Australian Journal of Politics and History: Volume 61, Number 4, 2015, pp.485-500. 658

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MPs perceive the government’s determination as more motivated by populism than the need for the actual policing of a problem (Advertiser, 17 June 2015).

Tasmania January to June 2015

DAIN BOLWELL, WAYNE MCLEAN AND RICHARD ECCLESTON Institute for the Study of Social Change, University of Tasmania Overview The first six months of 2015 saw Premier Will Hodgman’s Liberal government seek to consolidate its strong position in the aftermath of the 2014 election. Hence, the government sought to fulfil a number of electoral promises, including job cuts and reforms to the public sector and reducing debt. The government also moved quickly to capitalize on trade and tourism opportunities following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the state in late 2014. These moves accompanied a number of positive economic trends. Growth was forecast at 2.5 per cent for 2015-2016 and the budgetary position of the government improved thanks to an unexpected increase in GST receipts, with expectations of the budget returning to a surplus within two years. In February, unemployment reached a three-year low of 6.5 per cent, the same rate as Queensland (Mercury, 13 March 2015) as industries such as tourism and agriculture continued to thrive. More broadly, the majority Liberal government provided parliamentary stability and unity, providing Tasmanians with a change from the preceding decade when minority government and leadership changes resulted in five different Premiers through 20042014. As a result, Tasmanians have been relatively uncritical of the new government and a June Reachtel opinion poll showed little change in the support for the major parties, with the Liberal party at 48.5 per cent, Labor 29.9 per cent and the Greens on 15.8 per cent. This translated to roughly the same number of seats as the current house under the Hare-Clarke system — Liberal fifteen, Labor seven and the Greens three (Reachtel, 4 June 2015). Parliamentary Affairs Parliamentary affairs were best described as uneventful, although this was largely due to the Liberal Party’s overall strategy of promoting an image of stability. Nonetheless, a number of controversial issues emerged as a result of the government’s determination to follow through on election promises. The most fractious issue was Attorney-General Vanessa Goodwin’s attempt to introduce new defamation laws. The planned changes would have seen Tasmania deviate from the nation-wide unification of Defamation Act legislation enacted in 2006. The proposed changes would have allowed corporations with more than ten employees to sue individuals. The proposal was a direct response to environmental protestors, and again linked to the Liberal narrative of stability as core to Tasmanian economic interests. The proposed laws were in response to a change in tactics by environmental protests who increasingly targeted timber companies through lobbying and protesting to customers directly. The government highlighted the case of timber company Ta Ann, where they claimed actions by protest groups such as “The Last Stand”, which lobbied Japanese customers directly, had resulted in the loss of

