It has been a very successful and productive year for the Parliament, the Tasmanian Government and for the state.

We have worked with the Tasmanian community to deliver our Plan, and we are delivering. We are prepared to be held to account and judged on results.

We are fixing the budget and have turned a $1.1 billion budget black hole into a projected cumulative surplus of more than $310 million, improving the budget outlook by $1.4 billion in little over a year.
Since the election, 6,800 jobs have been created and the unemployment rate has fallen to 6.2 per cent.

We have a major reform agenda underway, with a number of strategies, reforms and strategic partnerships as part of an ambitious agenda to build a better future. We are:

• Reforming health into one system with patients at the centre;
• Investing in education by extending our high schools to Years 11 and 12 and reinvigorating our high schools with a $68 million capital program;
• Redesigning our child protection system;
• Implementing a new Affordable Housing Strategy;
• Delivering a single state-wide planning scheme;
• Reforming local government;
• Supporting the boom in tourism and our visitor economy;
• Addressing family violence with our $26 million Family Violence Strategy and Action Plan; and
• Leading the nation on the sharing economy.
We also have new plans underway including:
• Rethink Mental health;
• To grow our population;
• To get more women on boards;
• To reduce fuel loads and the risk of bushfires;
• To improve adult literacy and numeracy; and
• To make the Midland Highway safer.

This year we have also secured 1,500 direct and indirect jobs at Bell Bay, 600 direct jobs and 3,500 indirect jobs at Nyrstar and next week Hobart Myer will re-open after eight long years; something that wouldn’t have happened without Government support.

We are continuing to roll-out projects under our EOI program, encouraging tourism in our national parks and wilderness areas, with opportunity to attract around $70 million in investment and up to 300 new jobs.

We have completed the $31 million refurbishment of the Spirits, creating work for around 200 Tasmanians and 24 local businesses, with more day sailings and forward bookings.

We won the battle for our fair share of the GST, an important battle to win for our Budget and for the principles of Federation.

Through our cooperative relationship with the Federal Government we have also secured a $203 million Freight Equalisation Scheme boost and $60 million for new irrigation projects.

We are also no longer waiting to be discovered, we are taking Tasmania to the world with our international engagement strategy.

With the University of Tasmania we have struck an ambitious and exciting new partnership agreement to lift educational outcomes, and we have established the Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment.

We have the Royal Hobart Hospital project back on track, signed a new two year Mersey deal and are investing an extra $100 million into health.

We are investing in patient transport, graduate nurses, child and adolescent mental health services, out of hospital programs, ambulance services and alcohol and drug rehabilitation beds.

We have put 65 new staff into the prison, and launched a new program to divert young offenders from the criminal justice system.

And we are rebuilding our resource industries not closing them down, as the previous Labor Green Government did.

It has been a year of growth for our economy, for jobs, investment opportunities and importantly confidence. We recognise there is still more to do and I commit the Government to continuing the cracking pace we have set in our first two years.

For the End of Parliamentary Year Report 2015 go to: http://bit.ly/2015ParliamentaryReport
Will Hodgman, Premier