Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to speak in relation to the trip I took around Tasmania, when I went to visit, speak with and listen to people from within the agriculture sector, the aquaculture sector, the tourism sector and the IT sector. These are the sectors that quite frankly are the backbone of the Tasmanian economy. I wanted to go and listen to any concerns they had, because this is all part of developing our policies to take to the next election. But it was so rewarding to hear the enthusiasm of these people that I met with from various sectors in talking about the opportunities that are going to be there for them and in the broader sector to which I was referring.

It was great to hear about the current issues, as I said, and their achievements and to see the passion that they have for the important work that they do to make Tasmania great not only as a destination to visit but to live and work in. These industries are the backbone of Tasmania's economy, and the opportunities in these sectors outnumber the challenges they face. In Tasmania's salmon industry—and I have visited Petuna seafood on a number of occasions—they employ over 5,200 people throughout Tasmania, and the bulk of those people are employed full time in regional Tasmania. So we're talking about the contribution to our economy of $626 million. That's a significant contribution to the state's economy. And we know that over the next 15 years, and beyond, the demand for seafood is going to double. That means there will be a lot more jobs created.

I went to meet with people from Huon Aquaculture—in Hobart, actually. I had an overview of what they contribute to the salmon industry, and it was really interesting. The reason I went on this particular occasion was to look, learn and understand how they're using the IT sector to change the way that they manage the fish farming in their facilities. It was really quite fascinating. Some of it still relatively new, and very exciting, but in the interests of their business it is not something that we can openly talk about.

I travelled from the north-west coast through to the north of the state and then down to the south. Tasmanians would know the House of Anvers, in the north of Tasmania, as a fantastic chocolate maker and tourism destination. The House of Anvers was started in 1989 by Igor Van Gerwen, who came to Australia from Belgium. With his knowledge and expertise, and with a combination of Tasmania's cream, pure butter, liqueurs and natural flavours, he makes some of the best chocolates you will find anywhere. With the rich flavours and fantastic primary products that he uses, he's able to bring to not only the Tasmanian confectionary sector but also the tourism sector some of the best truffles and fudges you will find anywhere in the world. If you add to that what Igor Van Gerwen is doing for the local communities, for local visitors, the House of Anvers is certainly a destination you must go to when you're travelling from the north-west coast to the north of the state. And Ashgrove Tasmanian Farm is one of the finest cheese producers in Tasmania. They built a family business into one of the leading cheese producers in Tasmania. That has certainly enabled Tasmania to claim that we really are one of the best cheese-making regions in this country. Pair all of this with Tasmania's breathtaking beauty and world-class foodie stops and it's not hard to understand why more and more people are choosing Tasmania as a destination.

But with all these great products and natural beauty, Tasmania is still very much reliant upon the government investing in infrastructure. So I want to turn to another sector which is vitally important to Tasmanian's economy. I hosted a roundtable with the IT sector in Hobart. I was fortunate enough to have with me the shadow minister for the digital economy, Ed Husic, the Tasmanian Labor member for Denison and the shadow minister for communications, enterprise and the digital economy, Madeleine Ogilvie. We had some fantastic representatives from the Tasmanian IT sector—TasICT, Journey VR and Simon Tyrrell from LiveTiles. I can't begin to express how excited I get with the enthusiasm that these people have in their recognition of how important the digital economy is to Tasmania's future economy. But every time I meet with these people—and I've been doing it quite often—I hear some wonderful stories. I don't know how many horse men and women we have in this chamber, but a little known fact is that a company in Tasmania has created a new innovative hoof boot, the Scoot Boot, which enables horses to move over all sorts of terrain more safely. It's much better for them than the old ways of shoeing horses. This small company, which operates out of Hobart, has broken into the US market, they are breaking into the English market, and I have no doubt that they will make inroads into European countries that appreciate horses and sporting events as much as we here in Australia do.

That is just one of the many stories you hear when you're out talking to people and, more importantly, listening to the innovative ideas that are coming to fruition in Tasmania. But it's very unfortunate that this government, along with the state Liberal government, has actually vacated this space. There is no real injection of funds to assist this growing, emerging and very important economy—important not only to my home state of Tasmania but also to Australia. Because of where we are located, and even though not all of it is the great NBN that we rolled out, we can actually become the digital hub of the southern Pacific, in terms of where we're actually situated, if we are to invest money to support this sector—because there isn't any money anywhere.

I talked about aquaculture and how the digital economy and IT are helping them to farm their fish better and more efficiently. Whether you're talking about health or you're talking about education, the digital age is here. The only limitations that we have as a state will be brought about by governments, both at the state level and here at the federal level, not investing and supporting that sector. That is the future. We need to ensure that our children are fully digitally aware and educated so that they can take these jobs of the future. We are a very creative community. We have the best living conditions of anywhere in this country. We have some fantastic digital companies that are innovative and that are prepared to mentor and to be part of the digital hub. We need to grasp that with both hands. We need to support that sector and we need to see some leadership from this government, who have vacated this space. And I don't even want to go into how disappointed the IT sector is with the state government and the way they have abandoned their responsibilities of investing any real money into this sector.