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forty jobs. Goodwin eventually abandoned the proposed changes, which were widely viewed as problematic and reactionary. A diverse range of groups including the Law Society of Tasmania, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the Australian Lawyers Alliance, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson, and the Environmental Defenders network all raised concerns. Ta Ann itself supported the backdown with spokesman Robert Yong stating the decision to abandon the laws “made good sense and would be well understood in the marketplace” (Mercury, 6 February 2015). Another proposal with implications for public liberties concerned amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Bill. The changes would allow religious schools to decline admission to those who do not share the “same religious beliefs, principles or tenets as the school”. Gay and Lesbian groups were concerned that it would allow a “bigots' charter”. In contrast, the Organisation of Independent Schools Tasmania welcomed the changes, stating they brought Tasmania into line with other states (Mercury, 20 March 2015). Aside from these issues, the Liberal party faced few notable challenges on the anniversary of its first year of government, preferring to concentrate on issues such as infrastructure. The most visible project was upgrades to the Midland Highway. This involved $400 million of federal government funds to upgrade the busy corridor that links Launceston and Hobart (2015-2016 Budget, p.119). As of May, 86 per cent of the Midland Highway was rated one or two star on a five-star AUSRAP safety scale and ranked among the most dangerous major roads in the country (Transport Tas 2015). Despite the large allocation of funding, the upgrade fell short of the initial promise to upgrade the highway to four lanes for its entire length. Other core infrastructure projects included the allocation of $38 million from federal funds to extend the Hobart airport’s runway and passenger facilities to allow for international flights and increased Antarctic air traffic (Mercury, 17 February 2015). Party leadership changes of both the state and federal Greens were most notable. On 6 May, Senator Christine Milne, the national Greens leader, announced her intention to resign and retire from the Senate. Party nomination for her seat was to be contested by former state Greens leader Nick McKim, as well as Hobart alderman Anna Reynolds, Save the Tarkine spokesman Scott Jordan, Huon Valley councillor Rosalie Woodruff, Launceston lawyer Vanessa Bleyer and Rosebery-based Matthew Ryan-Sykes (ABC News, 31 May 2015). Milne’s announcement was followed by the resignation of state Greens’ leader, Kim Booth, on 19 May. Launceston alderman Andrea Dawkins succeeded Booth in Bass through Hare-Clarke count back on 9 June (Examiner, 9 June 2015). Soon after, Denison’s Cassy O’Connor was elected parliamentary leader unopposed, the second leadership change for the party within fifteen months. Booth’s resignation raised questions for the future of the state party, which struggled to remain relevant after a poor result at the 2014 state election. Hence, while the party was doing well at the national level, the Greens were struggling at the state level, as a number of issues they associate with, such as old-growth logging and battles with timber companies like the former Gunns subsided. Labor, too, has struggled to restore its political stocks after the 2014 election when the party lost a number of potential leadership candidates such as ministers Brian Wightman (Bass) and David O’Byrne (Franklin). While parliamentary leader Bryan Green remained popular with the party faithful, his appeal among voters is more limited. For instance, a June Reachtel poll found that Green was only the fourth most

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preferred leader behind Lara Giddings, Scott Bacon and the youngest state MP, Rebecca White, who topped the poll at 28.4 per cent (Mercury, 10 June 2015). The Tasmanian Labor branch was further affected when Senator Lisa Singh, who is not a member of a faction, was moved to fourth on the Labor Senate ticket, leaving the popular member with little chance of re-election. This occurred after the dominant Left faction, with more than 500 members and 200 conference delegates, pushed John Short to third place on the party’s Senate ticket. Former Queensland ALP Senator Margaret Reynolds, now a Tasmanian resident, was highly critical of the move, stating it revealed internal factional politics and the strength of power-brokers, rather than favouring popular local members. She criticised party preselection processes saying that job applicants at McDonald’s have more rigorous assessments than our future leaders (Mercury, 22 May 2015). During the period, elections were held for the Legislative Council seats of Windermere, Derwent and Mersey. The only contest of note was in the Tamar Valley seat of Windermere where the independent incumbent Ivan Dean managed to fend off three candidates to retain the seat with 55.70 per cent of the vote after a two-party preferred instant run-off with Labor candidate Jennifer Houston. Lack of competition for the seats of Derwent and Mersey, where incumbents posted victories of 20 and 50 percentage points respectively, renewed calls for electoral reform in the Legislative Council, where only one incumbent (Lin Thorp) has lost their seat over the past twelve years. Key targets for reform were the $15,000 limit on campaign expenditure and the rotating nature of the upper house elections (Mercury, 6 June 2015). Budget and Economy Away from Parliament, Tasmania was in a relatively strong economic position, but faced a number of challenges. According to the Deloitte Access Economics’ March Business Outlook, Tasmania still had the weakest retail spending and lowest population growth in the nation. The future of manufacturing and mining also remain bleak. For example, equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Underground Mining announced 280 jobs losses at its Burnie plant in April (Advocate, 13 April 2015). Similarly, the Cadbury factory, operated by Mondelez International, slashed eighty positions at its Claremont factory despite the promise of a $16 million federal grant (ABC News, 22 May 2015). The zinc smelting company Nyrstar also reportedly requested $50 million assistance to secure its long-term future in Tasmania (Mercury, 23 January 2015). Its electrolytic smelter has been a major Hobart employer for nearly a century, since 1916. More positively, the housing industry was strong, especially in construction. New dwelling approvals increased by more than 40 per cent in March (ABC News, 4 May 2015). This accompanied high business confidence and strong growth in the agriculture and tourism sectors. Furthermore, the release of the state budget was also more positively received than in past years. Part of this was due to fortuitous and unexpected GST receipts totalling $591 million over the next four years (Mercury, 21 May 2015). This windfall is especially significant for Tasmania where GST is the largest source of revenue for the state government, providing 42.3 per cent of revenue for 2015-2016 (2015-16 Budget, p.85). The milder than expected federal budget further allowed Treasurer Peter Gutwein to consolidate spending and deliver on the election promise to balance revenue and expenditure. Despite this, optimism waned amid concerns the post-election recovery may be stalling (Mercury, 28 May 2015). For example, 3000 fewer Tasmanians were in full-time employment in June relative to the November 2014 peak. Other key elements of the budget were $315 million for a “jobs package”

