Motion - Premier's Address reply

Thursday 19 March 2026

[12.18 p.m.]

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Premier's state of the state address and to reflect on what it means for northern Tasmania, and in particular for the people of Launceston.

The Premier's Address was ambitious, confident and forward‑looking. They spoke to Tasmania with big ideas and a belief in its capacity to deliver major projects and seize opportunity. In many respects, that confidence is warranted.

Equally, there are areas where I believe the speech does not fully capture the challenges being felt on the ground, nor the risks associated with some of the policy directions being pursued.

The Premier's confidence must be tempered by realism, regional equity, and a stronger commitment to bipartisan, sensible, considered decision making; particularly given the fiscal and service delivery challenges now confronting the state.

There's little appetite in the community for politics that's adversarial for its own sake. What Tasmanians expect is cooperation, maturity and a willingness to work across political lines to make good decisions in the long-term public interest.

The Premier's Address highlighted a number of major infrastructure projects that are underway or proposed across the state. Marinus Link, the Macquarie Point Stadium, the Launceston Convention Centre, the Northern Tasmania Mental Health Precinct and housing related redevelopment signal a desire to position Tasmania for the future.

If these projects deliver what is promised, particularly in terms of long-term energy security and affordability, they will be widely supported. However, it's also important to acknowledge that large scale infrastructure comes with long term financial obligations. Borrowing to build can make sense, but only if it does not constrain the state's ability to fund essential services.

For many people in Launceston, there remains a sense that infrastructure ambition is running well ahead of investment in the systems that people rely on most heavily, health, education, justice and community services. It's not anti‑development to ask whether programs in health, education, justice and community services are being adequately funded and prioritised alongside these large-scale builds. Economic confidence must ultimately translate into better lived outcomes for Tasmanians.

The Premier's right to place health at the centre of the state's priorities. Health now counts for around one third of the state budget, reflecting both increased investment and rising demand. Securing additional funding through a national agreement is important and should be acknowledged. Health access for many remains a defining issue.

From a Launceston perspective, however, increased spending has not yet translated into consistently improved access. The Launceston General Hospital remains under sustained pressure, particularly in emergency care, elective surgery and specialist services. Waiting lists continue to be a source of anxiety for patients and their families, especially where delays in diagnostic procedures can have serious consequences. I know that we all realise that the sooner that you're treated, the better outcome you have.

The latest Report on Government Services Figures, released in February 2026, contains data that shows Tasmania has the highest spending per capita on ambulance services, but also has the worst response times in the country, with patients in areas outside of Hobart waiting longer.

The most recent Health Dashboard figures show that for January this year, only 47 per cent of category 1 patients were admitted for surgery within the clinically recommended time, only 50 per cent for category 2, and 84 per cent for category 3. Clearly, we need to be doing much better.

The Premier's comments about GP access are particularly relevant. It's well known that Tasmania has the highest out of pocket costs for GP visits in the country and northern regions feel this acutely. While bulk billing, clinics and virtual services are positive developments. They do not yet provide a comprehensive solution, especially for older residents, those with chronic conditions or people without reliable digital access. Virtual care can support the system, but it can't replace face to face services. In practice, many people in Launceston still present to emergency departments because they have no other option. Until primary care is genuinely accessible and affordable, hospital pressures will persist.

Initiatives such as bulk billing clinics and virtual services are positive steps, but not yet meaningfully sufficient to reduce pressure on hospitals or meet the needs of all patients. Until GP access improves at scale, hospital systems will continue to fill the strain.

Much of the pressure in health and other essential services comes down to workforce sustainability. Recruitment efforts are important, but retention is the greater challenge. Health staff, teachers, disability workers and justice personnel are reporting burnout, workload pressure and frustration with system constraints. Housing affordability, limited career pathways and inconsistent regional incentives all contribute to the difficulty of keeping skilled professionals in the system.

If Tasmania is serious about improving service delivery, the focus must shift from short‑term recruitment announcements to long‑term workforce planning. That means safe staffing levels, predictable workloads, supported training pathways and workplaces that are properly resourced and maintained.

Infrastructure matters, but people matter more. Without a stable, supported workforce, investment in buildings and technology will fall short of delivering improved outcomes. It's always great to cut a ribbon and open a building, but it's more important to actually staff that building.

The Premier's focus on literacy and numeracy is appropriate and widely supported. Improvements in early intervention and evidence-based teaching should be recognised and the dedication of teachers across the state should not be understated.

