Former Premier Jim Bacon’s vision for Tasmania has been tarnished by the string of premierships since his death in 2004, his wife believes.
Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Examiner, Honey Bacon was particularly critical of former premiers Paul Lennon and David Bartlett for undoing the work her husband had done.
Mrs Bacon was also disappointed with the negativity that hung over the state.
She said that she was saddened over the state’s dire financial position and feared community concerns were not taken as seriously as they had been when Mr Bacon served as premier for almost six years from 1998.
Mr Bacon set up Tasmania Together in 2000 as a way for government to better engage with the community.
Mrs Bacon said that he made sure that work was enacted through ideas brought to department heads and ministers through community forums leading up to Tasmania Together.
“Jim worked very favourably with (the community forums) and made work that Paul (Lennon) axed and David (Bartlett) brought back in a very inefficient manner,” Mrs Bacon said.
“Successive premiers have had a different way of looking at things. A lot of things that Jim put in place, Paul took apart.
“A lot of things Jim put in place, David completely ignored.”
Mrs Bacon said that she was unhappy with some of the exorbitant spending by government departments.
“All of the money that was left when Jim was premier, in a very healthy state, all of a sudden we’ve gone into a deficit situation,” she said.
“All that hard work, for it now to be gone – how can all of that goodness disappear?”
Fullstory here:
http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/news/general/jim39s-tasmania-tarnished-honey/2214001.aspx
