Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Treasurer

Thursday 15th April 2010

Bartlett courts McKim while Tasmania courts disaster

While David Bartlett courts Nick McKim to cling onto power, the wheels are falling off Tasmania’s economy.

In the past two days, hundreds of jobs have been lost in Burnie at Paperlinx and now in the north of Tasmania another 200 jobs are at risk with FEA going into administration.

Forest contractors are still waiting for the Government to deliver on the wood chip sales it promised over two months ago and the Musselroe wind farm is still dead in the water.

Meanwhile, the Government is in a complete state of paralysis whilst the Premier courts a marriage with the Greens.

We are sending bureaucrats to today’s meeting of Education ministers and we don’t even have a health minister available when the future of Kevin Rudd’s health reforms are due to be negotiated next week. We are hardly in the best position to get the best deal under these circumstances.

There are legitimate concerns about the impact of these health reforms on Tasmania’s budget and instead of fighting to get the very best deal for Tasmania, David Bartlett is fighting to get the best deal with Nick McKim.

So we have no health minister, no education minister, no cabinet to discuss the immediate problems facing Tasmania and Tasmanian families will ultimately pay the price.

I guess this is what David Bartlett meant when he said last year that dealing with the Greens would “guarantee instability and government inertia”.