Will Hodgman MP
Leader of the Opposition
Press Conference, Parliament House
Thursday 19 November 2009
TOPICS: Michael Hodgman’s retirement; Lisa Singh’s answer; Labor’s negative tactics; election.
Please note this transcript is unproofed.
Journalist:
(inaudible) Hodgman clan?
Will Hodgman:
Look it’s a day of mixed emotions. Obviously I am thrilled for my dad to go out on his own terms and to leave behind an impressive Parliamentary career. He has by any stretch been a wonderful servant of the people of Tasmania. He has been a wonderful advocate, tremendous role model. I wish him well, I look forward to him spending more time with his family, me included, and out of the political cauldron. He certainly deserves a happy retirement. I think he will go with people’s blessings and with a very, very strong track record that speaks for itself.
Journalist:
Does this give your Party an opportunity – not to diminish Michael’s contribution, but an opportunity for renewal and new members coming through at the election?
Will Hodgman:
I think what this does is show the Tasmanian people that we are a strong team and one with emerging talent. We have very strong candidates all over the State and there is a wonderful opportunity for us in Denison obviously now with a sitting member retiring, one who has done an amount of work, left an incredible legacy, built up trust and repour with the people of Denison, who in my view are now looking for alternatives, well there is now an opportunity for five very strong candidates and that’s a positive.
Journalist:
Again not to diminish your father’s contribution, will this make it easier for you to operate in the House, to be your own person?
Will Hodgman:
I have felt absolutely no pressure, no influence at all from my father being a member of Parliament, the member of the Parliamentary Liberal team. It’s an absolute nonsense for anyone to suggest my abilities have been curtailed in some way because my father is our party. They have in fact advantaged me. We have had one of the most experienced, resolute, committed and passionate members of Parliament that has ever sat in place before, and I have been fortunate to have him as a father, but also as a member of my team.
Journalist:
What has he taught you about being a politician?
Will Hodgman:
I grew up and one of the most enduring memories I have of my childhood is my father being in politics. I have grown up seeing a man first-hand working closely with the members of his Party, his constituency. I have seen a man who is committed to helping the battler in Tasmania. I have seen a man who is committed to what he believes in and I have seen a man who will argue passionately and articulately for what he stands for. He’s a most tremendous role model, he is a man of many talents and his is an impressive individual, so for me to have him as my father, I have been lucky enough, but to have him in my team is also advantaged me.
Journalist:
The last day of Question Time before the election, does the Government leave with questions unanswered still?
Will Hodgman:
Well they always will I suppose. There was always going to be a day when we have to draw a close to the business of our Parliament. I think in many respects it is regrettable that we are not sitting before the next election, which isn’t until March. A lot of business still left unattended. I raised an issue in Parliament today on the mandatory screening for those who work with children. That legislation was promised, it was recommended five years ago. The Government said five months ago, that is was to be tabled imminently. There is a lot of legislation that will not be dealt with, there are a lot of commitments from this Government that remain unfulfilled. Yes we need to draw a line on this Parliamentary term, but I would have thought we could have used a little more of the time we have between now and March to get some of that stuff done, but there is no doubt despite a slightly stronger attempt by the Government to look strong this morning, that they are ready to get out of here. No doubt the Government has had a bad run, they are not governing the State properly, they have run out of steam, they are dysfunctional, there are keen to get out of here.
Journalist:
How would you characterise Lisa Singh’s response to your question on that issue this morning?
Will Hodgman:
Look, the serious question about child protection and the commitment unfulfilled after very strong recommendations from the Children’s Commissioner, it is in my view a disgrace that they have not been able to advance this. It is something I have been arguing for, for some time and it is as I say disgraceful that they have not been able to meet their commitment, because we are talking about protecting Tasmanian children. I thought it was extraordinary that David Bartlett flicked the question to Lisa Singh on the basis that she apparently knew more about it and she gave one of the most rambling, incoherent and irrelevant answers to a very important question. It shows that the Premier does not have a handle on the job and it shows that his Ministers are on a different page all together. It was an unacceptable response, and evidence of this Government being dysfunctional in the eleventh hour.
Journalist:
Will, what did you make of the Government given they got up and said the Liberals needed to be full of ideas, proactive and positive in this next four months, and yet the balk of their Question Time was taken up with negative attacks on the Opposition parties.
Will Hodgman:
Well a lot of their time was also spent this morning attacking our ideas and our policies, the four-lane Midland Highway, land tax reforms, these sort of issues that we are quite happy to debate the Premier about. So they are actually contradicting their own argument. They on one hand prepared to attack our policies and then David Bartlett was claiming we have none. This is going to be the mother of all negative campaigns. Today was just an insight and how desperate the Premier, on the back of a very ordinary poll is reacting. This Government will stop at nothing, there will be personal attacks, they will do whatever they can and from the position of Government do whatever it takes to protect their own interests, Tasmanians can expect a lot more of this. We will put our policies out there, no doubt and be subjected to the appropriate scrutiny and that is what this should all be about, but this was an insight today into how they are going to behave in the running to the next election.
