street revitalisation – the Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Council must consider Labor’s main street, suburban and regional revitalisation strategy, according to the Opposition. Labor Leader Rebecca White said reinvigorating town centres would provide a much-needed boost for communities as they get back to business after the extended lockdown. Their proposals include a main street, suburban and regional revitalisation strategy to help local businesses bounce back from the past few months of restrictions and create jobs while also providing a positive focus. “A short-term cash injection to make our CBDs and town and suburban centres more inviting and friendly would act as a short-term stimulus program and a long-term confidence booster for retail and hospitality businesses that have been hardest hit by COVID-19,” White said.
Labor Member for Braddon Shane Broad said the benefits of a revitalisation program for the north-west are clear. “With more outdoor café-style dining capacity, street scaping, green spaces, play equipment, and enhanced parking or access, we can create a buzz in our communities and get people excited about visiting our town centres, while also getting businesses back on their feet and promoting investment. Some councils already have projects lined up and this program offers a fantastic opportunity to get them underway, providing more inviting and liveable places for all Tasmanians and playing a key role in both our economic and social recovery.”
defence – a splurge on defence equipment was announced by the Prime Minister this week as part of a reorientation of focus towards the Asia-Pacific. You can read the TT report on defence’s $280 billion windfall here. Later, Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson called out Queenslander Matt Canavan for trying to bring coal into it. “The biggest threat to our national security is climate change. We won’t win if we are in conflict with nature, on a warming planet. The only thing reliable about burning more coal is more loss of life, property, economy and life supporting eco-systems.” Canavan had earlier tweeted: “We won’t win a conflict relying on unreliable solar and wind power!”
Don’t try this at home.
quad bikes – the state government has extended its 12-month rebate scheme for the fitting of an approved operator protection device (OPD), which is designed to protect the operator if the vehicle rolls. Quad bike accidents can result in serious injury or death, and children are particularly at risk by quad bike use. Elise Archer, Minister for Building and Construction, said that the rebate scheme, which was due to end on 30 June 2020, allows farmers to receive a rebate of up to 50 per cent of the purchase price of an approved operation protection device. “Since the scheme was introduced in July 2019, 103 applications have been approved, totalling more than $54,000,” she said. The scheme will be extended until 10 October 2021, when the mandatory requirement for OPDs on new utility (general purpose) quad bikes under the Australian Consumer Law will come into effect.
planning – planning is back on the agenda, according to Local Government Association of Tasmania Policy Director Dion Lester. During the past month several planning reforms, both new and old, have been debated. These include consultation on the Major Projects Bill, a new Regulatory Reform Amendment Bill being introduced to Parliament and discussion on the regulation of short stay visitor accommodation. He said that the Major Projects Bill does little more than improve the existing, but never used, Project of Regional Significance approval pathway, via the integration of a broader suite of heritage and environmental approvals into the approval process.
“Based on the feedback received by LGAT, the residual concerns of councils include some unresolved ambiguity over the criteria for declaring a major project,” said Lester. “In addition, members also questioned the removal of public advertising of the draft assessment guidelines in the third iteration of the Bill. Given the concerns raised by some in the community, it will be interesting to see how the Bill progresses through Parliamentary debate.”
Regarding the Building and Construction (Regulatory Reform Amendment) Bill, Lester said that while Local Government supports a process of continuous improvement in the planning and development system, “the constant narrative of ‘reducing red tape’ and ‘removing barriers to growing our economy and jobs’ undermines the important role our regulatory approvals systems provides to the Tasmanian economy.”
