Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

As Senator Carr says, just throw a bucket of money at it and it will all go away. We are talking to the community. Interestingly, in Victoria, where the decisions have been known for some time, the community has had a chance to develop a plan. That process is only just starting in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Premier acted very quickly. He was quickly in Queenstown and quickly set up a task force to work with community members. The Labor Party think they can just impose themselves on the community. That is what they did with the carbon tax and that is one of the reasons industry in Tasmania has been doing it so tough. Simplot, for example, is a business which will be saved $4 million a year by today's action in this chamber. The previous government offered them money. They threw money at them. We can save them more money in four years than the previous government offered them just by throwing money at the problem. That is their only answer. They think throwing some money at the problem will sort it all out.

We are making regulatory reform which will reduce the cost to industry and business and allow them to flourish. It will give them the opportunity to grow. It is a very, very unfortunate circumstance on the West Coast of Tasmania and we all feel very much for the people. The Labor Party are playing base politics with this issue, in stark contrast to what we did when Caterpillar workers were being put off, when we worked alongside the then local member for Braddon, Mr Sid Sidebottom. We did not criticise the government because there were difficult decisions being made in the industry; yet, as soon as the tables are turned, the Labor Party return to base politics. They are not prepared to listen to what the community want. They just want to play dirty base politics with a very unfortunate circumstance. They are not interested in listening to the local community and are not prepared to chip in and play a sensible and responsible part in what is a very difficult situation. (Time expired)