Transcript of Will Hodgman MP
Leader of the State Opposition
Press Conference, Wednesday 4 November 2009
Parliament House
Will Hodgman:
Just so you are clear to about what we are proposing – an extra sitting week at least we believe is necessary to ensure that we get through the heavy Parliamentary schedule that has been increased significantly this week. Just yesterday the Government tabled nine new pieces of legislation. It still has some outstanding. In our view it is not desirable to have the Parliament or indeed the community rushed in any way when we are dealing with legislation. The Government’s coming to the end of its life. The Parliament has only got a handful of sitting days left, but that’s no reason to force legislation on the Parliament, impose unacceptable timeframes and rushing things through.
I’ll say in opening, what I suspect is happening here, is we are seeing the Bartlett Government keen to get out of this place as quickly as they can. They want to rush things through. We sit through the night, then they are happy that, there is only a handful of sitting days left, I think that suits the Government but in our view we should be dealing with these important pieces of legislation in an appropriate way, give them due consideration, reasonable timeframes. There is no reason at all why we cannot sit one more week. The Parliament is not sitting again before the March election, there’s plenty of time. I think Tasmanians would rightly expect us to use it constructively, rather than rush legislation through. Having the farcical situation of an important Bill literally been drawn on the floor of the Parliament last night at 2.30 in the morning, by anyone’s standards it is not acceptable nor is it necessary. So we propose a way forward here. It will be an interesting test of the Bartlett Government whether they are prepared to come back into Parliament for one more week, three more sitting days. It would beggar belief that they could table ten pieces of legislation already this week and not give us another week, in which we can debate them all, as well as the outstanding matters and those things that they have promised to deliver before the State election, in which they still have introduced.
Journalist:
Did you take David Bartlett’s answer this morning as confirmation that, that wouldn’t be happening.
Will Hodgman:
I will be interested to hear exactly what the Premier says. I mean no-one here is wanting to shirk work. There is no issue about us not being prepared to do our job, to sit as long as it takes, but I just don’t think it is necessary that we sit through the night. The Government’s rushing legislation. The fact that their Integrity Commission Bill, very important legislation had to be amended so many times, the Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Lara Giddings even conceded it needs a lot more work, shows that they are rushing things, and that’s not good for Tasmania. We should be about getting the best outcomes, getting the best legislation through, enabling not just Parliamentarians but members of our community to engage in what the Parliament is doing. It’s unacceptable in my view, when we are debating an issue such as integrity in Government to have the Parliament processes compromised to such an extent, that we are sitting late at night. Things are being rushed through, key stakeholders such as the Law Society said they did not have enough time at their disposable to look through that legislation and to pass comment, basically they have given up and that is a totally unacceptable situation.
David Bartlett can claim this is about us shirking work, what I suspect is happening here, is that he is keen to get out of Parliament as quick as he can, he has got an election at the forefront of his mind, but it’s still a better part of six months away. We have got plenty of time between now and then to get this legislation right for Tasmanians. This should be about the interest of Tasmanians, legislation that’s been brought to the Parliament should be dealt appropriately, and this shouldn’t be about David Bartlett’s election campaign, when we are talking about March 2010 for that to occur.
Journalist:
In simple terms, how has the Government managed legislation? Given that they didn’t have enough only a few weeks ago.
Will Hodgman:
Only a few weeks ago the Parliament ran out of business. We saw stonewalling by Government members, we saw waste of Parliamentary time. What we are seeing here is a Government that’s incapable of running the Parliament, let alone running the State. They are appalling managers and everyone is now seeing it to the full extent that it’s compromising Parliamentary processes, compromising legislation, it’s compromising things that this Parliament or this Government has agreed or committed to do, they can’t meet their own deadlines. If the Bartlett Government can’t manage the business of Parliament, how can they manage the business of our State.
Journalist:
Do you categorise the extension of the Pulp Mill permit as Government’s support of that project?
Will Hodgman:
Look our view and the Parliamentary Liberal Party will formalise its position and obviously vote on the Bill when it’s debated. Our view is that we do not oppose what’s been sought here, we consider it reasonable in the circumstances. Our position has always been crystal clear on the Pulp Mill. Unlike David Bartlett I have been a strong supporter of it from day one. The process has been appalling, I suspect that there is another illustration here, where the Government just hasn’t got it right and hasn’t managed things properly, but our view remains that we want to see this project get up, we don’t believe it unreasonable that this extension be provided, we want to be assured that the Mill most importantly meets strict environmental guidelines, isn’t going to damage our environment, or cause any other damage to our community. We would like to see it get up, we would like to see it progress as soon as possible and our position on the Bill will be to support it.
Journalist:
Just back on the Integrity Commission Bill, can you explain some of the sorts of problems there are with it, what the amendments means were done last night?
