Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I stand tonight to condemn the Labor Party for its shabby treatment of regional Tasmania. I am sure the story that I am about to tell is indicative of similar treatment in many other parts of regional Australia. This is the ‘me too’ Labor Party that promised not to rock the boat—the party that gave Australians a clear impression that all would be well under a Labor government because Labor would match whatever the Howard government either had promised or was funding. This was the impression that was deliberately conveyed to voters. Tonight I offer some examples of why you cannot trust the Rudd Labor government and why the people of regional Tasmania, specifically in the remote communities of Rosebery, on the west coast, and Ouse, in the central highlands, simply cannot accept the word of the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and of the federal Labor Party.

What happens when a political party breaches the faith placed in it by the voters? Last year, former Prime Minister John Howard earmarked $2 million for the Rosebery and Ouse hospitals—$1 million each to keep the hospitals operating, subject to their being restored to previous operational levels. Senators in this chamber may recall that earlier last year the Lennon Labor government in Tasmania had downgraded the services of both hospitals to suit a new state health plan, which included the construction of a massive Taj Mahal style public hospital in Hobart costing around $1 billion over the 10-year period.