Hodgman hopelessly out of his depth as Turnbull dismisses Tasmania

 Hodgman yet again fails to stand up for Tasmania
 Turnbull acting as if Tasmania doesn’t exist
 Prime Minister doesn’t bother to respond to Hodgman’s correspondence
Two months after the disastrous federal election result for Tasmania’s Liberal MPs, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is continuing to punish the state by ignoring weak and incapable Premier Will Hodgman.
Labor Leader Bryan Green said the Commonwealth Liberal Government’s latest slap in the face to Tasmania in closing the Antarctic scientific research station on Macquarie Island had been announced without Mr Hodgman’s knowledge.
Mr Green said that decision was followed by the Federal Government’s decision to leave Hobart off the list of cities participating in its $50 million Smart Cities and Suburbs Program of meetings before a hasty backflip late this morning.
“Time after time after time this Premier has proven that when it comes to standing up to his Liberal colleagues in Canberra, he is a pushover,” Mr Green said.
“There’s no greater indication of that than the fact that Mr Turnbull has not even bothered to respond to the Premier’s letter six weeks ago which included a list of demands for Tasmania around health and education funding which the Commonwealth has slashed.
“Mr Hodgman did nothing to prevent the closure of the Antarctic research centre because nobody in Canberra bothered to tell him about it – a fact he has admitted in Parliament today.
“When it was revealed today that Hobart had been left off the list of cities participating in Smart Cities when every other capital was included, a hastily cobbled press release from Canberra announced a backflip.
“These latest two snubs to Tasmania are characteristic of the Premier who is totally incapable of negotiating with Canberra and standing up for the state.
“The Premier has failed miserably on Commonwealth health and education funding, he has shown he is incapable of achieving results for Tasmania.
“Malcolm Turnbull has turned his back on our state and you have to question whether that is a result of Mr Hodgman’s front and centre role in the federal election campaign which helped see three local Liberal MPs kicked out of office.
“Tasmanians are right to question whether Mr Hodgman is up to the job and why he has failed again and again to get his federal colleagues to deliver for Tasmania.”
Bryan Green MP Labor Leader