Media release – Dean Winter MP, Leader of Opposition Business, 24 May 2023
Slippery slope as Rockliff minority Liberal Government loses first vote
It’s a slippery slope ahead for Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s minority Liberal Government after it lost its first vote in Parliament today, in only the second vote it faced.
The Government lost a motion regarding timeframes for answering of Questions on Notice by 14 votes to 10.
The Liberals tried to prevent transparency and they lost the vote.
This is an example of Parliament acting in a way that is more transparent than the Tasmanian Liberal Government has been for years, and will result in Questions on Notice being answered in a timely manner.
The lack of transparency displayed by the Liberal Government is one of the key reasons that two members quit the party earlier this month.
Hopefully there are many more transparency wins ahead for Tasmanians now that this minority Liberal government’s trademark veil of secrecy has been lifted.
Media release – Cassy O’Connor MP, Greens Leader, 24 May 2023
Parliament Rejects Short Stay Regulation
The Greens are saddened by the Parliament’s decision to reject our push for Planning Minister, Michael Ferguson, to amend the planning rules to allow local Councils to ban whole-of-home short stay accommodation.
As it is, Councils have limited capacity to rein in short stay to increase rental properties.
The vote on our motion was a missed opportunity for the state’s new balance-of-power Parliament to make a real difference to the lives of Tasmanians. It was a real world vote, with real world consequences for the thousands of Tasmanians struggling to find an affordable home and to pay the rent.
Hobart, for example, has the highest concentration of short stay listings of any Australia capital city.
It’s disappointing the new independent MPs John Tucker and Lara Alexander chose to back in the Liberals. This is especially so given Mrs Alexander’s previous strong public statements on the need to regulate short stay to provide homes for people.
Councils across the island understand the terrible harm being caused by unregulated whole-of-home short stay accommodation, and they want to be able to act. The recent Planning Commission ruling confirmed they are hamstrung in refusing the removal of whole homes from the rental market.
Planning Minister, Michael Ferguson could fix the anomaly preventing councils from acting on short stay with the stroke of a pen, but he refuses. He couldn’t even be bothered turning up to the debate on the matter in Parliament today.
While tens of thousands of Tasmanians suffer through the deepening rental crisis, Minister Ferguson profits from his east coast AirBnB. It’s shameless.
The Deputy Premier and Planning Minister persistently refuses to prioritise Tasmanians who need a home over property investors. While Mr Ferguson stays idle on this, Tasmania has the fastest growing rate of homelessness in the nation.
The Liberals and their former colleagues are all comfortably well off. All own their own homes.
Unfortunately for Tasmanians who can’t find a home or afford the rent, the vote against curbing short stay accommodation today has real life, tragic consequences.
