• Government ‘panicked’ over economy: Unions
Unions want the Tasmanian Government to produce an economic plan for the state.
Last week, Premier Lara Giddings warned Tasmania’s debt would become unmanageable in less than two years, unless government departments trim their budgets by 3 per cent.
Ms Giddings announced plans to cut the equivalent of about 2,300 public sector jobs to cover more than a billion dollars in lost GST and tax revenue.
Representatives from about 20 workers’ unions gathered in Hobart this morning to discuss the Government’s planned cuts to the public sector.
Unions Tasmania secretary Kevin Harkins says the cuts equate to about 3,500 actual employees.
“We’re not convinced that the redundancies are necessary – the Government appears to have no plan,” he said.
“They have no economic strategy, they have no job creation strategy, so we need more information from them about why they think 3,500 job losses is at all necessary.
“They’ve found that there’s a little problem economically and they’ve gone forward in a panic.”
• Tasmanian international cargo shipping ends
ABC Online
Tue 15 Feb
Tasmanian producers, exporters and importers will pay more for transport after an international shipping service was axed.
The AAA Consortium will stop its weekly container service from Bell Bay to Singapore at the end of April.
In a letter to customers, the company says the decision was not taken lightly.
It says regular scheduling issues have plagued the loop over the last few years and drastic restructuring is necessary.
It is the only international container vessel service from Bell Bay.
Without the service, Tasmanian exporters will be forced to ship international goods to Melbourne where they will then be loaded on ships bound for Singapore.
There will be a twice weekly service from Tasmania to Melbourne.
The consortium is made up of four international shipping companies that share space on vessels.
Transport economist John Livermore believes Tasmania’s state-run p …
• Read the rest on ABC Online HERE
Call for upgrades to existing tracks before three capes
Posted Tue Feb 15, 2011 1:51pm AEDT
The leaders of the Australian Greens wants the Tasmanian Government to upgrade existing walking tracks before spending money on the Three Capes proposal.
The Government plans to build a new walking track on the Tasman Peninsula that takes in Cape Hauy, Cape Pillar and Cape Raoul.
But Senator Bob Brown says existing tracks in the Tasman National Park desperately need upgrading and that should take priority.
Senator Brown says any expansion of tracks in the Park should also undergo an environmental appraisal.
Mercury: Anger at Cape walks go-ahead
• Tony Mulder
In the shadow of public service sackings and a budgetary crisis, the government proposes spending $33million in Minister Thorpe’s electorate just 3 months ahead of her Rumney BUY-election!
But the Treasurer need not fear. Remember the Sorell – bypass – downgraded to a ‘rat run’ through residential streets, the ‘mirage’ Sorrel super-clinic, the 2010 Giddings promise to by-pass Richmond – it keeps getting shorter and more like the ‘Sorell solution’, Lenon’s 2006 pre-election Rokeby Road promises – yet to see a shovel, traffic lights for Mornington roundabout ahead of Alison Ritchie’s Pembroke election – downgraded to another roundabout afterwards, and the list goes on.
The money would be better spent dealing with the 18.5km of continuous double white lines between Dunalley and Eaglehawk neck.
There are other tracks falling into disrepair as the bushwalkers I meet, most of them tourists, wallow through mud, bush bash and damage the environment due to a lack of duck-boarding, track work and basic marking.
Perhaps a ‘work-on-parole’ scheme could restore our world famous tracks while providing training qualifications and employment skills that are a ‘pathway’ to social and economic integration. Real work, not mere employment.
