Justine Keay (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to take this chamber on a brief journey in the time I have available. I want to take the chamber on a tour that encompasses rugged coastline; unspoilt beaches, penguin rookeries dotted along the coast; cool climate wines, like pinot noir, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc; and fine food, like Cape Grim beef, Mount Gnomon pork, Tasmanian scallops, fresh crayfish, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries with King Island cream and, of course, Tasmania's world-class salmon and ocean trout. Sounds good, doesn't it? I want to take the chamber on a tour that covers 110 kilometres of coastline and rivers that connect 20 communities. I want to take the chamber on a tour where you, Mr Deputy Speaker Goodenough, your family and friends can load your bikes on the Spirit of Tasmania in Melbourne, arrive in Devonport—my home town—and ride off to your heart's content in any direction or simply walk a short way and take yourself to a different place. There is a shared pathway where cyclists and walkers can equally access all that is on offer in my region.

This is the vision and experience that is waiting to be developed on the north-west coast of Tasmania. It is a vision that will see this region become one of Australia's top cycling tourism destinations. It is a vision that is supported by the local regional authority, the Cradle Coast Authority, and the community, through the Coastal Pathway Coalition. The Cradle Coast Authority is the regional voice for north-west Tasmania as well as the west coast and King Island. Its membership consists of the nine local government councils to represent and advocate the needs of the region. The authority collaborates and facilitates a diverse range of projects and initiatives involving all tiers of government, industry and the community. Its three areas of focus are regional economic development, natural resource management and tourism. The North West Coastal Pathway project supports all three of these focus areas. The Cradle Coast Authority has made this one of its key priorities, behind only the Cradle Mountain Master Plan. The Coastal Pathway Coalition is led by a group of cyclists: Andrew Leary and Ben Kearney from Turners Beach, supported by Keith Price, from Burnie, on behalf of Safer Roads for Cyclists. Keith, Ben and Andrew have been tireless in their work to see their vision become a reality.

The Tasmanian government's draft plan, entitled Tasmania's cycle tourism strategic action plan to 2020, has been developed to generate more demand for travel to Tasmania through cycle tourism. Following the development of Labor's federally funded Blue Derby trails in north-east Tasmania—which, I must add, are extremely successful—there has been significant growth in Tasmanian cycle tourism. The Tasmanian visitor survey for the year to June 2016 showed that 39,000 interstate and overseas visitors undertook some form of cycling activity for that year, an increase of 41 per cent from the year before. This increase shows the appetite for cycle tourism and latent demand. The same strategic action plan states that cycle tourists are generally higher-yield visitors that spend more and travel more widely throughout the state. The average length of stay for a cycling tourist is 17 nights, well above the average of nine nights as stated by Tourism Tasmania. The plan sets out three priority areas: consolidating trails and routes, marketing what we have, and providing the supporting infrastructure and services to provide the right experience once cycle tourists arrive.

The Cradle Coast Authority has developed an investment prospectus to support the North West Coastal Pathway project. The prospectus identifies multiple economic and social opportunities for my region, such as increased and new economic activity for local businesses, creating 90 full-time equivalent jobs during construction; a flow-on effect translating to an extra $38.6 million of economic output; and, postconstruction, an extra $17 million per annum injected into the local economy, which translates to 97 new and ongoing full-time equivalent jobs.

The north-west coast of Tasmania, unfortunately, has some of the worst health indicators in Tasmania and in Australia. People are at higher risk of fair to poor health, have higher indices of heart disease, are more than likely to be obese, and previous reports have stated that 71 per cent of north-west coast Tasmanians are not undertaking 30 minutes of exercise per day, which is contributing to poor health outcomes. The shared coastal pathway goes some way to addressing these health issues by promoting a locally active and healthy lifestyle. The project has social benefits, such as connecting communities. One only has to look at state and federal Labor's funding of the Ulverstone to Turners Beach shared pathway. It has connected these communities and encouraged people to walk and cycle. Businesses have grown and new jobs have been created. It is quite funny that the previous speaker spoke about the government not creating jobs, but this is government money actually creating jobs. It is quite amazing!

The Cradle Coast Authority has identified five key sections of the shared pathway: Burnie to Wynyard, Sulphur Creek to Ulverstone, the Forth Rail Bridge reuse, Turners Beach to Devonport, and Devonport to Latrobe to Port Sorell. Within each section there are 15 priority stages. The Cradle Coast Authority has identified five short-term priority sectors that are ready to proceed right now. For each of these sectors, the relevant local council has allocated funding in its budget. There we go: government funding to create jobs! They are ready to go.

What have the Liberals done? I have to say, some credit is due to the Tasmanian government for its work in developing the draft cycle tourism strategic action plan and for legislation to free-up disused rail corridors. However, I note that comments on the draft plan closed in February of this year, and almost four months later no final report has been produced. In February of this year the Premier heard the case for the project from the Coastal Pathway Coalition, the Cradle Coast Authority CEO and the Bicycle Network Tasmania CEO. Only last week, the state Liberal government handed down its budget, but, for reasons best known to it, not a single stage of this project was funded. This is despite the Premier's own plan stating: 'Developing supporting infrastructure is a priority for cycling tourism.' A number of local state Liberal MPs in my electorate also claim to support this vision, but their words have not been matched with actions.

At a federal level, the former member for Braddon was presented with an investment document by the Cradle Coast Authority. He also attended the single biggest public meeting held throughout last year's election campaign, a meeting organised by the Coastal Pathway Coalition to promote this vision. Some 120 people attended to show their support, but, sadly, the coalition did not commit one cent to this vision over the campaign period or since. Even worse, following the election they knocked back Stronger Regions applications from the Burnie City Council and the Waratah-Wynyard Council to connect their communities. In a triple whammy they backed it up with their budget earlier this month providing nothing for this project. There was nothing in the campaign. They knocked back funding applications. There is nothing in the budget.

What has Labor done? That is the question I am sure the other side are asking. Labor can proudly say it gets it. It gets this project. Labor understands the social and economic benefit that cycling tourism and shared pathways can bring. Labor funded the Blue Derby trails in north-east Tasmania. Labor has funded every piece of shared pathway infrastructure in my electorate. During the federal election campaign, along with my colleague the now member for Lyons, we made several funding announcements. Labor said it would fund the Devonport to Latrobe section, the Burnie CBD section, the Cooee to Wynyard section and the Devonport to Port Sorell section. Over $6 million was committed by Labor in the last federal election. Since the election, I have hosted the shadow minister for regional services in my electorate, and he has been briefed by the Coastal Pathway Coalition and the Cradle Coast Authority. I am pleased to say that, unlike those opposite, the shadow minister gets it too.

I take you back to my earlier remarks: fine food, fine wine and magnificent coastline—this journey is ready for all. It can be walked or cycled in short trips, stages or overnight. I say to those opposite at a state and federal level: this project truly can transform my region, create lots of jobs—as I have already said—and help connect those communities. The social and economic benefits are too strong to be ignored. To the coalition, I say: you can be part of something that can really bring about change, so join with Labor and come on the journey.