However, some structural education decisions deserve reconsideration. I believe I've mentioned this year after year ever since it was actually implemented. For instance, mandating years 11 and 12 provision in all high schools several years ago may work well in rural and remote communities, where students otherwise face significant disadvantage. In places such as St Helens, local senior secondary access can be the difference between continued education and disengagement.

In cities like Launceston, however, the policy is far less convincing. Launceston already has well-established standalone senior colleges such as Launceston College and Newstead College, which offer breadth of subject choice, specialist facilities and experienced teaching staff. Replicating senior secondary provision across high schools in this area has been costly and is stretching teaching resources. It has also not resolved the student retention issues it set out to.

At a time of fiscal constraint, it's reasonable to ask whether this model has delivered better outcomes than strengthening established and specialised colleges, while targeting expansion to genuinely underserved areas.

TasTAFE plays an essential role in workforce development, particularly in regional Tasmania. Recent course changes and centralisation have caused uncertainty for students and staff alike. In Launceston, concerns have been raised about reduced local access, course discontinuity and the loss of experienced teaching staff. At a time when skill shortages remain acute, particularly in the trades, decisions that reduce training capacity warrant close scrutiny. Vocational education must be accessible, stable and responsive to regional needs. If it's not, government rhetoric about skills development risks losing credibility.

The proposed closure of the Ashley Youth Detention Centre is one I fail to comprehend. There's broad agreement that the facility requires reform. Reports of harm to both detainees and staff are deeply troubling and demand action. However, a closure without a northern alternative risks compounding harm rather than resolving it. Relocating northern young people to a southern facility would increase separation from families and communities, undermine rehabilitation efforts, and place additional strain on already vulnerable individuals. Rehabilitation outcomes are strongest when young people remain connected to their support networks.

Safety for staff is critical. The stories of violence against staff at the centre are disturbing. Changes must be focused on appropriate staffing levels, training, therapeutic models, and strong operational leadership, not simply through relocation. The focus should be on reforming and strengthening youth justice services in the north, not removing them altogether.

The Premier's acknowledgement of the state's difficult financial position is both candid and necessary. Living within our means matters. However, budget repair must be approached with care, fairness and foresight. However, there's growing concern that community organisations will bear a disproportionate share of the burden. Food-relief services, disability providers, mental health organisations and conservation groups are experiencing rising demand and uncertainty about future funding. Local sports clubs are anxious that state government financial support for infrastructure improvements will basically be impossible as it spends big on elite pathways.

These organisations are not peripheral, they're central to Tasmania's social infrastructure. Cutting their funding may offer short-term savings, but will almost certainly generate longer term costs across health, justice and social services. Community groups did not create the fiscal challenges the state now faces. The government should bear most of that responsibility.

Ms Forrest - They're picking up the pieces; that's what they're doing.

Ms ARMITAGE - They are, absolutely, and they're very concerned about it. Asking them to shoulder the burden risks shifting costs onto the most vulnerable Tasmanians and storing deeper problems for the future.

I mentioned TasInsure, something that was obviously a promise at the last election and when speaking to many in the community, they cannot understand how the government can provide a state-owned insurance company when all states have decided it certainly wasn't a path to go down and we removed our very own Tasmanian Government Insurance Office many years ago.

The feeling that I'm hearing in the community is if our own, or what could be considered our state insurers, as RACT, if it doesn't offer some of the services to be offered by TasInsure, would it not be a better move to actually work with RACT to actually develop those services that are lacking, which would be a lot less cost obviously, and I'm sure a better outcome for everyone.

Efforts to improve efficiency and reduce duplication in the state service, are sensible in principle. However, a costly rebrand of a state department combined with broad headcount reductions risks unintended consequences, particularly in regional centres such as Launceston, where public sector roles underpin not only service delivery but also local economic stability.

In communities like ours, the state service is not an abstract concept. It employs neighbours, supports families and ensures that essential services are accessible locally rather than centralised elsewhere.

Reform that focuses too heavily on structural change, branding exercises or headline savings risks missing the bigger picture. The question should not simply be how many positions can be removed, but whether Tasmanians will receive better services as a result?

Reform should be judged on outcomes. This principle is especially important given recent experiences with major project delivery. Tasmanians expect strong outcomes, not debacles. The delivery of the two new Spirits of Tasmania and the associated wharf redevelopments is a case in point.

While renewing the fleet was necessary and supported, failures in planning, coordination and sequencing have an unnecessarily cost the state many millions of dollars. The result has been idle assets, avoidable expenditure, a reputational hit to Tasmania's credibility when it comes to delivering large-scale projects.