Will Hodgman:
It is important legislation. It’s complex and in many respects it’s confronting important issues such as how our Police service operates, principles of law and also the rights of individuals. There are serious issues that need to be properly assessed. To have only a handful of days to analyse the information contained within the Bill, consult with stakeholders. This isn’t just about the Liberal Party or the Greens or even the Labor Party, this is about getting the right mechanisms in place to protect individuals, to ensure that integrity in governance are enhanced. We have had ten years of a Labor Government presiding over an appalling degradation of standards, public confidence at rock bottom all over a ten year period, yet they think that they can rush in legislation of this type in a week and expect the Parliament and the community to have the opportunity to properly digest it and analyse the implications of the legislation. It’s totally unacceptable. We move successfully amendments on the floor of the House, as did the Greens. The Attorney-General herself said that there were a number of matters that she would look at, that needed tidying up and there is no doubt going to be a role for the Legislative Council to try and bang it into shape. Why all that happens on the floor of the House, it’s unacceptable in my view and if the Government had got its act together and introduced this legislation or indeed agreed with our plan and refer it to a Parliamentary Committee years ago, we wouldn’t be in the mess that they are now in the eleventh hour of the life of this Parliament, and indeed the life of the Government ,scrambling to get something. It has been more about David Bartlett saving his own political skin and trying to spin a positive out of this, and less about getting good outcomes for Tasmanians.
Journalist:
How will you proceed with your push for an extra sitting week? Will it be a motion on the floor, will it be a letter to the Premier or to David Llewellyn. How do you plan to continue pushing for that?
Will Hodgman:
Well I am hoping for a simple response from the Premier today to our question, can we sit for another week to get this stuff done properly and I would hope and expect him to do the right thing and say yes. If he doesn’t it will only illustrate that he is keen to get out of here as quickly as possible and we will look at our options then, but we are serious about this. There is plenty of time for the Parliament to sit one more week between now and the next election in March 2010. Tasmanians will be flabbergasted if they think that we can pull up stumps now, given that there is so much business on the table for us to get through, and they won’t want to see people rushing it, let alone the Government that by its own admission last night, introduced legislation that was half baked.
Journalist:
Are there important pieces of legislation or important issues that are yet to be dealt with?
Will Hodgman:
Look there is plenty of stuff. We will produce a very long list of commitments that this Government promised a decade ago, let alone in recent years. A lot of business remains unfulfilled and there is still legislation to come. We want to see the finalised Workers Compensation Bill for example, we have been awaiting that for a long period of time and we expect that will join the list. There is plenty still to be done. There is plenty that this Government committed to deliver before the next election, if they don’t it will be on their heads. We are totally and utterly prepared to debate these Bills for as long as it takes and to do our job. There is no issue about us shirking our responsibilities in that regard, but let’s be reasonable about it. There is no need for any workplace to operate for 16 hours straight, or whatever it was, there is no need for Parliament to sit until 2.30 in the morning if we can just reconvene in a couple of weeks time and do our business in an appropriate way and get the best outcomes for Tasmanians. That is what this should be about. If David Bartlett says no today that can only lead to the conclusion this is more about him, more about him getting out of Parliament as quickly as possible, and less about getting his legislation through properly.
Journalist:
What about extending the weeks that we already have, or what about for example sitting the final week on Monday and Friday as well, so it’s a four or five day week. Will that be compromising and willingness?
Will Hodgman:
We will look at all options. We think another week at least is necessary at this point in time. The response from the Premier today was pathetic and simply didn’t deal with the issues here. We will work constructively, we’ll turn up whenever is necessary and whenever it’s required. But why we can’t do it within standard business hours, given that we got between now and March next year, is beyond me. And we did, you are right Simon. Here we were just a few weeks ago in the farcical situation of the Government needing to filibuster , they ran out of business and now in the last couple of weeks, last five sitting days they are ramming through really important stuff on Integrity, Workers Compensation, a lot of AG Bills.
Journalist:
The Treasurer (inaudible) attack on in Parliament, how do you respond that there are dozens of unfunded Liberal election promises?
Will Hodgman:
Being attacked by Michael Aird is, I don’t know how to describe it, certainly doesn’t have any great impact on us. His record is far from impressive when it comes to budgeting and we have seen him preside over budget blowouts almost every single year, since he has been Treasurer.
Journalist:
Is it a fair criticism? Are there many of your promises, that there is no money?
Will Hodgman:
No. We made our position clear in response to the State Budget this year. We drew our own line in the sand and said that what we announce we will fully costed and we will fully funded. It will all be in our financial policy, it will be in accordance with our obligations under the Charter of Budget Responsibility. We have said that we are not going to engage in some sought of competition to throw money around and win votes at the next election. Everything we do will be substantiated, costed, funded and we stand by it.
Will Hodgman MP Leader of the Opposition