In recent weeks the impact of, and regulatory environment for, short stay visitor accommodation (i.e. Airbnb, Stayz etc) has also re-emerged. This has come largely because many of these properties are now entering the private rental market as a result of travel restrictions linked to COVID–19. The Premier indicated that “it was up to councils” to cap the number of these properties in local areas. “Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the case,” commented Lester. “The regulations governing the short stay visitor accommodation have been set by a Planning Directive, issued by the Minister for Planning, and the rules apply universally across the State. Technically a council could seek to amend its planning scheme to change the regulations within the Planning Directive for their local area. However, this has never been tested and given the single purpose of a Planning Directive is to establish mandatory provisions to apply consistently across the State, it would be an onerous process to justify a deviation for an individual council.”
remdesivir – the US administration has bought almost all stock of the drug remdesivir for the next three months. The drug, produced by American pharmaceutical company Gilead, is one of only two drugs so far shown to help in the treatment of COVID-19. The Trump administration recently announced it has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90 per cent of August and September, leaving little for the rest of the world.
“If remdesivir does prove effective in treating COVID-19, the drug would be needed not only in the US, but globally, including in Australia,” commented Associate Professor Barbara Mintzes from the Charles Perkins Centre and Sydney Pharmacy School at the University of Sydney. “The US deal with Gilead and limits on which countries can be supplied under this licensing agreement leave countries such as Australia in the lurch: unable to access remdesivir from Gilead at a high price – as the US is doing – and unable to access it at a low price from generic manufacturers, as lower income countries can.” The solution? “Under international trade agreements in a public health emergency, governments can issue compulsory licenses to bypass patent protection and either produce a drug themselves or buy the drug from generic manufacturers. The Netherlands is currently considering an amendment to its patent law to allow compulsory licensing of remdesivir.”
“Currently, we don’t know for sure whether remdesivir will prove to be an important treatment for COVID-19. If it does, given that the US is buying out Gilead’s supply, and also given the extremely high price as compared with costs of production, the obvious solution for Australia would be to also consider compulsory licensing.”
trade figures – ABS Retail data for May showed retail trade in Tasmania growing at 17.3 per cent over the month, higher than the national rise of 16.9 per cent. Retail trade in May was 11.1 per cent higher than May last year, which again was the second highest annual growth in the country. Michael Ferguson, Minister for Finance, said that the challenges presented by coronavirus have been felt across the country, but there are now signs of recovery. “This is good news for Tasmanian retailers, and demonstrates Tasmanians are getting behind their local businesses, helping to rebuild business confidence and jobs.”
Image courtesy Matt Golding.
ABC cuts – an Albanese-led Labor Government will reverse Scott Morrison’s $83.7 million cut to the ABC to save regional jobs, protect critical emergency broadcasting and support local news and content, said Labor Senator Anne Urquhart this week. “ABC emergency coverage saved lives during the summer bushfires and staff came back from leave to ensure Australians were kept informed. Now 250 dedicated ABC staff face the sack as a result of Scott Morrison’s cuts,” she said. Urquhart understands that in Tasmania the ABC has already been ‘cut to the bone over many years’ but still looks like having to lose between 7 and 12 staff. Labor Leader Anthony Albanese’s announcement of support said that the national broadcaster has worked tirelessly to support regional communities across Australia, particularly through floods, drought, bushfires and now coronavirus. “As a Senator for Tasmania, based in the North West, I would like to thank the hardworking ABC staff serving our region for their dedication and particularly for their preparedness to go above-and-beyond during times of crisis,” said Urquhart.
trust in politicians – before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, trust in government had reached its lowest level on record, according to a major study conducted by The Australian National University. Just 25% of Australians said they had confidence in their political leaders and institutions. The study of the 2019 federal election also found Australians’ satisfaction with democracy was at its lowest since the constitutional crisis of the 1970s. A huge 56% believe democracy is not working – that government is run for a ‘few big interests’. Just 12% believe the government is run for ‘all the people’.
“I’ve been studying elections for 40 years, and never have I seen such poor returns for public trust in and satisfaction with democratic institutions,” lead researcher Professor Ian McAllister said. “There is widespread public concern about how our democracy is underperforming … With faith in democracy taking major hits all over the globe, winning back the people’s trust and satisfaction would appear to be one of the most pressing and urgent challenges facing our political leaders and institutions.”