This is why reform must be guarded by outcomes, not simply by savings targets. A smaller workforce is not inherently a better workforce. Capability, institutional knowledge and staff morale matter enormously particularly in the small state, where expertise is often deep but narrow. Once lost, that knowledge is difficult and costly to replace.

Frontline services already operate under pressure. Unconsidered workforce reductions risk creating false economies where short-term savings lead to longer-term costs through delays, reduced service quality, increased reliance on consultants or contractor work and burnout among remaining staff.

Moving to Hadspen, which is a lovely area of the Launceston electorate. It's a small area but a growing area that of recent times has been suffering a real spate of vandalism with Hadspen's three public toilets at the Lions Park, the Bull Run skate park and the cricket club area all closed. Not good enough.

How is it for tourists and people alike to actually have the three public toilets in the area closed for three months? Fortunately, now a couple of the toilets have been reopened. I was very pleased that Tasmania Police were willing to come out to Hadspen with me last week and I do thank Acting Commander Kelly Taylor and Acting Inspector Jareth Anderson, who undertook to make regular visits to Hadspen.

I've actually had several people approach me from Hadspen to say they rarely see police officers out there and would be really grateful if perhaps a new station could even be looked at Hadspen, which is such a growing area, a bit like Legana but on the other side of town.

I was pleased to hear from the police that one of the main perpetrators of the vandalism of the toilets had been caught and fortunately is currently residing in the police cells for a number of different issues, so hopefully that matter won't happen again.

Tasmanians also place a high value on transparency and predictability in government decision-making and that's why the Premier's post-2025 election overnight-decision to phase out greyhound racing in Tasmania by 2029 has unsettled many in the community. Regardless of individual views on greyhound racing as an industry, a sport or an animal welfare issue, decisions of this scale warrant careful consideration, consultation and clear economic analysis. What concerned many Tasmanians was not simply the decision itself, but the absence of warning, detail and transition planning, particularly for those whose livelihoods and regional economies are directly affected. It's noted that the industry received $7.5 million per year in state funding for a reported economic return of $54 million into the economy. How does the Premier propose to counter that loss to communities post-2029? Regardless of individual views on greyhound racing, welfare or industry reform, decisions of this magnitude require consultation, transparency and transition planning.

If the government's committed to phasing out the industry it owes the community a clear accounting of the net economic impact, not just the budget-line saved, but the jobs affected, the regional expenditure lost and the downstream effects on local communities. Equally, it owes those involved a credible, well-funded transition plan, that recognises the real economic and social consequences of the decision.

I was pleased to receive a positive response from the Premier regarding compensation should this bill be passed, in response to a letter I wrote, in which I pointed out that it was a glaring omission to close the greyhound racing industry without any provision for compensation. To propose nothing less than the deliberate extinguishment of an entire industry, with conspicuous silence on compensation for those whose livelihoods, investments and lawful enterprises could be swept away by the stroke of a ministerial pen, was unconscionable.

I was pleased to receive a letter back from the Premier this week and I'll read one paragraph:

I have carefully considered the feedback you've provided, particularly the matters you raised regarding industry compensation. I very much appreciate your ideas and advocacy. I'm pleased to confirm that the government will support participants and their dogs with compensation provisions to be included in the Greyhound Racing Legislation Amendments (Phasing Out Reform) Bill 2025 and supported through the Budget. Details of the compensation framework will be included in the legislation, with the funding package outlined in this year's budget. I hope to provide both you and the broader community with specific details of the framework as soon as practicable.

I am pleased that, regardless of which way the bill goes, there will be compensation actually listed in the bill.

Sudden announcements undermine confidence, create uncertainty for workers and regional communities, and fit a perception that decisions are being made without adequate engagement. At a time when government is asking Tasmanians to accept difficult choices in the name of fiscal repair, maintaining trust through openness and predictability, is essential.

At this point Tasmania needs cool heads, not ideological reflexes. Our state cannot afford division for division's sake. Last year's unnecessary election was the product of political gamesmanship, and has left many Tasmanians weary and impatient for stability, not more point-scoring. The challenges ahead - budget repair, workforce shortages, service reform and economic transition — are complex and interconnected. They're not challenges that any one government, party or ideology can solve alone.

I'll just mention Ben Lomond because I noticed it was actually mentioned by the member for McIntyre -

Ms Rattray - It was.

