Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure indeed to rise and speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2014-2015. It gives me an opportunity in the context of this bill to discuss what has been for me a privilege to be part of a team here in Canberra and more recently working with my state colleagues, with the single focus of delivering for Tasmanians and for the wonderful state that I come from—particularly for my electorate of Lyons.

The people in my electorate and the people of Tasmania are focused on seeing us as representatives in this place talking about job creation, a stronger economy and opportunities for young people. Over the past 18 months we have seen a government—and I am very proud to be part of that government—that has focused on commitments that we made prior to being elected in 2013, particularly in relation to infrastructure that we have been able to deliver. These are starting to deliver the shoots, if you will, of opportunity. We are seeing that reflected in business confidence surveys. Tasmania is leading the nation. Small and medium enterprises are looking again to reinvest, and there are even signs—and I am so pleased to see this—that businesses are once again willing to take on employees, and particularly younger employees.

In terms of infrastructure it has been a year of delivery. Anybody who comes to our beautiful state and drives down the Midland Highway that goes from Launceston to Hobart will not be able to do it at the moment as quickly as they will be able to in 12 or 18 months time. There is a lot of work going on there. It is so pleasing to see local civil engineering businesses out there improving the road, in some cases looking at duplication of the highway, in other cases widening the highway and putting additional lanes in but particularly focused on bringing that road up to being a much safer road than it currently is. With $400 million committed to the Midland Highway from the Commonwealth government and $100 million committed from the state government, Tasmanians are starting to see the work that is happening on the highway.

It has been a year of delivery for road infrastructure and for black spots. My electorate being a large, rambling rural electorate has had its share of black spot funding, which has added to making our roads safer as people travel around Tasmania. Again, there is an additional $350 million committed across the nation for Roads to Recovery. The 13 municipalities in the electorate of Lyons will share greatly in that additional money for regional infrastructure. I am looking forward to announcements around the Bridges Renewal Program. We have many councils that have put in applications. I hope that some of those so successful. I know that the amount of money that is allocated surely will not fix all of the bridges that are required to be repaired and renewed around Australia, but I look forward to a successful application in my electorate.

Outside of roads, the government gave a significant $38-million commitment to upgrade the Hobart airport, to put the 'international' back into the Hobart airport. I was pleased to join Senator Abetz, Senator Parry and Senator Bushby recently at the Hobart airport with Rod Parry, the CEO, and Mel Percival from Hobart Airport Corporation to announce the first tranche of funding for planning. This will open up so many opportunities for our state. As some would understand, that investment was principally based on the expansion of the Antarctic program, making Hobart a step off point for Antarctic endeavours. Large aircraft were unable to take off with the fuel that was required to do those journeys. By extending the runway at the Hobart international airport, we will be able to compete and attract, one would hope, missions from other countries that will use Hobart as a step-off point. All the benefits will then flow to other businesses in the area in addition to those that are used to provision research in the Antarctic.

Demonstrating this government's commitment to infrastructure that will allow the private sector to have the confidence to invest could be demonstrated no better than through the $60 million that was announced only last week by the Prime Minister when he visited my electorate at the beautiful town of Evandale just south of Launceston. There are five schemes around the state: Circular Head on the north-west coast in my colleague the member for Braddon's electorate; the Scottsdale scheme up in the north-east in my colleague the member for Bass's electorate; and there are three schemes in the electorate of Lyons.

The Southern Highlands scheme in the town of Bothwell, an area of this state that has been drought declared more than any other region in Tasmania over the last 15 years, will at last build an irrigation scheme. Winter take and flood take out of the Shannon will be put into a turkey's nest dam that will deliver to farmers between Bothwell and all the way down to Hamilton. It is significant. The town of Bothwell, over the last 15 years, has run out of water on a number of occasions. This is not only for the farmers in the area but also for access to reliable water for the town. It will truly be a game changer. It will allow businesses in that area to diversify. We will see dry land becoming dairy farms. We will see the ability to properly finish livestock that have traditionally been produced only for breeding stock. We will see more reliable poppy crops. We will see a whole range of other things being grown in that area.

