Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

tor DUNIAM (—) (): I'm delighted to be able to make a contribution to the Treasury Laws Amendment (2023 Law Improvement Package No. 1) Bill 2023 second reading debate. I wasn't going to make a contribution, until I saw the quite interesting contribution made by Senator Ayres yesterday on this debate. I thought I might come have my two cents worth too. We are here to legislate and to review, and this is a good opportunity to talk about things that are important to many of us. I'm sure Senator McKim will be interested in some of the things I have to say.

I want to kick off my contribution today by talking about something important to the state of Tasmania: the matter a GST and our fair share to ensure that our state gets its fair share of what we need to run our small jurisdiction under our great federation. I love being a Tasmanian. To be one of the 12 senators representing that small state is quite the privilege, I must say. Each of us that comes here has a very important job to do: to protect our state and what we deserve. We are grateful for other states' contributions to our economy, but we worry about, of course, decisions made by governments that are not in the interests of the state of Tasmania.

There is something that I've spoken about a number of times in the past, and that is the matter of the stadium in Tasmania. A deal is being done, and funding has been committed by the Australian government to the tune of $240 million to build a stadium on Hobart's waterfront. We saw a great front page of the newspaper in Hobart, the Mercury, talking about an economic report, entitled Economic benefits to Tasmania from the introduction of a Tasmanian AFL team and a new stadium in Hobart at Macquarie Point, authored by Mr Russell Hanson. I have had the time to read it, and I think Senator McKim would know Mr Hanson, who is also the former CEO of the national body of the Wilderness Society.

From looking at that report, it was very interesting to see his analysis of the benefits or otherwise of having a team in building a stadium and that contribution from the Australian government, but he also makes the point of—and this is something every Tasmanian member of this parliament should be worried about—whether that $240 million that has been allocated by the Labor government to fund the waterfront stadium is exempt from GST calculations. In the past we've been able to do things like fund the Mersey Community Hospital back in 2017. That is an important piece of health infrastructure in our state, and we were able to secure in excess of $700 million to continue operating that hospital in the interests of north-west-coast Tasmanians. That $700 million would have been subject to the calculations of the Commonwealth Grants Commission and impacted on our share of GST funding, but we requested, as federal Liberals as part of the then Turnbull government, that that funding be exempt from those calculations. We were successful. We've asked for this government, the Albanese Labor government, to exempt that funding—that $240 million—from GST calculations. Do you think we've had an answer yet? I can tell you we haven't.

The Prime Minister was asked when he was in Hobart last week whether, four months after having announced the funding, he had made his mind up about whether the money was going to be exempt from GST. We were given word salad in response. He could not guarantee that that funding would be exempt. It is a yes-or-no question, and the answer should be very straightforward. Sadly, though, it's not, and I'll tell you why I think we won't get an answer on that. It is because they intend to rip it out of the GST allocation Tasmania gets. I don't think they have our state's best interests at heart. They certainly want to keep their powder dry for as long as possible, until the last moment, when the decision is made that we are not getting our GST.

Every Labor member of this chamber—Senator Urquhart, Senator Brown, Senator Bilyk, Senator Polley—has a job to do on behalf of the Tasmanian people, who sent them here, and that is to ensure that the government they are a part of actually does the right thing by our state. Exempt that funding allocation from GST calculations so we can pay for health, education and roads—essential services. The Prime Minister knows it, the Treasurer knows it and the Tasmanian Labor Senate team know it, but have I heard boo out of them on this issue? Not once. They need to do their jobs properly to ensure that the people they represent get what they deserve.

Mr Hanson even points to this. The worst-case scenario analysis in his report included that the Labor government was dudding Tasmanians by not honouring our GST share—in effect, ripping that money out of health and education.

So we're keeping a close eye on that. We're going to make sure that Labor senators in this place from Tasmania, and Mr Mitchell and Ms Collins from the other place—Labor members from the state of Tasmania—are held to account for whether or not they deliver on this. We're going to make sure of this, and I'm sure Senator McKim will join with me in making sure—as I'm sure will Senator Lambie and Senator Tyrell as well—that we get what we deserve and that the people of Tasmania are not dudded by this.

