Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to reflect on a matter of serious concern in my electorate and, indeed, in all of Tasmania. Members would be aware that the Tasmanian government owned TT-Line currently operates a daily passenger service between Devonport and Melbourne on Spirit of Tasmania I and Spirit of Tasmania II and three services per week between Devonport and Sydney on Spirit of Tasmania III. The Spirit of Tasmania III service was introduced as a result of the success of the twin ferry service between Melbourne and Devonport and was aimed at the New South Wales and Queensland markets. I know that a great many people have enjoyed voyages on Spirit of Tasmania III, but unfortunately it has become evident that the service is not sustainable from a financial perspective.

A recent report by TT-Line, which is currently under consideration by the Tasmanian cabinet, recommended disposing of the ferry. Serious questions are rightly being asked in the Tasmanian parliament as to whether the Labor government knew of the problems facing Spirit III prior to the recent state election. We all know about the recent accusations against the Tasmanian government in relation to Hydro Tasmania, a company the government said it would never sell. Given the conditions in the chamber at the moment, it is appropriate to say that Labor does business in the dark. We just heard the member for Gorton ranting and raving about industrial relations. Currently, the Maritime Union official in Tasmania, Mike Wickham, is blaming everyone else. He does not understand that the business case for Spirit of Tasmania III is that it must have 130,000-plus passengers to be viable. At the moment, the state Labor government can only attract around 80,000 passengers, which is indicative of Labor’s lack of knowledge of business and how markets and the real economy work.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They dropped the ball on tourism.

Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They dropped the ball on tourism. And the federal government has put millions of dollars into tourism not only in Tasmania but all over the country.

I want to expand on the member for Gorton’s proposed visit to my electorate. I hope he sits down with the farming community and all the agricultural contractors and asks them about their feelings on the new Work Choices legislation. There will be one system nationwide and they will not have to deal with four different jurisdictions and rules, regulations and award systems when they move from Tasmania to Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The system has been a complete and utter mess and a nonsense. It just shows you how out of touch Labor is with the reality of business. Members on this side of the House come from 48 different occupations and members on the other side come from—I will be kind—fewer than 10 occupations. That is a classic example of why they do not understand how business works and operates.

This government has created 1.7 million new jobs in the last 10 years. We have record low interest rates and inflation steady at around two to three per cent and more and more people buying their own homes. And they talk about this government being out of touch! Before I was elected, I was in the workforce and I witnessed the pain of extraordinarily high interest rates and record bankruptcies. The opposition need to talk to business people and employees in the workplace.

While the loss of Spirit III would be a psychological blow, I believe the critical issue is not about the future of any particular mode of transport but about ensuring that people continue to come to the great state of Tasmania. That is borne out by last year’s report by the Tasmanian government’s own Treasury department, which found that the mode of transport used by tourists to travel to the state is not of particular significance to the majority of the tourism industry. It is important that the state government put in place a plan to attract tourists to Tasmania. Instead of continually blaming the federal government and putting its hand out, the Tasmanian government should start taking some responsibility. Whether it is health, business, education, investing in our schools or investing in our roads, the state Labor governments are incompetent. It is about time they recognised their failings and learnt how to do business from the federal government. (Time expired)