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consisting of $120 million for rail infrastructure upgrade, $60 million for cities rejuvenation projects in the north of the state, $90 million for an extended irrigation scheme and $6 million for tourism marketing. The package had the ambitious end goal of creating 8,000 new jobs. Aside from the budget and more controversially, the government announced it had reduced the public service by 668 full time positions as part of a target of 821 reductions (Mercury, 28 February 2015) within its first year of election. Furthermore, an auditor’s report recommended that seventeen primary schools be closed (ABC News, 26 May 2015). A further $100 million was allocated for frontline health spending, with the goals of reducing elective surgery waiting lists and improvements to palliative care (ABC News, 12 May 2015). This funds a wider range of reforms as part of the “One Health System” program, which includes establishing a dedicated elective surgery centre at the Mersey hospital and a shift to performing complex operations at the Launceston General Hospital. This is designed to pacify concerns, especially in the north and north-west, over increased centralisation of services in the south. Despite broad support among the community and community groups, such as the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, some concerns were raised around role delineation and the long-term financial sustainability of the proposed reforms. For example, the Tasmanian head of the Australian Medical Association, Tim Greenaway, supported the key principles of the program, but also claimed it unsound and potentially dangerous for hospitals to rely on single-practitioner services and that “operating four public hospitals, as well as a number of district hospitals, is just untenable for 515,000 people, particularly with the Federal Government’s future funding model” (Mercury, June 25 2015). Tasmanian’s economic prospects were initially boosted by the March announcement of a $203 million extension of the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme (TFES) (Mercury, 13 March 2015). The TFES was initiated in 1976 in recognition of the disadvantage of Bass Strait for Tasmanian exports, especially the larger industries that produce newsprint, aluminium, zinc and agricultural products. The extension was to provide a $700 per container subsidy starting in 2016. However, despite surprise at the subsidy amount, there were local fears of a Victorian state government program to privatise the Port of Melbourne, which threatened to significantly increase port charges and negate much of the TFES benefit (Mercury, 14 March 2015). Other concerns emerged when a deal with Swire Shipping to provide a direct shipping route to Asia was cancelled as the new subsidies made the link unprofitable (ABC News, 31 May). International Trade and Tourism The Tasmanian government followed up the widely publicised visit by Xi Jinping in November 2014 with a number of trade missions, including a visit by Premier Will Hodgman to a State Banquet in the Great Hall of the People, as a guest of the President on 30 March (Mercury, 26 March 2015). This week-long mission involved more than twenty representatives from business, government, the University of Tasmania, and the Hobart and Launceston city councils. China was an increasing source of revenue and investments for Tasmania in areas including education, tourism and niche food products. For example, Chinese Commercial Counsellor Madam Liu Yu asked whether Tasmania had the potential to grow its salmon industry from its current $500 million to $2 billion by 2030 to provide an alternative to other salmon suppliers including Norway and Chile (Mercury, 29 March 2015). Cherry exports to China also increased. They rose 114 per cent from the previous year with hopes the market could further double within seven years (Mercury,

