After a decade of the Liberals’ budget mismanagement and waste, Tasmania’s finances are set to be the worst in the country.

An RTI obtained by Labor shows that the Liberal Government essentially wasted $1.5 million of Tasmanian taxpayer money for no outcome.

Origin Energy was given $1.5 million in grant funding to conduct a feasibility study into hydrogen development at Bell Bay. But Origin Energy then had to pull out of hydrogen development in Tasmania due to the uncertainty around Tasmania’s pipeline of renewables projects and the fact they couldn’t secure enough power.

This is exactly the sort of waste that that Labor’s 10-point plan for budget repair seeks to address.

The first step in dealing with any problem, is acknowledging there is one. As Saul Eslake said in his report, a decade of budget mismanagement and poor decision-making by the Liberals has led Tasmania to this point. Labor’s 10-point budget repair plan is about taking the first steps to deal with the Liberals record debt legacy.

Since the budget was delivered in September the Liberals haven’t even conceded that their behaviour needs to change. There’s no plan to get the record deficits and levels of debt under control and both the Premier and former Treasurer couldn’t name a date when the debt will stop spiralling.  

As the new Treasurer Guy Barnett is sworn in today, he should acknowledge that enough is enough and it’s time for the Liberals to develop a plan and make responsible decisions.

Josh Willie MP
Shadow Treasurer