David Bartlett, Campaign Launch

Labor Campaign Launch
March 2010

Thank you.

Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd
Former Premier Paul Lennon
Friends and colleagues of the Australian Labor Party
And to the people of Tasmania.

Can I begin by thanking the Prime Minister for that introduction.
Kevin Rudd is and will continue to be a great friend of Tasmania, and I look forward to working with him for many years to come on behalf of the people of our State.

Friends,

This election is all about one thing.
The Tasmanian people themselves – because they are the reason we are here.
They are the reason our party exists.
I say clearly to the Tasmanian people today, that your priorities are our priorities.

Your health services;
Your jobs;
Your education system;
These are concerns all of us share as Tasmanians, and these are the priorities on which Labor will stand up for you.

Friends,

I stand here today as Premier.
But there was a time when my future looked very different.
My birth mum was faced with the most difficult of choices when she was only 16 and I was adopted.
And I was a handful, because I had a medical condition.
I had a badly twisted foot and there was concern I would never be able to walk properly.
I had seven operations in our public hospitals, where skilled doctors and nurses cared for me.
As a kid at school, I found it difficult to concentrate.
When as a teenager I was a disinterested student, I had teachers willing to reach out and connect me to the world.
There are thousands of teachers providing that same support for kids in our classrooms everyday.
So when people ask me as Premier why I’m passionate about our health and education systems in our State, my answer is simple: I have seen them change lives.
They have changed mine.
Without our public hospital system, without our public education system, and without the compassion of Tasmanian people who care, I wouldn’t be standing here today.
There are many Tasmanians who have faced hardship and won.
I say to all Tasmanians, as your Labor members of Parliament, we share and understand your stories.
We know the pressures you face.
And we’ll be there to face them with you.

Friends,

I came to the Premiership at a time when we were facing some difficulties.
And immediately, we were confronted by the great challenge of the Global Financial Crisis.
It has never been in the nature of our party, and it has never been in my nature, to run from a challenge.
We met the challenge of the Global Financial Crisis head-on, which is the same way we have confronted other challenges.
As Premier, I have put forward and pursued policies at a speed and pace that reflected my desire to change Tasmania for the better in the shortest time possible.
I have run hard.
Sometimes, I have perhaps run too fast.
And sometimes, I have made mistakes.
We, as a Government, have not got everything right.
We’ve been big enough and strong enough to admit when mistakes have been made and to fix them.
Tasmanians know that under a Bartlett Labor Government, we’re strong enough to take the tough decisions, and humble enough to listen.
We do that because at the very core of the Labor Party – at the defining point of what we are all about – is a compassion for people.
Everything that we care about and stand for as a Government links back to the Tasmanian people themselves.
The Tasmanian people know that in times of crisis, we will stand with them.
They know that because, as the Global Financial Crisis descended on us, that is exactly what we did.
We stood with the abattoir workers on King Island and said we wouldn’t let their jobs – or their island community – be sacrificed.
We stood with the call centre workers at Kingston and Burnie and made sure their jobs were secure.
We stood with our dairy farmers and West Coast miners and said that they deserve a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.
And we stood with the families of the North-West Coast, facing the closure of the paper mills and McCains at Smithton, by joining with the Prime Minister in a $20 million jobs package.
When the times are tough, Tasmanians know that a Labor Government stands with them.
And that is what we will always do.

Friends,

The reason I talk so much about the future, is because I am just getting started as Premier.
We are a government which has so much still to do.
In the 20 months or so since I came into this job, we have achieved some things that are very important for Tasmania’s future.
We have started building the first of our 30 Child and Family Centres – putting all the services under one roof that can help every Tasmanian family be the best they can be.
We’ve seen Tasmanian students improve their literacy and numeracy skills to a level that is competitive with other states.
In health, in the last 18 months alone, we’ve seen 3000 extra elective surgery operations performed while our waiting lists have fallen by 13 per cent.
That’s real progress under Bartlett Labor.
Our economy has emerged from the global recession as one of the strongest in the nation – dubbed Australia’s ‘tiger economy’ by analysts.
That’s real progress under Labor.
And we now have an unemployment rate better than the national average.
That’s real progress under Labor.