Journalist:
Is it hypocritical to accuse you of slinging mud and promptly throw some more across the House themselves?
Will Hodgman:
I mean you are all there to see it. It was hypocrisy in the extreme and total inconsistency, as I say. On one hand they say we have got no policies, yet they spent a large part of this morning attacking ours, and as you say, they were certainly a little more active today than they have been. This is a Government that if you notice in recent weeks looked totally deflated, there is no sense of team amongst them, they are obviously told at the last minute to lift your game, we saw an attempt today, but it was much about personal attack, negativity, no ideas and no commitment to the Tasmanian people about a positive campaign moving forward. So get used to it, it’s going to be the mother of all negative campaigns. I am ready for it, but Tasmanians will see very clearly what we say should happen in this State, and what our vision for its future.
Journalist:
That has started with the brochures that the Labor Party circulating regarding water and sewerage. I mean, that’s a fact the Liberals did vote for those reforms. What do you say to voters who are going to be getting those in their letterboxes?
Will Hodgman:
We will never argue against or about the sub-standard level of infrastructure in this State. We will never argue that our education system doesn’t need reform. On both fronts we agree with the Government. Things need to change. They have had eleven years to get things in shape and have failed to do so, but we have always said let’s fix our infrastructure, let’s look at water and sewerage services in this State, let’s look at the poor education standards that are depriving Tasmanian kids of a good education. We never said we would sign up to a poorly and badly implemented policy. We never said we would sign up to things that have only come to light since that legislation was passed. With respect to the water and sewerage legislation, you should not forget that the Labor Government sat on a report for a number of months that had important information about the impact of these changes on Tasmanian households. Yes, we will always argue for improvements in education, health and infrastructure, and yes we will always look for better ways to achieve that, but I will never ascribe my support to such appallingly handled implementation.
Journalist:
Can they have confidence you will fix them if you win Government in March?
Will Hodgman:
That’s a matter for the Tasmanian people. We will put our policies as we are doing, on the table and allow appropriate time for them to be scrutinised, they will be costed, they will be funded and Tasmanians will make their own decision in March next year.
Journalist:
Can we just go back to your dad’s departure today, and you have told us, and there is no need to doubt it that you are your own man, your here and you serve the people off your own back, but the other side is that there is this family dynasty. Can you tell us or describe if you feel any sense of duty to your family or that heritage, the political heritage?
Will Hodgman:
I have always acknowledged that having a Hodgman name is in many respects an advantage. I have always set about to be my own person, and from day one I made sure I connected with the people of Franklin, my electors, to let them know exactly whom I am and what I stand for. I think my own personal record on that front speaks for itself. Some people will argue that it can be a disadvantage being a member of a political family, but it’s not. In my view I grew up with it, I knew what to expect, I was acutely aware of the challenges of politics, but also the great opportunities that are there. If you work hard and you stand up for what you believe in. I learnt a valuable lesson from Michael Hodgman as a Parliamentary colleague and as a father, not once did he ever influence a decision I made, not once did he ever look over my shoulder, and my colleagues will vouch for the fact that he was an effective, positive contributor to our team over a number of years, and we will be sad to see that go, but there is now an opportunity for new blood in our team. And he is right, I set very high expectations of myself, my Parliamentary colleagues, and I think the Tasmanian people want to see a team that is capable of working around the clock, because Tasmanians deserve a good alternative Government. I believe that they going to get that and Michael Hodgman is quite happy to declare his days done, his time done, his work is done on that front, but he will still remain very much a valuable contributor to the cause of the Liberal Party. I don’t expect he will go away for one minute, nor should he.
Journalist:
Today is your father’s last day in Parliament; do you expect that there will be significant numbers of Labor members that don’t get to sit in their chairs again next year?
Will Hodgman:
I think there will be a significant turnaround; voters now have a tremendous range of individuals. In our team I think we have a very, very strong team and I would like to think that there will be a lot more Liberal members in March 2010, but that’s a matter for the Tasmanian people.
Journalist:
Do you think that some of those Labor members would be replaced anyway if it was with another Labor member? Are you expecting major turnaround, a marginally different House next year?
Will Hodgman:
Well I would hope and I think that the Tasmanian voting public who are always actively involved in the political process will exercise their right, it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a few less Labor members, nor should you, they have been a disgrace of a Government, they are incompetent, they are out of ideas, stale, it’s about time we have got some people into this Parliament who are able of not only performing to an adequate level, but actually getting on with the job of taking Tasmania in the right direction.
Will Hodgman MP Leader of the Opposition
