Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

Two very exciting things happened in Tasmania in the last week or two. One of them was an election and the other was an AFL team. I want to talk about both of them. The Tasmanian election was held on Saturday and the Liberal Party, the state government at the moment, had a 12 per cent swing against it at that election. This was a very clear message to Premier Rockliff and the Tasmanian Liberals that the Tasmanian people aren't happy with the direction Tasmania is heading in. Indeed, there was a swing of 20 per cent of the primary vote against the Liberal Party. They need to listen to this, as we will.

We really need to listen to what this means for Tasmania. Tasmanians are doing it tough, particularly on health, housing and the cost of living. Our Prime Minister came down and stood by the Labor leader, Rebecca White. I want to pay tribute to Rebecca White as our leader today. Rebecca has faced three elections. She is a terrific leader of the Tasmanian Labor team. I'm sorry to say that Rebecca today has said that she'll be stepping down from the leadership. She will be greatly missed by the Tasmanian Labor people but importantly by the Tasmanian public. She is a woman of incredible integrity and intellect, and her tenacious and fierce advocacy for the Tasmanian people I'm sure will be directed into her local constituency in Lyons in Tasmania.

We didn't see Peter Dutton during the state election. It was almost like the Tasmanian Liberals didn't want him to turn up. I don't blame them, because, quite frankly, the Liberal Party and Peter Dutton are not particularly liked in Tasmania. Peter Dutton and the Liberals' policies are not welcome in Tasmania. Tasmanians need support. They need the cost-of-living support that the Albanese Labor government is delivering. We will be working with whomever forms the next government in Tasmania to continue to deliver for Tasmanians. But the former Liberal government and current Premier need to make sure they listen to that election result.

The other big that happened, as I talked about, was to do with AFL. Tasmanians, after waiting decades, finally have an AFL team—the Tassie Devils. I am a proud foundation member of the Tassie Devils. I am one of 170,000 people that have joined up to the Tassie Devils. I think this shows that Tasmanians are behind this team. We have been hanging out for this for a long time. We provide a lot of talent to the AFL nationally. It was great to have Rodney Eade, the great AFL legend, in Tasmania for this launch. We have had some famous Tasmanians in the AFL, and I am pleased our team is up and running.

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