Friends,

Political parties who seek to govern have a responsibility to be clear about where their priorities lie.
Government’s have tough choices to make.
Let me be clear today.
Our priority is improving the core government services which Tasmanians rely on.
And front and centre among those services is our public health system.
When it comes to a choice between building the Liberals’ $2.5 billion road or putting that same money into our public hospitals, Labor’s priority will always be public health.
The health system touches the life of every Tasmanian at some point.
It should be there when our kids are sick and in need of help.
When any Tasmanian needs hospital attention, they should be able to get it.
Every single Tasmanian deserves high quality healthcare.
It shouldn’t be determined by their level of income, where they live or how old they are.
It is simply their right – and it is our responsibility to see that they get it.

Friends, Deputy Premier Lara Giddings has worked incredibly hard – with courage and with determination – to place the Tasmanian health system on a firmer foundation.
Under her leadership – and through the hard work of our doctors, nurses and other health professionals – Tasmania’s Health Plan has renewed the vigour of a health system that was failing to deliver for Tasmanians.
It is now time to take the next step – and begin to turn a strong health system into the most technologically advanced, patient-focussed system in the country.
One that makes sure that all Tasmanians – where ever they live and whatever their circumstances – can access world-class care quickly and safely.
Today, I re-iterate our pledge that a re-elected Labor Government will purchase, and fully staff, a new 24-hour emergency helicopter service, so all Tasmanians know that they are always in reach of medical help no matter where they are.
But that is only one part of a much broader strategy.
That strategy will include further investment in acute care and better access to local day-to-day health services.
In Tasmania today, our emergency departments are under more pressure than ever.
Our GP shortages, rising rates of chronic disease and illness and our ageing population are placing massive pressure on our emergency departments.
That means Tasmanians are waiting too long for care.
Labor must do still more to meet the health challenge.
We know that for many Tasmanians, accessing a GP can be difficult.
Equally, for many GPs, there are too many patients requiring care and too few GPs to treat them.

This, in turn, puts pressure on our emergency departments.
A re-elected Bartlett Labor Government will work together with the Commonwealth and local communities to help attract and retain GPs in Tasmania.
Labor has already committed to providing $2.1 million over three years for GP attraction and retention on the East and West Coasts.
Today, I announce Labor will commit a further $6.3 million to take this approach statewide over the next three years.
These solutions will include the recruitment of extra GPs and nurse practitioners to deliver outreach health services – and we will work with local communities, GP Workforce Tasmania and the Divisions of General Practice to get Tasmanians the healthcare they need.
We also need to enhance Emergency Department alternatives for people when they need care but can’t get an appointment with a GP.
That is why I announce today that a re-elected Labor Government will fund $12 million over three years for four General Care Walk-in Clinics across the state.
The Walk-in Clinics will be the first port of call when you can’t see a GP but you need treatment and your condition is not life-threatening.
The Walk-in Clinics will provide treatment for minor injuries and conditions – and they will do it for free.
They will reduce pressure on our Emergency Departments.
They will help to reduce the time patients wait for care.
Patients will be seen, assessed, examined, treated and discharged by either a doctor or an emergency nurse practitioner.
Where a patient presents with a more severe problem, they can be stabilised and transported to the emergency department for specialist care.
The clinics will operate seven days a week for extended hours when people need care and will be able to provide more than 30,000 services a year.
This will take around 25 per cent of the current load off our hospital emergency departments – meaning shorter waiting times and better public hospital treatment for Tasmanians.
The clinics will be located at all four major public hospitals in Tasmania.
That’s 21st century healthcare, under Labor.
But not all health problems can be solved by accessing a GP or at a Walk-in Clinic.
Tasmanians need better and faster access to high quality, acute level healthcare in our hospitals when serious illness arises.
That’s why I announce today that Labor will provide an additional $8 million per year for four years to clear the backlog of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended timeframes for their surgery.
Our target is that – at the end of this program – Tasmania will have the shortest waiting times in Australia.
Tasmanians deserve the best – and by working with Kevin Rudd and our doctors, nurses and other health professionals – and continuing to implement our health plan – we can do it.
This builds on our existing $18.5m elective surgery package.
And it builds on our Health Plan that has already delivered 3000 extra operations and a 13% drop in waiting lists during my time as Premier.

Friends, in recent weeks, the Tasmanian Liberals have finally started to outline some priorities, while still having no clear plan for the future.

