Tasmania overlooked in Federal Budget

Tasmania has been almost completely overlooked by tonight’s Federal Budget.

Shadow Treasurer Scott Bacon said it’s more a case of what’s not in the Budget.

“It is clear that the Tasmanian Liberal Government has failed to stand up for Tasmania’s interests,” Mr Bacon said.

“The $16 million originally earmarked for Cadbury is now referenced as a ‘saving’ in the budget papers and it is unclear whether it will support standalone projects or if it has been absorbed into other spending.

“This is completely unacceptable after all the fanfare of the announcement in the 2013 election campaign.

“Similarly, the Federal Government appears to have reduced its $120 million commitment to the Tasmanian rail network, suggesting for the first time that the scope of the project has been ‘reduced’.

“It is the same story for irrigation, with a $50 million funding shortfall resulting in the Circular Head Irrigation Scheme completely dropping off the list of priorities.

“There’s also no explanation of how the Mersey Community Hospital will be funded into the future.

“This creates unnecessary anxiety at a time when the North West Coast is in the midst of health reform.

Mr Bacon said while the budget was attempting to buy-off middle and high income families, it would hurt Tasmanians on lower incomes.

“Tasmanians will be disproportionately hit by the Government’s cuts to the welfare system.

“The Budget’s reference to “ongoing structural reforms to the welfare system” is code for more pain for vulnerable Tasmanians.”

Mr Bacon said he expected closer analysis of the detail of the Budget over coming days would reveal more nasty surprises for things like health and education funding.

“The Federal Government has not reversed more than a billion dollars of cuts to Tasmania delivered in last year’s budget.

“They are now talking about changing activity based funding for hospitals to CPI, which will place further pressure on our health system.”
Scott Bacon MP Shadow Treasurer