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9 April 2015). Other initiatives emerging from the trip included a proposal for direct air links, specialised migration, and increased education links via University of Tasmania programs (Mercury, 1 April 2015). Tourism benefitted from renewed marketing and a lower Australian dollar. Both visitor numbers and spending jumped significantly. The Tourism Tasmania snapshot for the year ending March 2015 found visitor numbers reached 1.1 million, up 4 per cent, while visitor expenditure increased 12 per cent to $1.88 billion. International visitor numbers were up 11 per cent and Chinese visitors increased by 73 per cent for the period ending 2014. In order to cater for this growth, the government invited proposals to develop national park reserves in the World Heritage Area (WHA). The government received thirty-seven initial proposals, which were reduced to twenty-five when some failed to meet environment standards. Of these, fifteen were within, or on the edge of the WHA (Mercury, 13 March 2015). The schemes proposed include a floating eco-tourism resort in Recherche Bay, designed by prominent architect Robert Morris-Nunn. This received “cautious” support from former Greens leader Bob Brown, the Wilderness Society and the Tourism Industry Council (Mercury, 25 February 2015). Morris-Nunn had a further proposal for a sixty-room hotel on Mt Wellington on the former Springs hotel site approved by the Hobart City Council with little resistance (Mercury, 13 March 2015). Nonetheless, frictions remained. For instance, the government had proposed development in the 1.58 million hectare WHA as part of a new management plan released in January (Sydney Morning Herald, 30 May 2015). This would have allowed “remote recreation zones” for commercial tourism infrastructure such as accommodation and landing strips. These, in turn, would have facilitated activities including cycling, hang-gliding and base-jumping (Mercury, 15 January 2015). However, there seemed to be broad consensus that a “Gold Coast” approach to tourism is not in the best interest of the Tasmanian brand long-term. Additionally, Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) founder David Walsh raised the prospect of a small scale “high-roller” casino to lure wealthy Asian clients, which would not sit comfortably with the Federal Group’s exclusive license for casinos and gaming until 2023 (Mercury, 20 March 2015). The proposal accompanied a shift driven by MONA to promote winter tourism, typified by the highly successful “Dark MOFO” festival that drew an estimated 150,000 visitors during a traditionally flat period of the year (Mercury, 12 June 2015). Local Government At the local government level, there were concerns raised about the increasingly dysfunctional council system. The Glenorchy Council, in particular, had a wellpublicised feud between Mayor Kristie Johnson and General Manager Peter Brooks after a meeting to vote on recommendations in an operational review. Johnson tried to adjourn the meeting when aldermen were asked to vote without having had access to the report, yet other aldermen continued the meeting without her (Mercury, 6 February 2015). Denison MP Andrew Wilkie addressed the issue in federal parliament stating that the “puerile behaviour would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious” (ABC News, 10 February 2015). Only one third of Tasmania’s mayors and deputy mayors are women, leading Johnson to claim that her opponents in the council were discriminating based on gender (Mercury, 10 June 2015). This follows Hobart Lord Mayor Sue Hickey’s claims of similar “bias” following an incident where Alderman Marti Zucco publicly claimed he felt like a “jilted lover” for missing council meetings (Mercury, 19 February 2015).

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The poor behaviour accelerated Will Hodgman’s wider pledge to reform local government where Tasmania has a council for every 18,000 people, versus 73,000 in Victoria and where twelve of twenty-nine local councils are losing money (Mercury, 1 March 2015). It was further revealed that a number of council general managers are earning high salaries, some in excess of those of the Premier and Treasurer (Mercury, 7 June). As a result, the state government has set aside a modest $400,000 fund as part of the budget to investigate and encourage voluntary mergers. Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein has also pledged to remove red tape at the local government level, highlighting the case of “Gary the goat” where a tender process was required under the local government act to move a goat from impounded land acquired by the Derwent Valley council (Mercury, 27 August 2014). The goat was eventually sold for $80 after the tender was advertised in the Mercury. Forestry and Environmental Issues Forestry remained on the agenda after the release of the Triabunna woodchip mill Inquiry report. The report, which the opposition and Greens claimed was politicised, raised questions about the sale of the mill in 2011 to environmentalists for $10 million and the $23 million paid in compensation to Gunns as part of the Tasmanian Forests Agreement. The deal left no capability to export woodchips from southern Tasmania and woodchips or so-called “residues” are now transported to Bell Bay in the north of the state for export. As a consequence, a number of alternative proposals emerged. One was allowing the transport of 500,000 tonnes of woodchips down the Huon River on barges. The Huon council later voted the plan down (ABC News, 29 January 2015). A second proposal was raised by resources minister Paul Harriss, who sought to use Hobart’s Macquarie wharf as a “medium term” solution. However, there were substantial concerns about the impact on traffic as well as the visual fit with tourism and he backed down on the plan in late April (Mercury, 1 May 2015). The vulnerability of the forestry industry as a result of the collapse of Gunns and decreasing woodchip prices in global markets led Harriss to call for the use of the “residues” to form a biomass energy industry — that is to burn the woodchips. The government has committed $750,000 to investigate the plan. Also, the state-owned loss-making Forestry Tasmania (FT) continued to struggle and was to be “put on the path to sustainability” (Budget speech, p.9). However, Minister Harriss “shocked” and “angered” former colleagues in the Legislative Council when he refused to discuss FT’s restructuring during budget estimates hearings, saying they must wait until hearings in December. It was revealed, however, that the state sawmill assistance program had resulted in twelve sawmills choosing to stay open due to half payment of exit packages, while a further eight chose to close down based on receipt of the full package (Mercury, 11 June 2015). There was also controversy following the approval of the ninety-five-metre trawler Geelong Star to operate in Tasmanian waters despite well-organised protests from recreational and commercial fishers. This followed similar dissent against the larger 136-metre Margiris trawler. This so-called super trawler was the world’s second largest fishing boat and was eventually banned from Australian waters in 2012 by the Gillard government. This was despite research released by the federal government showing that there was a healthy population of the target species, jack mackerel. According to Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck, mackerel stocks were “large enough to enable a modest commercial catch to be taken without the marine ecosystem being adversely affected” (Mercury, 19 March 2015). This created an uneasy alliance of environmental groups and recreational fishers who are both opposed to the trawler plans by company

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Seafish Tasmania. One Game Fish Tasmania member said that “some recreational fishers were ‘very anti-green’ and felt uncomfortable being aligned with environmental groups” (Mercury, 16 March 2015). Nonetheless, together, the groups garnered 75,000 signatures on an online petition, which was presented to federal MPs (Mercury, 19 March 2015). Furthermore, the Australian Recreational Fishers Party was expected to run Senate candidates at the next federal election. It was launched on 16 April by “Stop the Super Trawler Alliance” member Kevin Harkins, former Secretary of the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council (Mercury, 16 April 2015), and followed by a fifty-ship flotilla protest on the Derwent on 20 April. Indigenous Affairs The government appeared to uphold its commitment to consult more thoroughly with the Aboriginal community on the protection of middens from damage by four-wheel drive enthusiasts on the West coast near the Tarkine. This accompanied new policy around official naming and traditional fire control methods. However, the federal government decision to reject the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service bid for $2.1 million annual funding and instead fund the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to operate in Tasmania for five years drew protests. Despite operating the service for more than forty years, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre lost its bid because of the cost and types of services as well as concerns about its “limited recognition of Aboriginal people”, according to the federal Attorney-General’s office (ABC News, 15 June 2015). Conclusion Overall, the first half of 2015 has been a period of consolidation for the Liberal government and, so far, this cautious strategy has been vindicated via continued electoral support. More importantly, a central question of the coming six months is whether weaker economic growth experienced in Tasmania during the first half of 2105 is temporary setback and whether the Liberal government will be able to restore the strong growth experienced in the months after it came to power in March 2014. As always, Tasmania’s economic performance is largely dependent on external factors, such as the GST windfall and rapid growth in more changeable industries such as tourism and speciality agriculture. Hence, halfway through 2015, the bigger question is whether these growth areas are sustainable in the longer-term, during a period when Tasmania’s larger traditional industries remain in decline.

Northern Territory January to June 2015

ROBYN SMITH History and Heritage Practitioner, Darwin Introduction The year began in spectacular fashion when Acting Chief Minister Peter Chandler announced on 14 January that his government had lost confidence in Police Commissioner John McRoberts who had tendered his resignation with immediate effect (NT News, ABC News, 14 January 2015) and the Leader of the Opposition was in court attempting to quash the report of Stella Maris Inquiry Commissioner John Lawler