I believe their priorities are the wrong ones for our state.
They have rejected the Prime Minister’s hospital plan, turning their back on a potential $350 million gain to Tasmania’s Budget.
They have let Tasmanians down in making that choice.
They want to keep the finger-pointing with Canberra going.
We want to end the blame game – and get on with providing better public healthcare for Tasmanians.
The Liberals want to spend $5,000 to import Victorians to take jobs from Tasmanians.
That same $5,000 would pay for a Tasmanian to have a knee reconstruction or a hernia operation.
That same $5,000 would also fund a Tasmanian hospital bed for five days.
The health needs of Tasmanians are Labor’s top priority.
The Liberals also want to spend $2.5 billion on a road, when they know traffic volumes don’t warrant it.
Surely, that money would be better spent on our public health system.
And Will Hodgman wants to take $10 million out of our public hospitals to pay for patients in private hospitals.

Friends, Tasmanians deserve shorter surgical waiting times.
But ripping money out of our public hospitals is not the way to achieve it.

When last in government, the Liberals privatised the Mersey Hospital – and the experiment failed.
It took Labor to buy it back and make it work for the people of Tasmania.
And let’s not forget the Liberals’ expensive private deal to build Burnie’s North-West Regional Hospital.
Labor is bringing that hospital back into public hands, too.
The Liberals, when last in office, also carved-off and privatised the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which was – at that time – the most modern part of the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Friends, it’s time we put Tasmanians first, and the Liberals’ discredited privatisation schemes last.
That’s why I announce today that a re-elected Labor Government will buy-back the Hobart Private Hospital.
We will put these facilities to work – not on behalf of private operators – but on behalf of the people they were built to serve.
They will once again be owned by the public, for the public – under Labor.
We will immediately commence formal negotiations with the operators of the Hobart Private Hospital for them to leave the site and relocate by 2013 – six years before their contract with the Liberals expires.
This will end the Liberals’ failed privatisation experiment with our public hospitals in Tasmania once and for all.
Only Labor is committed to ending the privatisation of our hospitals.
We will build a 20,000 square metre hospital building on the Hobart Private site providing state-of-the-art facilities.
The total cost of this will be in the order of $565 million.
This includes $180 million for a new Queen Alexandra Women’s and Children’s Hospital – which I am particularly pleased to be able to announce on International Women’s Day.
And there will be $285 million to end the Liberals’ Hobart Private deal and redevelop on the Argyle Street site.
Labor has already committed $100 million of state funds to redevelop the Royal – and our commitment today is a further $126 million towards these projects.
We will work with Kevin Rudd to deliver these important facilities.
This is on top of the $130 million we have already committed to the transformation of the Launceston General Hospital.
It will deliver the biggest expansion of staff in that hospital’s history, with 260 more doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and support staff.
We’re also spending $8 million at Latrobe’s Mersey Community Hospital.
This will relocate the high-dependency unit, expand the emergency department and upgrade the operating theatres to cope with increased surgical throughput.
In Burnie, on top of buying back the North-West Regional Hospital, Labor has committed $10 million to fast-track a comprehensive new North-West cancer centre.
We’re also spending $5.5 million on expanding car parking at the site to create an additional 200 spaces.
Under Labor, the Royal, the LGH, the Mersey and the North-West Regional will become 21st century hospitals meeting the 21st century needs of Tasmanians.

Friends

There is another challenge that every Tasmanian family feels every day – the cost of living.
The price of electricity, fuel, groceries, clothes and services always seems to go up.
That is the reality right around Australia, and right around the world.
As a State Government, we can’t control world oil prices, and we can’t control Wall Street.
What we can do – what we have done and what we must continue to do – is give people a hand-up.
Give Tasmanians doing it tough a chance to catch their breath.
That is why we have listened and capped water and sewerage price rises at 5%.
That is why we have listened and exempted public housing tenants from paying water and sewerage – a commitment not matched by the Liberals.
That is why we have listened and extended our range of concessions to health care card holders.
And that is why we have listened and capped electricity price rises at 5% for 2010/11 – a cap the Liberals have again refused to match.
We did those things because it’s what a Labor Government must do.
We make that choice because we have the right priorities.
I am a Premier who will never forget where I came from.
And I will never forget who I’m working for.

Friends,

Tasmanians can rely on Labor to keep our economy strong.
They know we will create new jobs because that’s what we do every day.
And they know we will fight to protect jobs when it’s needed – because that’s what we’ve done every day.
In this election campaign, only Labor can guarantee no new taxes and no increase in the rates of existing taxes.
That’s how Labor supports business to create jobs.

We are here today because Labor has a vision for the future of Tasmania.
And we know there is still so much more to do.
We will create 15,000 new jobs by 2014 that will keep our young people here.
That is Labor’s priority, not paying $5,000 to import people from mainland states.
We will deliver on our education promises to take Tasmania to the top of the nation in literacy and numeracy within six years.
We will invest in the irrigation, broadband and renewable energy projects that will set Tasmania up for the future.
And most of all, we will deliver better health services when and where they are needed.
That is my pledge to the Tasmanian people.
And that is the choice we present at this election.