In terms of productivity: there are a lot of elements of what's going on in Tasmania that concern me with regard to federal government decisions. We heard from Senator Sheldon that everyone in this place supports productivity. But government decisions often have an impact on productivity. Senator Sheldon touched on industrial relations legislation and framed up the government's proposals in that space—noting that is a separate piece of legislation yet to come to this chamber. It was all about protecting workers and he dismissed as irrelevant any claims around what that might do to productivity and what extra costs might be imposed on businesses. That concerns me. It's similarly so with decisions around infrastructure projects. For example: we have this government reviewing a range of infrastructure projects which are vital for the continued successful growth of our economy. The Australian government's review into infrastructure projects has put many, many projects in jeopardy, and if we're talking about productivity then funding for these projects should be guaranteed.

Again, this is something where Mr Brian Mitchell, the member for Lyons, and Ms Julie Collins, the cabinet minister from Tasmania—the minister for housing, I think; she has a big job ahead of her—and the four Tasmanian Labor senators should stand up and ensure we aren't dudded on. The projects that are under review at the moment amount to a significant amount of taxpayers' money—$720 million worth of taxpayer money is going to these projects. It isn't wasted and these aren't just flights of fancy; they're projects that we need to keep growing our economy. There's the Hobart to Sorell Corridor and the Midway Point Causeway—it's the fastest-growing municipality in Tasmania and we need proper roads to get commuters to and from there. And we have the Old Surrey Road and Massy-Greene Drive upgrades; the Rokeby to South Arm Highway upgrade; and the Bridport Road freight efficiency and safety upgrades. These are not small projects with no purpose; they will save lives. The last speaker, Senator Sheldon, is a supporter of workers' rights and of course of ensuring that people who work on our roads, and any other user of our infrastructure, are provided with safe conditions to be able to do what they do. Well, fund these projects! Stop the uncertainty! Don't dud Tasmanians! To my Labor Tasmanian Senate colleagues: I look forward to you saying something in order to save these projects. But, again, I've heard nothing today.

Down in Tasmania there are a couple of projects where of course I suspect I'm going to disagree with my friend over here Senator McKim on. That includes the proposal to construct a new tailings dam near Rosebery to extend the life of the MMG mine, which has been in operation for more than a century—and successfully so. It's an important economic contributor to the Tasmanian west coast, with hundreds of jobs directly at the mine and many more indirectly. The Labor government, under Ms Tanya Plibersek from the other place, is assessing whether or not to grant the approvals required to proceed and build this tailings dam. Without the tailings dam the mine shuts down. I've been asking the minister to hurry up and make a decision; it has been a very long time since the proposal was brought into question. I respect that there are many views on this, but a decision needs to be made so that there's certainty. Where are the Labor senators from Tasmania on this issue? It's a bit like, 'Where's the Tasmanian Labor opposition?' Nowhere to be seen! I know where Dr Woodruff and Mr Bayley from the Tasmanian Greens are on this. I know where my colleagues, Mr Rockliffe, the Premier of Tasmania, and Deputy Premier, Mr Ferguson, are on this issue but I have no idea where Tasmanian Labor are on this or the GST issue. They are not standing up for our state at all. They are pussyfooting around on all of these issues and allowing bad decisions to be made up here. They are allowing funding to be ripped out of our state. The only people standing up for their respective views are parties that are not the Labor Party.

I will conclude my remarks there. I just want to put on record again my great disappointment in this government and its Tasmanian representatives for not doing anything on issues I have raised. I look forward to asking my Tasmanian Labor colleagues where they are on the GST issue, where they are at on the MMG tailings dam, where they are at on the question about the future of salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour. Where do they stand on these issues? Or is it not their problem anymore because they are in government? They should be taking a stand and I hope they do soon.