Over on the East Coast, the Swan River scheme is a very high-value scheme where the focus will be on viticulture and horticulture. The towns of Swansea, Triabunna and Bicheno will benefit from the jobs that will flow and the investment that will come from private owners in those areas that will invest as a result of this infrastructure being put in place.

After much procrastination, it has been the job of this government to finally commit to replacing the Aurora Australis. I do not know how much it is going to cost. It will cost a substantial amount of money. Thanks to the good work of Minister Hunt, there is now a commitment to replace the very ageing Aurora Australis to enable Australian researchers, many of whom come from Hobart and from my state of Tasmania more broadly, to continue their good work of researching the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic.

The government has delivered over the last 12 months as part of an election commitment the Solar Towns project for the communities of New Norfolk, Gagebrook, Bagdad and Nubeena, down on the Tasman Peninsular, which recently had Minister Hunt at the Sorrell RSL. I just received notification from the Bicheno golf club on the East Coast that it has received nearly $20,000 for the installation of solar panels. All around the state we have been able to support those community and sporting organisations to be more self-sustaining through the Solar Towns funding. Almost $300,000 has been rolled out in the electorate of Lyons.

In addition, within the Minister for the Environment's portfolio, four new Green Army projects have just been announced in the second tranche of funding—three in the municipality of the Break O'Day and a project which crosses over into the member for Franklin's electorate as well as into the member for Denison's electorate in the southern part of Lyons. We already have projects in the north-west, particularly in the Rubicon Estuary looking to remove the curse of the rice grass that has infested that estuary for many years. There is great work going on in the electorate around the Green Army projects. I encourage further applications from community groups and councils for appropriate opportunities to clean up waterways and to stop erosion—a whole range of opportunities.

I was very pleased that also last year we were able to continue the funding, again through the Department of the Environment, of a really important project being undertaken by the Inland Fisheries Service. There is $800,000 for the work they are doing to eradicate carp. Many mainlanders may not appreciate that Tasmania is effectively free from carp except in two locations: Lake Crescent and Lake Sorell. About two years ago the Inland Fisheries Service were successful in removing carp from Lake Crescent. The challenge still remains in Lake Sorell. These are dedicated professionals. I was so pleased to be able to support them with funding.

Indeed, confidence is returning. I was very pleased with the ASBAS funding. There were very high-quality applications. I know firsthand the work that the Break O'Day Business Enterprise Centre do and the passion they have for their work. ASBAS small business funding was received by the Break O'Day Business Enterprise Centre at St Helens in the north-east of my electorate. Nick Crawford and his team do truly wonderful work. He is committed. Apart from being a very good fisherman, he does wonderful work with the community there. It is all part of the confidence we are seeing coming back.

For the first time in many years the unemployment numbers in Tasmania have started to turn the corner and are again heading south. I really do believe that that is an illustration that there is renewed confidence coming back into our communities, particularly regional communities. I am looking forward to the Innovation and Investment Fund, which was well oversubscribed. I am aware that the amount of money we had for dollar-for-dollar business investment was oversubscribed to a great degree. There were 137 applications with a commitment of private capital of $85 million across a wide range of sectors and industries. Again this illustrates absolutely that there is confidence in the business sector to invest and start to create jobs again in Tasmania.

I was very pleased to have Senator Abetz with me at two Work for the Dole programs last week that are going particularly well. At Woolmers Estate young people are learning and gaining new skills—in this case for the management of the kitchen garden and some of the heritage work that needs ongoing and regular maintenance. The skills and discipline they are provided with are wonderful for them. I have no doubt that some of those young people will very soon end up in work.

I guess the highlight for me of the past 12 months has been the work that has been done by the Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister Robb, in delivering the three free trade agreements—with South Korea firstly, Japan and more recently China. These are game-changing opportunities for our state. When the minister visited my electorate a couple of weeks ago I did say that, instead of the KAFTA, it could well have been the TAFTA, the Tasmanian free trade agreement. It has been so good for Tim Reid and cherry exporters in our state. As a result of the 24 per cent tariff being reduced, he has been able to increase his exports of cherries from five tonnes last year to 190 tonnes this year. This is jobs, wealth creation and the private sector in Tasmania finally, after many years of Labor and the Greens hurting our state so badly, starting to find its feet again. I look forward to continuing doing good work.

See this speech in context