Friends,

There is a clear reason why I deliberately chose to be the first Premier in 50 years to retain the education portfolio.
It’s because education transforms lives.
As the parents of two beautiful children, education is personal for Larissa and me.
We, like every other parent in our state, want the best for our kids.
All of our children are entitled to a quality education.
That is their right as proud Tasmanians.
And I will not rest until we have an education system that matches that responsibility.
That is why we will – and must – stand by our education reforms.
We cannot let our kids down by seeing them emerge into the job market with the lowest level of post-year 10 qualifications in Australia.
We know that 86 per cent of jobs in Australia today require a post-secondary qualification.
Yet less than 45 per cent of our young people are gaining those qualifications.
We have to do better if we are to lift our productivity rates and unlock the skills shortage that threatens to prevent our economy from growing into the future.
To do that, we have to stay true to our post-year 10 reforms.
I have tremendous respect for the job Tasmanian teachers are doing.
This includes our Academy and Polytechnic teachers who continue to work with us through a reform process that has been hard.
I know there are things we could have done better in implementing these reforms.
I want to work with teachers to get this right. To provide the resources and campus leadership they need.
Together we can create a system that sets our kids up for a lifetime of success, rather than conditioning them to accept second best.
And our $8 million investment in an anti-bullying plan is about making our kids safe at school.
Labor is providing the innovative programs that help students thrive.
Today I announce we will go further.
We will commit $6.5 million over four years for our high schools to better support students at risk of becoming disengaged.
Students will be able to move in and out of this program as their needs change.
Labor has a proud record of looking after students with special needs.
Since 2004, we have more than doubled the level of resources for educational and support services available for them.
And in the 2010 school year, $59.8 million has been allocated for this purpose.
I want to give our children the chance to experience all aspects of learning.
That’s why Labor will work with state primary schools to increase access to specialist teachers in the areas of physical education, music, arts and languages.
We commit to providing funds as needs are identified within schools.
Labor will also provide $1.56 million extra over four years for Catholic and Independent schools to assist their programs for special needs children.
Labor has already shown the way on public education in Tasmania.
During this election campaign, Labor has already committed over $50 million to building a better education system.
We have promised:
$11 million for adult literacy;
$12 million to improve literacy and numeracy in high schools;
Up to $18 million for a new specialist sports school at Cosgrove High; and
$13 million for a new primary school at Port Sorell.

Friends,

I am proud to lead a team of candidates to this election that come from every corner of our state and almost every facet of Tasmanian life.
My fellow Labor candidates, I am proud to stand beside you today because I know we stand for the right priorities for this state.
And the choice at this election could not be more stark.
Tasmanians know that – when it really counts – Labor has public health as its number one priority.
The choice at this election is simple.
It’s a choice between better public healthcare under Labor.
Or a Liberal line-up that puts funding a $2.5 billion road ahead of public hospitals.
A Liberal line-up that pays visitors to take the jobs of Tasmanians.
A Liberal line-up that wants to privatise elective surgery – and take money out of our public hospitals to do it.
They are untried, untested and out-of-touch.
Labor offers a clear choice when it counts.
We believe in the right of every single Tasmanian to quality healthcare, quality education and quality of life.
They are at the very core of what we stand for.
They reflect the ideals of the working people that founded our party.
The miners, the timber workers, the factory workers – who joined together to build hope and opportunities for their children.
The men who a hundred years ago risked their lives everyday in the mines of Queenstown and Rosebery for meagre wages.
The women who struggled along on piecework, when wage-equality wasn’t even a dream.
The migrant families who found new opportunity building our great hydro dams.
These people – the Tasmanian people – are the Tasmanian Labor Party.
Their belief and their passion sustains us.
And their strength inspires us to join with them in building a stronger Tasmania.

Friends,

We have the experience, the determination and the vision to drive Tasmania forward.
The Tasmanian people know we believe in them passionately, because they are the reason this party exists.
To the people of Tasmania I say today:
I have only been here in this job for 20 short months.
But we have achieved so much and can do so much more.
We want the opportunity to continue delivering on the right priorities for the Tasmanian people.
It’s a journey to a stronger Tasmania, and I ask the people of our state to give us the chance to take that journey with them.
When it really counts on March 20, I ask the people of Tasmania to vote Labor.

Thank you.