Representing the Division of Clark
State Parliament of Tasmania.
State Parliament of Tasmania.
Tasmania’s budgets should have future generations in mind, ensuring they inherit a thriving and sustainable economy, environment, and society.
Our economy should serve our community and the environment.
Tasmania’s budgets should be crafted with future generations in mind, ensuring they inherit a thriving and sustainable economy, environment, and society.
We need more investment in prevention – particularly in Health, Justice, Education and the Environment – rather than waiting for problems to get more costly to fix.
The public service is already working hard to achieve efficiency. In terms of budget repair options cutting the public service is nowhere near the top of the pile.
We should be looking at our infrastructure spending on projects like the stadium, what we are doing to generate revenue and at the corporate welfare we hand out to via subsidies to businesses large and small.
These are the areas we should first be looking at very strongly before rushing to take the axe to our hard working public servants.
Public assets should be in public hands. This enhances transparency, accountability, and means more control over the costs and quality of services Tasmanians rely on.
We don’t need a new stadium, we can’t afford it and the community doesn’t want it.
No sale of UTAS Sandy Bay
I believe the UTAS Sandy Bay campus should be retained for educational purposes.
That land was gifted to the University for that purpose and the University has no place selling it off to fix their financial woes.
This includes the land above Churchill Avenue, which hosts important facilities including those crucial to Plant Science’s world leading research.
Every Tasmanian should have a safe, affordable, appropriate place to call home and there's much more the Government should be doing to make this a reality.
We should be breaking barriers creating inequality whether due to income, ability, race, gender, sexual orientation, postcode, age or anything else.
We are all equal and deserve to be treated that way.
This means breaking down the barriers creating inequality whether due to income, ability, race, gender, sexual orientation, postcode, age or anything else.
We also need strong legal protections to send the message that discrimination is not acceptable and where it does occur people have legal recourse to seek justice, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure their rights are upheld.
Pokies cause enormous harm in our communities. They are designed specifically to lose and be addictive. In Glenorchy our community loses approximately $2m every month into pokie machines. Statewide the monthly total loss figure is consistently about $16 million.
I’m fighting for a player pre-commitment card.
We should also implement other harm minimisation measures such as slower spin speeds, $1 maximum bet limits, banning loses disguised as wins, and restricting hours of operation.
Pork barrelling, political donations, campaign spending caps, political advertising, undue influence and conflicts of interest all need urgent action - starting with a robust Integrity Commission and electoral reforms.
Adequate funding and resourcing – stronger powers. For example, ensure the Integrity Commission can investigate members of Parliament; create memorandums of understanding with Parliament regarding parliamentary privilege; investigate people trying to influence public servants and MPs.
Money shouldn’t buy seats in Parliament or buy political favours. We need stronger donations laws, truth in political advertising laws, spending caps for all candidates/parties and fixed four-year terms.
Animals are sentient beings with intrinsic value, and deserve a quality of life and death that reflects that value.
Education is key to living a good life. Our public education system in particular needs the resources and workforce to give our young people the best start in life. This includes supporting students with their mental health and those with special needs and effective career guidance to navigate post-school options.
Education doesn’t stop when we leave school – we need to support Tasmanians to stay engaged in learning throughout their lives. I am a huge supporter of Adult Ed and would like to see it return to its glory days.
Good physical and mental wellbeing relies on investment in preventive health, as well as primary and acute care. We need to boost our funding for preventive health and support evidence-based education and early intervention. Particular areas needing more investment include:
Tasmania’s natural environment is precious and needs protecting. As stewards of the environment we must do more to ensure our forests, waterways, coasts and biodiversity are cared for. In particular:
I support an end to salmon farming in our coastal waterways, as do the vast majority of voters in my electorate of Clark.
Intensive farming is having major impacts on our environment from extensive antibiotic use, to mass fish deaths, fish waste on our beaches and endangering the Maugean skate.
The massive profits earned by the foreign-owned salmon companies are only possible because their business model relies on unethical industrial farming that is destroying our environment.
These companies also pay no tax, so are not even contributing to the cost of cleaning up the mess they make.
Public assets should not be privatised without a clear rationale and benefit to Tasmanians.
I advocate for smart justice that protects communities, prevents crime, saves lives, livelihoods and money.
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Hobart is a city facing rapid growth and has become highly congested. This directly impacts on the quality of our life and the sustainability of our city. Hobart needs an integrated public transport network, including rail, ferries and buses to ensure that it can cope now and into the future. In particular:
The planning system should deliver healthy, liveable communities, a sustainable environment and community-led decision making
The planning system should deliver healthy, liveable communities, a sustainable environment and community-led decision making
Energy is an essential service and every Tasmanian should have enough energy to live safely, healthily, and comfortably in their home. We need to do more to end energy-poverty in Tasmania in particular through:
Every Tasmanian child deserves to be safe and have what they need to live a healthy, happy life. But many Tasmanian children are missing out on these basics. The Government must:
Community services provide essential services to Tasmanians throughout their lives and help keep communities connected. They also employ almost 30,000 Tasmanians and contribute a massive amount to the economy. Yet they are undervalued and underfunded by this Government. In particular I support the community service industry’s calls for:
funding that covers the true cost of running their organisations;
Drug use is a health issue not a criminal issue. Tasmania should adopt evidence-informed laws and policies including: