This is an opportunity for all of us to do something plain but meaningful – and that’s to say a clear, direct “thank you” to the men and women who respond when emergencies occur, often under the most difficult and trying circumstances.

Our first responders carry a heavy burden on behalf of us all. That is why practical, visible acts of appreciation, such as a handwritten note carry real weight and make a genuine difference to the person receiving them.

How do I participate?

To ensure it is as straightforward as possible for people to participate, my office has worked with local small businesses across Launceston and the Tamar region. Thank a First Responder Day cards are now available at several local pharmacies. I want to publicly credit these businesses for their willingness to support the effort.

You can pick up a card, write a short message, and pop it in the nearby envelope for direct delivery to our local stations and units. These locations include:

Launceston – TerryWhite Chemmart Brisbane Street (opposite City Park)
Launceston – Pharmacy & Co. in Kings Meadows
Launceston – Hatton & Laws on Charles Street
Youngtown – Youngtown WholeLife Pharmacy and Healthfoods
Beaconsfield – West Tamar Pharmacy
Riverside – TerryWhite Chemmart (Woolworths Complex)
Mowbray – TerryWhite Chemmart
George Town – Your Pharmacy

Alternatively, you can nominate a first responder to give the card to personally.

A message of thanks does not need to be complex or overly long. A few sincere lines are enough to acknowledge the work that is too often unseen and performed at a high personal cost. We want to turn quiet gratitude into action to encourage the first responders who serve our community.

If you are unsure of where to start; a simple acknowledgment of professionalism, care, bravery or the thank you for an experience you had with a first responder will go a long way. I would like people to include a word of thanks to the families of our responders, who share in the sacrifices of these amazing people.

I encourage everyone who is able to take a brief moment this week to visit one of these pharmacies, involve your children or your workplace, and help ensure our first responders know their service is fully recognized and respected.

I recently attended a fantastic community event hosted by Starting Point Neighbourhood House, centred around the theme: “Who are people in your neighbourhood?” The answer became obvious the moment I arrived — hundreds of people gathering together, community organisations working side by side, and local volunteers quietly serving others.

Starting Point Neighbourhood House continues to play a vital role in Ravenswood through practical support, education, childcare links, literacy assistance and community connection.

I also wanted to acknowledge some of the humble local champions who have dedicated decades of service to the community, including Julie Moy, Sharon Leonard, Peter Richards, Cynthia Clements and Carmen Gunley. Their leadership reflects the very best of Ravenswood.

It was especially encouraging to see university medical students providing free health checks to volunteers from the Ravenswood Fire Brigade — a simple but powerful example of practical mateship and local pride.

Communities grow stronger because of people who turn up, care about others and quietly get on with the job of serving.

This speech includes discussion about:
• Cost-of-living pressures
• Fiscal sustainability and budget repair (1.10)
• TT-Line and the Spirit of Tasmania project (4.00)
• Federal Labor’s lower cost of living broken promise (7.10)
• Launceston General Hospital redevelopment (8.43)
• Roads and transport projects in Bass including Tamar Bridge (11.00)
• Free public transport (16:45)
• Education infrastructure (17:25)
• Major regional infrastructure and events (17.55)

Watch the full speech below.

Click here for information on good news for Northern Tasmania in the 2026-27 budget

Mr FERGUSON (Bass) – Honourable Speaker, in recent times I’ve spent a great deal of my time as Liberal member for Bass travelling around the most beautiful and exceptional electorate in this country, Bass. Meeting people from Kings Meadows to Flinders Island, from Beaconsfield to Scottsdale through to Gladstone, one factor’s come through very clearly: our families and small businesses are under pressure. Our people are worried about the cost of groceries, fuel, mortgages, rent and, of course, petrol and diesel. Small businesses are facing the same pressures, but they also have rising wages and increases in Commonwealth taxation to attend to.

Tasmanians understand that there are no easy answers here. Families have had to tighten budgets themselves, and they expect governments to show the same discipline. At the same time, our community expects governments to keep investing in the hospitals, schools, roads and essential services that our communities rely upon every single day. What this calls for is a stronger economy and a caring community, exactly what this Budget seeks seeks to achieve.

The last few years have put enormous pressure on governments everywhere. The pandemic, the commission of inquiry, redress and civil case settlements, inflation, global instability and rising costs to government have changed the fiscal environment dramatically.

As a former treasurer of Tasmania, I take delight in sincerely congratulating the team, including Treasurer, Eric Abetz, for delivering his first Tasmanian Budget under difficult circumstances. This Liberal government believes in strong public services, responsible finances, protecting jobs and securing our state’s future. At a time when many governments are avoiding difficult decisions, this Budget brings much-needed fiscal discipline while continuing to invest in the needs of our Tasmanian community.

Having now participated for over 12 years as a member of this governing party, I know what long-term investment can achieve. I’ve seen it, but I’ve also seen how quickly fiscal pressures build when governments stop exercising restraint. Just look around the country and around the world. For me, in internal government meetings, parliamentary debates in this Chamber and my public statements, I have consistently argued for reducing expenditure growth, rebuilding fiscal buffers and making our fiscal strategy much tougher. The goal has been to return to balance, then to a fiscal surplus.

Governments have to make difficult decisions instead of pretending every pressure can be solved simply by higher spending. It is a false promise. To just spend more money to address your problems on its own will dig you a deeper hole. Our taxpayers understand the value of living within their means while planning for their future and I believe they expect the very same of us. At its core, that is what Liberal governments understand. You cannot build strong services on weak finances.

My people, families and communities in Bass are practical people. They work hard, they take responsibility and they want governments to do the same. They’re not asking for miracles from government, but they do want stability and want to see a plan for the future. They want infrastructure that keeps pace with growing subdivisions, growing trade, and a growing population, and as I’ve said, they want strong public services. They also want confidence that government is planning properly for the future instead of chasing headlines.

TT-Line has been a significant part of this Budget, and I’d like to address it. I’m speaking to those who continue to hold concerns about the TT-Line project, and I want to say that is absolutely fair enough. It has had significant implications for the Budget and for our state. I want to encourage anybody with genuine interest in the issue to read the Public Accounts Committee report published last November in this House. It’s a very good and fair report in my view. That report demonstrates that the reductive slogan that the government forgot to build the berth is wrong and misses the issue.

TT-Line repeatedly assured government the project would be delivered by July 2024 with the first ramp. The government became increasingly involved based on concerns raised with us by a stakeholder, and we escalated oversight in late 2023, again with assurances that we now know were out of touch with reality. During the 2024 election caretaker period TT-Line terminated its berth builder without telling the government. I believe it’s very safe to say that was a serious and, in my view, unforgiveable failure of governance. The Public Accounts Committee report also makes clear that the full position was far more complex than many Tasmanians were led to believe, particularly in relation to internal governance failures and information not reaching ministers when it should have.

Speaking about myself and my own role, as I’ve said before, I should have exercised much greater scepticism toward that management and their assurances. I should not have trusted them, and those individuals are culpable.

Regarding the politics and the ministerial responsibility, the record is clear and I stand by taking that responsibility. I’m also grateful that the Premier noted:

“Michael carried full responsibility for those who failed to deliver the job entrusted to them.” And he goes on to note: “The company eventually admitted its responsibility.”

Speaker and colleagues, I want to acknowledge that the new TT Line board and management have approached these issues with refreshing honesty and professionalism, in my view, and have accepted responsibility for the company’s failure under its former management. We now need to look forward. With the very positive intervention now close to finished, I believe Tasmanians should look forward with confidence and unity to the successful completion of the project, just a few months away. Won’t that be a great day for our state and every Tasmanian?

Tasmania and our people are not isolated from what is happening nationally. We’ve seen what happens when governments lose fiscal discipline and continue to increase taxes and spending while promising restraint. Federal Labor was elected promising cost-of-living relief and restraint. The now PM promised that life would be cheaper under him, yet families and businesses continue to face increasing pressure and uncertainty about the future.

We’re now seeing close to $80 billion in additional tax measures nationally, despite repeated assurances before the election of May last year. That is not a sustainable approach to long-term economic management and it sends shock waves through business confidence, but it also reinforces why disciplined budgeting matters here in our state to avoid taxation-led fiscal repair down the track or even bigger savings measures.

It’s far too easy for oppositions to demand more spending in every area of government while at the same time opposing any efficiency measure, and we’ve seen that this week. Governing responsibly requires better choices and more maturity than that, and that’s why this Liberal government is navigating through a difficult circumstance. We’d like to see more support around the Chamber, but also, importantly as part of the government strategy, no new taxes.

Healthcare investment remains one of the clearest examples of why careful financial management matters. Remember, you can’t have strong public services on a weak balance sheet. Demand for health services continues to grow across Tasmania, particularly in my suburban and regional communities.

Northern Tasmania deserves modern facilities capable of meeting that demand and I am so pleased with the continued investments at my local hospital, the Launceston General Hospital, which provides remarkable and loving care – and I say that advisedly – to our community. The continued redevelopment of the LGH remains a vitally important investment for our region. It is such a great institution. It’s where I met Professor George Razay on a very happy afternoon working at the Clifford Craig.

More than $363 million is committed towards this redevelopment and this includes the mental health precinct and the Northern Health Complex, including the Launceston Heart Centre. This is major infrastructure. It will make sure that our community in northern Tasmania has the hospital capacity it will need in the years ahead. It will mean better facilities for patients, improved working environments for our staff and expanded services closer to where people live.

This Budget also supports therapeutic services at the northern Arch centre and continues investment in mental health services, youth mental health support, women’s health initiatives and expanded access to healthcare through community pharmacies, broadening the role that pharmacists can play, and supporting longer pharmacy opening hours into evenings and weekends, will truly help families to get care sooner and closer to home. It will also ease pressure on GP clinics and emergency departments. I wish time would permit me to talk more about the pharmacy after-hours support. I believe it will be such a sensible investment, at not a high amount of money, that could actually provide a significant improvement to families’ quality of life.

Roads matter in Bass because people rely on them every single day to get about their study, work or recreational needs. Roads affect how people get to work, move freight, run businesses and keep our communities connected. That’s why continued investment in roads and transport remains a priority in this budget. I congratulate my government colleagues for that decision. The East Tamar Highway is one of our state’s most important freight and transport corridors, including as the primary heavy vehicle connection to Bell Bay, Tasmania’s third largest port. Planned works focus on increasing capacity, improving safety and freight access, supportive, active and public transport, and upgrading road surfaces.

I’m tremendously excited about the West Tamar Corridor Improvement Plan. I played a lead role in this, and I congratulate the department and Minister Vincent for pushing ahead with this. That plan will deliver important upgrades along one of our region’s busiest roads. Projects include additional lanes between Freshwater Point Road and Acropolis Drive at Magana, now basically coming to a close. It’s been a great project. Improved pedestrian safety through Exeter, and I believe, some of the most exciting new works for the West Taylor Highway coming up with road and active transport improvements through Riverside. We have some real challenges on that dated highway. I’m really looking forward to seeing the safety improvements of the Forest Rd junction and I look forward down the track to seeing the duplication at Barnes Hill. This will really improve the quality of life for our community. It’s Liberal government that’s designed these works. I look forward to getting to see them implemented.

One thing I’ve learned over many years in government, is that major infrastructure projects really need champions in government to deliver them. They don’t deliver themselves. They need discipline, persistence, careful planning, strong teams and strong project management. I saw that first hand with the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment. As a new government, 12 years ago, when I became Health minister, that project was in the gutter. The floor plate had been reduced, the helipad taken away. The design was in chaos, had not been signed off, even the methodology was unresolved. Can you believe there was actually serious consideration being given to building the top half of the building before the bottom half? Ask me later, I can explain. Not a brick had been laid.

We had to pause that project to rescue it. Look at it now, delivering a facility where our staff can provide world-class healthcare, life-saving aeromedical retrievals to the statewide trauma centre, saving lives on a regular basis. That was done through disciplined management, strong project oversight and an outstanding project team. We put Ben Maloney in charge of that task. We turned that project around into a modern and functional hospital that’s now delivering the exceptional care that I described, every single day. Importantly, that included reinstating the rooftop helipad that had been removed by the previous government, because critical care access matters so much in the state’s capital.

Also reflect on the Bridgewater Bridge project. Again, we put Ben Maloney on that job. When I became Infrastructure minister, that project had no more than a business case. We secured the Commonwealth Funding Partnership, established a dedicated project team, got the planning approvals – with my friend and colleague, Roger Jaensch – we got the major project legislation that achieved that planning process, developed Tasmania’s first ever early contractor involvement procurement model, and advanced the project through the tender and delivery plan.

Good infrastructure needed more than slogans and announcements. It required those competent people, the hard work, long-term thinking and the willingness to do difficult work properly, against what unfortunately we’ve witnessed with projects, occasional undermining, which we did see on the Royal, as well as the bridge, and we’re now seeing with the stadium. Ministers and government need to continue to push hard to achieve project success.

Transport planning in Launceston is also about looking beyond immediate pressures and planning for the next generation. As northern Tasmania grows, congestion pressures and transport demands will continue to increase.

Like Hobart with its geography, Launceston has a similar puzzle because of the shape and design of the Tamar River in the Esk rivers. The sort of long-term thinking matters, especially when it comes to the proposed Tamar Bridge. Budget paper number 1, page 180, confirms the Tamar Bridge remains an active project proposal based on an 80 per cent Australian and a 20 per cent Tasmanian government contribution. I’ve championed this project at every stage because northern Tasmanian needs long-term transport resilience and better connectivity across the Tamar.

The business case has now been before the Australian Government since February 2024. Two years and three months it’s been with Canberra. I believe northern Tasmania deserves a proper answer, and now is a very good time for the Commonwealth to respond and join us as a project partner.

The continuation of free public transport really is providing practical cost-of-living relief for workers, students, seniors and families, and I include that people who haven’t been public transport users in recent times; they’re taking advantage of it now. That means more money in the pockets of families each and every week and less pressure on household budgets.

As the Premier has said, this is something that we’ve been able to do during a period of high national inflation, and I personally believe it will continue to see greater people using public transport when fares return.

To Education. As a teacher myself, passionate about education and especially literacy, education infrastructure remains another important long-term investment. I’m so pleased the budget continues upgrades and improvements at schools including Port Dalrymple, South George Town, Mowbray Heights and Ringarooma Primary – great schools. Students and teachers really do need to have learning environments that are modern, functional, and fit for purpose.

The Budget also continues investment in community infrastructure and regional livability. It includes support for major events such as Festivale, Junction Arts Festival, the Australian Musical Theatre Festival that I enjoyed with family last weekend, and the V8 Supercars, which I love, but not as much as Rob Fairs; he adores it. These events do support local jobs. They bring people to our state and to our regions, and they are supporting tourism, regional pride and of course jobs, and that’s a wonderful thing.

The Budget also provides support for projects including the new Launceston Convention Centre, an amazing proposal. I think it’s something that Liberal and Labor does agree on. It’s an exciting opportunity for our region. It’s not going to see events taken from other venues. It’s going to grow the pie. It’s going to grow the conference market for Launceston and northern Tasmania. I can’t wait to see that project coming out of the ground. A massive tribute there to Errol Stewart, who’s been the pioneer and champion for that project.

As I close, I acknowledge that budgets like this are never easy. Being responsible with taxpayers’ money is not simple, but it does mean taking making choices, hopefully wise ones, setting priorities and thinking beyond the next election cycle.

The Budget does continue to invest in essential infrastructure and the services that Bass relies upon, while recognising that responsible financial management today protects opportunities for future generations.

As a proven loyal Liberal I remain entirely convinced that Tasmania’s long-term success continues to depend upon good planning, sensible investments and governments prepared to make difficult decisions to make them as early as possible rather than leave them for next generations. That’s why I support this Budget. Congratulations.

Watch and read the full speech below.

Mr FERGUSON (Bass) – Deputy Speaker, I’m pleased to be able to rise to support the Treasurer and the government on this matter of public importance. I thought we wanted budget sustainability. That’s what I remember very vividly out of the last probably two debates around the budget presented by previously the Treasurer in the interim Budget last November and also the previous treasurer, Mr Barnett, at this time last year.

It was this day one year ago when we got the no-confidence motion moved by the Leader of the Opposition when he chased the car and accidentally caught it and found that he actually had a majority of members of this House who supported that motion. I don’t believe for one moment that he actually wanted to proceed with that motion, but following his great mentor, Mr Lennon’s advice, I believe, he led us all into that merry dance. I remember very vividly that the then Leader of the Opposition very deliberately targeted the then treasurer, Guy Barnett, and Jeremy Rockliff as Premier in that no-confidence motion. The point had to be made to the opposition at that time by none other than David O’Byrne, the honourable member for Franklin, that the budget is not a Treasurer’s budget, it’s not a Premier’s budget, it’s Cabinet’s budget. You’re doing it again today. You’re now trying to make it personal about the person, the Treasurer, Eric Abetz. It’s like you’re trying to pepper every question through the day and through the MPI and you’ve tried to divide ministers from one another.

For example, you’ve asked questions earlier today of minister Archer as if she has a different point of view from another minister with whom she shares a Cabinet decision. That is how it works. It does rather give it away that not one member on the other side of this Chamber has been a minister and you don’t know and don’t act like you would know about how those things work. You had to have Mr O’Byrne teach you, and you’re doing it again here and now.

Last year you made it very clear that the budget needed to be repaired. You made it abundantly clear. Your own alternative budget that you published at the election had a $1 billion in cuts and the year before that in the March 2024 election, you had $2 billion of infrastructure and operational cuts, but of course now that we have a government, a treasurer, and a Cabinet presenting a budget before our House that reins in operational expenditure growth – Health still continues to grow in funding but the growth trajectory has been addressed you’re seeing budget repair and you’re opposing it wherever you can.

We’ve been told time and again by eminent people like Saul Eslake, and he’s not alone; we’ve had Treasury’s fiscal sustainability report. You raise that in a merry hurry, but now when you see some of these measures being introduced, you’re taking every opportunity to oppose them and you’re targeting one person, the Treasurer. That’s what you’re doing and it’s very obvious.

Yesterday it was alternative budget day and we didn’t get an alternative budget. We’ll get one today instead because the Greens always do their homework. It might be a very alternative budget., I’ll grant you, but it will nonetheless be a commitment by the Greens with their policies, not just the ones they oppose but the ones they propose, and they’ll be committed to an operational statement. They will show –

Mr Winter – Maybe when you’re up there with Angus you can help him with one.

Mr FERGUSON – I’m not sure why you would dare interject. You’ve had a shocking week and your leader had a shocking day yesterday. He ran with a lot of extra time up his sleeve and took his seat. He got nil applause, didn’t front the media, and not one of the Labor Party members have put any of their material up on their social media to share with the community. You’re embarrassed and well you may be. Labor’s policy was so poor. It was clearly written by the Waterside Workers Federation and the various unions there and he could not even front the media. No doubt we will get an alternative budget today and that would have been a reasonable thing for the opposition to do.

I also want to remind members opposite that the Labor legacy on finances is not flash. We had $1.5 billion in the Superannuation Provision Account and they spent it and when we came to office in 2014, a Treasury analysis showed a billion dollars in cumulative deficits over the forward Estimates.

From a packed Albert Hall concert to workshops, youth productions, cabaret performances and choir events across the city, the festival brought joy, energy and economic activity to Northern Tasmania.

In my speech, I acknowledged:
• Artistic Director Tyran Parke and the festival board
• volunteers, sponsors, technical crews and community supporters
• outstanding Tasmanian performers including Rob Mallett and Lisa Crosato
• the role of arts and community events in lifting civic spirit
• the proud history of the Albert Hall as a gathering place for Launceston
• what northern Tasmania can achieve when people back themselves and work together

Events like this remind us that with community spirit, volunteers, donors, performers and believers, Tasmania can do great things.

Mr FERGUSON (Bass) – Honourable Speaker, I rise tonight to acknowledge the outstanding success of the Australian Musical Theatre Festival held in my city of Launceston this week and last weekend. My wife, Julie, and I attended the main concert at the Albert Hall with family and I would estimate perhaps another thousand of our community. The Albert Hall was packed and people loved it from the first number through to the finale. Unfortunately, there was no encore. There was real joy in the Albert Hall, which I love to see as our community gathers together.

I want to especially congratulate Artistic Director Tyran Parke, the board, performers, technical crew, the sponsors, the volunteers, and every person involved, including the volunteers who were there helping patrons find their seats and welcoming guests through the doors. Events like this only happen because a lot of people, in our northern community in particular, but around the state, quietly put in a huge amount of work behind the scenes, and of course attracting necessary support. There was plenty of that, including from the Tasmanian Liberal government, the City of Launceston, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, business sponsors, personal donors, arts organisations, schools and colleges, and community members who back the vision and helped to make it happen.

We heard remarkable talent from around the country, but tonight I especially want to acknowledge Tasmanian performers, including Rob Mallett and Lisa Crosato, who were individually and with their other duets, absolutely outstanding.

Of course, the festival was much bigger than just one concert across five days. There were performances, workshops, choir events, cabaret performances, youth events and productions right across Launceston. It created a real buzz in our city and it brought people into our restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels.

But as much as I enjoyed the music itself, I want to say something else about this event, because as I was preparing for this address, I have recognised something quite special. First of all, the Albert Hall itself was packed; it was absolutely packed and I realised that this must be one of those great community events in the history of that building going back many years that people will remember into the future for many years. I add to that, of course, the great day where John Howard, prime minister, addressed the forestry workers in the 2004 election. But I digress.

More than 130 years ago, the Albert Hall was built for the Tasmanian Industrial Exhibition of 1891, an event specifically designed to help lift community spirit during difficult economic times following the Depression of the 1880s. It still stands proudly in Launceston to this day. Last weekend, the Albert Hall was doing exactly that yet again. What made it so impressive was this: yes, there was government support, but the event was really driven by non government, by the northern community, by a statewide community, by believers and by givers. I’m talking about volunteers, local sponsors and donors, performers and, dare I say it, a community that dreamed a dream.

This reminds me, I want to bring to the House what Launceston and northern Tasmania can do when people back themselves with an enterprising spirit and focus on a shared goal that will lift the community. I want to, as a Liberal member for Bass, congratulate everyone involved and look forward to seeing the festival continuing to grow in the years ahead.

Neale Daniher inspired millions through his courage, humour, humility and perseverance in the face of Motor Neurone Disease. Through FightMND, he helped unite Australians in support of research, treatment and hope for a cure.

Let’s reflect on his extraordinary legacy, including the impact of the FightMND movement in Tasmania and the admiration so many Australians held for him.

Vale Neale Daniher AO.

I also just want to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation and great respect for the life of the late Neale Daniher AO, who, as we know, passed away at yesterday.

Not only a great sporting champion for our country and his code, but also unifying our nation as the great founder and champion for FightMND, culminating not only in an extraordinary national outpouring of support and fundraising for research and treatment and searching for that cure but culminating in his nation loving him and recognising him as our Australian of the Year for 2025.

I know that many members of this House so happily joined him at the joint FightMND Clifford Craig event last year.

He was a man with wonderful humour, humility, generosity and, as we know, perseverance and inspiration and I for one am so grateful for his life.

So, vale Neil Danaher AO.

Treasurer Eric Abetz has delivered a responsible first full Budget at an important time for Tasmania. There is broad recognition that this is a period where governments must focus on careful budget repair following the enormous impacts of COVID, global trade and tariff disruptions, and the very significant costs associated with the Commission of Inquiry. Tasmanians expect governments to spend carefully, but they also expect us to keep investing in the roads, hospitals and schools our communities rely on.

This Budget backs Northern Tasmania with practical investments that will make a real difference for local families.

Healthcare investment in Northern Tasmania remains a major focus. The redevelopment of the Launceston General Hospital continues, with more than $363 million committed toward the project, including the Mental Health Precinct and Northern Health Complex. These projects mean better facilities and more services for Northern Tasmanians closer to home.

The Budget also includes important initiatives aimed at improving access to everyday healthcare through local pharmacies. We are broadening the role community pharmacists can play and supporting extended pharmacy trading hours into evenings and weekends. That means families can get help sooner and closer to home, while easing pressure on GP clinics and emergency departments.

The Budget also continues major investment in Northern Tasmania’s transport network, particularly along the East and West Tamar Highway corridors. The East Tamar Highway is one of Northern Tasmania’s most important freight and transport routes, including as the main heavy vehicle connection to Bell Bay, Tasmania’s third largest port. Planned works focus on increasing road capacity, improving safety and freight access, supporting active and public transport, and upgrading road surfaces.

The West Tamar Corridor Improvement Plan will deliver further upgrades along one of the region’s busiest roads. Projects include two additional lanes between Freshwater Point Road and Acropolis Drive at Legana, improved pedestrian safety in Exeter, and road and active transport improvements through Riverside. These upgrades are badly needed and will help traffic move more safely and efficiently as communities along the Tamar continue to grow.

Importantly, Budget Paper No. 1, page 180, confirms the Tamar Bridge remains an active project proposal, based on an 80 per cent Australian Government contribution and a 20 per cent Tasmanian Government contribution of $136 million. I have championed this bridge proposal at every stage because Northern Tasmania needs long-term transport resilience and better connectivity across the Tamar.

The business case has now been before the Australian Government for more than two years. Northern Tasmania deserves an answer, and now is the time for the Commonwealth to respond.

The Budget also includes continued investment in schools across Bass through the School Building Blitz and broader education infrastructure program. Projects include upgrades and improvements at Port Dalrymple School, South George Town Primary School, Mowbray Heights Primary School and Ringarooma Primary School. Students and teachers deserve schools that are modern, functional and fit for purpose.

This Budget continues to invest in the infrastructure and services Northern Tasmania needs as our communities continue to grow.

In my speech, I spoke about:
• protecting victims and vulnerable Tasmanians
• why historical sexual offences were always wrong, regardless of outdated legal wording
• the legacy of the late Dr Vanessa Goodwin in reforming Tasmania’s criminal law
• fair and consistent legal processes
• high risk offender orders and community safety
• balancing rehabilitation with protection of the public

I also acknowledged the broad support for these reforms across the Parliament.

Mr FERGUSON (Bass) – Honourable Speaker, I rise to speak in strong support of this legislation. I commend the Attorney-General for bringing it forward to our House. I note as well that I’ve already spoken on this bill about a year ago, before the unnecessary election that we had in the middle of last year. I would advise any audience members or people looking at Hansard to consider my earlier contribution, which I won’t be repeating today. I will be emphasising some of the things that are important to me as Liberal member for Bass, and to reiterate the comments and strong messages of support that I provided during that debate. I acknowledge as well around the Chamber the solid support for the measures contained in this legislation, the Justice and Related Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill.

It is, as a miscellaneous bill, one that makes a large number of amendments to a large number of acts of parliament. I also note that these amendments are generally of a technical and non-controversial nature, have been heavily consulted and are strongly supported by various stakeholders in the legal profession and around the community. While it’s not a bill that will be making the biggest, loudest headlines, it’s a necessary piece of legislation that the Attorney-General has brought before us and it will help address a number of issues, problems that need to be fixed, but also opportunities to make greater legal clarity available for practitioners that work with this range of laws.

The amendments before us are guided by people who are closely involved in the day-to-day operation of the justice system. As the documents behind the bill, including the Attorney-General’s second reading speech, make clear, feedback has been provided from prosecutors, police, judicial officers and statutory bodies who encounter ambiguity, inefficiency or gaps when the law is applied in practice.

I want to briefly focus on the amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1924 and the Evidence Act 2001, because they go to the issues that involve some of the most vulnerable people in our community. I always speak with a great deal of passion in this space. My first thoughts are never for the offender; they’re always for the victims, in all cases when I consider legislation of this nature.

To read the bill is challenging reading for any member of the community, whether you’re a politician or not. The description of offences, for example, in the Criminal Code, for sexual intercourse, the description for the different kinds of ways that sexual intercourse can occur is awful to read, because in each case I am, of course, thinking of the ways in which people hurt each other. It’s awful. It’s truly awful, but this is the job that this generation of politicians must deal with, and it’s the one that’s been left to us by our predecessors.

I think, of course, as I said at this time one year ago when we debated the same bill in the previous parliament, I gave a lot of credit to the late honourable Dr Vanessa Goodwin, who was an exceptional attorney, whose career as first law officer of this state was cut way too short. She was a pioneer in not just bringing legislation before our House, but also in responding to large gaps. May I just quickly deviate and say today’s bill deals with some smaller gaps, but in her time, as she brought forward the updated definitions for some of these awful offences, these were big gaps. I’ll always remember – and I never understood, as a person who grew up in this state – how it survived so long that we had an offence on our books that used language like ‘maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person’. With its syntax and grammar, it’s perfectly okay, but in the unintended subtext of that language, it could leave a person with the mistaken idea that consent was ever possible between an adult and a young person. I could go on, but that would be a sanitised example compared to some of the others, wouldn’t it? So, I give a lot of credit to her. I worked with her closely in opposition and in government. I always greatly respect the legacy that she created and I’m grateful for her work in this space. When her bills were brought through this House, by and large, they were strongly supported.

I’m pleased to see the updated definition that was introduced during that first term of the Hodgman government made retrospective. I won’t go into the legal reasons why ? I did that in my previous contribution and it’s been already outlined in the second reading speech. However, to make a quick point, while the definition is being made retrospective, it’s not a problem. Legislators should always be careful when asked to adopt a law that is made retrospective; for all of the right reasons, we should look at those very, very carefully.

The point I want to make here is the one I made one year ago, which is that these were always crimes ? at least they were always crimes in our generation. Even if there was a point in our history as a state ? and there are examples where these things weren’t strictly codified and described in the way that they are today ? they were always wrong. They were against nature. They were against what many people would talk about as natural law. It comes back to that idea that it’s wrong to hurt another person, and it’s especially wrong to hurt a young person, or a vulnerable person, or someone who trusts you. So I’m supportive, both as a Liberal member, as well as a member for Bass representing my community. I’m pleased to see this language being made consistent and with retrospective effect. I think that is entirely appropriate.

These offences do need to be properly described, and so as the law catches up with historical offences, I wouldn’t want to see outdated descriptions for those offences relating to those people being caught up with in today’s court cases. Like I said at the outset, I think always of the victims, and I want to see them achieve justice – justice to be done and justice to be seen to be done.

These things are important to ensure consistency and fairness. It’s especially vital to ensure that victims going through proceedings of these kinds, and suffering from and recovering from these offences, are protected. It’s also important that accused persons are also treated fairly and appropriately, noting that people are innocent until proven guilty, that it is a court, not the court of public opinion, which should settle someone’s guilt or innocence; that offenders or accused offenders are judged against clear and settled rules.

It’s also worth noting that, again, while this bill makes some important clarifications in this area, it does not, in the Attorney-General’s bill that’s before us, it does not of itself expand criminal liability or create new offences. I’ll say it again, and I’ll say it for the last time ? these things have always been wrong. The new definitions with the contemporary language I applaud, but regardless of whether a person is charged with the offence definitions with the newer language or the older language, it’s always been wrong. It’s important that we note that.

Briefly, I turn to the amendments regarding dangerous criminals and high risk offenders, this is another example of careful and sensible reform. These amendments clarify the criteria for interim HRO orders so that judges are able to act, when it’s necessary, to protect the community without being held to an evidentiary standard that is unrealistic at an interim order stage.

I discussed this again in my contribution during the previous parliament in that debate. It doesn’t erode rights. It is, though, about making sure that the law provides our court with a more realistic threshold for making interim high risk offender orders. The reason we have high risk offender orders is to protect our community from dangerous people. Measuring risk and then managing that risk. Showing concern for our community, for our families, for our older people, for our children, and then ensuring that the protections that only this parliament is able to provide are provided, in a proportionate way.

The bill provides that interim high risk offender orders will be able to be made if the information provided before the court, ‘would be likely to justify, if proved, the making of an HRO order’. This ensures that safeguards remain in place while providing the court with a more appropriate and, I would say, workable threshold for the making of an interim decision, recognising, as I think we would all agree ? I hope we would ? that further evidence may well become available for the assessment of an enduring high risk offender order that is not an interim order.

As Liberal Member for Bass, I want to see our community protected from people where there is a known, recognised and, hopefully, measurable risk of harm to our community. Speaker, and to my colleagues, I would say, there is hope. I do believe that people can change. I’ve seen people change, people who have done bad things can become better people. People who have done very bad things can become better people, can become good people. I take that opportunity to say that I hope that we can agree on that, and we probably do. However, when society has been presented with a significant crime and significant harm has occurred, it’s reasonable for this parliament and it’s reasonable for the community to have an ongoing level of concern and monitoring around an instance of somebody who has a dangerous past. That’s the process that we entrust to our courts, to independently make those judgments.

As I said earlier, people can change. That’s one of the important principles that society needs to be mindful of, while at the same time ensuring that somebody who has a recognised past of hurting other people is held back from opportunities to hurt other people into the future, if professionals and judicial personnel are able to demonstrate that that risk continues into the future. The community’s safety trumps personal freedom.

Briefly, as I close, the bill also deals with a number of other practical matters around public institutions. I won’t be speaking about those in detail, but in relation to elections, integrity oversight and the administration of justices of the peace. I’m supportive of the Attorney?General’s amendments in relation to those matters. It is important that our democratic and integrity institutions are supported by legislation that keeps pace with change, or keeps pace with better understanding today of well-intentioned laws that were put in place in a previous time.

I appreciate what the Attorney?General’s done here today. I support it. I also noted in the earlier contributions, the well-rounded support from the Labor Party, the Greens and no doubt others. For those reasons I’m very pleased, and certainly commend the bill to the House.