Ms ARMITAGE - It was, and it's an area that has been brought to my attention on a number of occasions by Professor Berni Einoder[ok], who spends a lot of time up in the ski areas, and he has much useful information if you wish me to pass that on to you, member for McIntyre; it might be useful. Walking around the mountain peaks and the valleys in the summer is fantastic, and the topography, the half-billion-year-old quartz rock crystals, that have been polished by the moving glaciers, and in particular, the ancient vegetation, make Ben Lomond unique. It's a paradise for photography enthusiasts, and it is an underutilised area in summer. Tasmanian outdoor adventurers are already enjoying some of the exceptional bushwalks on the plateau and peaks, and the outstanding but safe rock climbing cliffs are popular in summer. The area is ideal for the construction of mountain bike trails, with additional facilities and more modern slope grooming and snow making could even extend the snow sports activities from eight weeks to 16.

The rapid increase in the number of tourists visiting Tasmania, especially to the south of the state, should justify considerable support from the federal, state and local governments to increase the tourist attractions and encourage the visitors to spend more time in the north‑east of Tasmania.

Ms Rattray - Hear, hear.

Ms ARMITAGE - Absolutely. I know I've moved a little out of my area, but as I said ‑

Ms Rattray - It's welcome with positive news like that.

Mr PRESIDENT - Keep moving a bit south maybe.

Ms ARMITAGE - I don't think I'd ever move south.

Ms Rattray - You're moving west if you moved anywhere. Correct?

Ms ARMITAGE - Not west coast.

Ms Rattray - No, west A (? 12.40.56 p.m.).

Ms ARMITAGE - Yes.

Many tourists hire vehicles to tour the state. Some even venture up to Ben Lomond. Although they marvel at the scenery, rock formation, vegetation, and the wildlife, they're often disappointed that there aren't a lot of facilities on the mountain. Most tourists only stay in Launceston one day, quoting there's not enough to do.

This is our opportunity to fill in their whole day and hence encourage them to stay a few more nights in our part of the state.

But this is not a new initiative. In 1998, 2005, 2011 and 2015, the Tasmanian government organised studies into Ben Lomond. All four concluded this area had immense potential to be developed into a tourist destination.

The Ben Lomond Committee saw this as a golden opportunity to establish, just 65 kilometres out of Launceston, an exceptional tourist experience. A properly planned and constructed multi-purpose building to allow Ben Lomond to maximise its considerable potential.

Member for McIntyre, maybe we could all work together to see if we actually can't develop or get something developed from the four initiatives. I hate to think what the four initiatives cost in the past when obviously they're gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, and I'm sure they're still around. Maybe it might be time to have a look.

I'd like just to take a moment to speak about the people of Launceston. The ones who I interact with every day. The quiet ones who are simply seeking to have better lives. I continue to be incredibly impressed by and proud of the organisations that make our communities tick. I recently had the privilege of attending the New Horizons Annual Awards where we have a chance to acknowledge the passion that people put into helping others and saying thank you. It's always the most amazing evening. I know the member for Rosevears would have to say it's probably one of the most enjoyable nights on the event calendar - absolutely.

The Cancer Council's Relay for Life event in Launceston was another recent event which showcased just how people rally around a cause that's bigger than just any one person, and that we can all do things better when we do them together.

It was really nice to go to the Relay for Life out at the racecourse of all places. I thought they might have been going to walk around the racecourse, but obviously they weren't. It was far too far. They had an area set aside which was really great. It gave them a feeling of being together. It was all partitioned off and was a really nice area, particularly with the number of schools that participated. I think that was something I really noticed, to see the schools coming along and staying overnight. Something that's such a great event and in every part of the state, I'm sure it is in the north‑west, I think, as well as Hobart.

Whenever I reflect on my electorate, I find myself thinking most about the resilience of my constituents in uncertain times and the hard work that people put into making our community a better place. There's so much going on if only you look out for it, but so much of it goes unheard and unseen. I'm reminded that it's because of them that I do what I do. What I expect motivates each and everyone of us here.

The state-of-the-state is about our people just as much as it's about budgets, policies and whatever's grabbing the news headlines for the day. Tasmanians expect their leaders to work together, especially when difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions must be made.

Sensible bipartisan decision-making builds trust, delivers stronger outcomes, and provides much needed stability in uncertain times. The Premier speaks of building a strong economy and a caring community. Those aspirations are widely shared across this Chamber and across the state, but success will not be measured by major projects or economic headlines alone. It will be measured by whether people can see a GP when they need one, whether education and training are accessible locally, whether communities feel safe, and whether the services that support the most vulnerable are protected and strengthened. There are no easy answers and no single path forward, but with unity, pragmatism and the clear commitment to evidence‑based decision making, Tasmania can navigate the challenges ahead and emerge stronger. That's the task before us. It's time to work together and Tasmanians expect nothing less. I note the 'state of the state'.