minister for Infrastructure