Tasmanian Business Reporter June 2019

4 Tasmanian Business Reporter - JUNE 2019
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
www.tcci.com.au
State role in win recognised
THE Scott Morrison-led
Liberal National Coalition
has been returned to
form government.
To quote Prime Minister
Morrison: “I have
always believed in miracles.”
I’m not sure this result
was down to miraculous
intervention.
I am extremely sure
that a lot of the result can
be levelled at the relentless
energy of the Prime
Minister.
He was everywhere
across Australia, including
on the day of actual
polling, in Tasmania
again.
The PM also “employed”
Premier Will
Hodgman strategically
throughout the Northern
campaign.
And Tasmania delivered
for the Liberals with
the electorates of Bass
and Braddon changing
hands.
The TCCI’s policy
push - “Make it affordable
to employ people in
regional Australia” - got
national coverage.
The ACCI and
Queensland Chamber
also worked very hard in
that state’s marginal elec-
Michael
Bailey
TCCI Chief Executive
torates; their Small Business
is a Big Deal campaign
really cut through.
What Tasmania now
needs is a cabinet minister
– and I nominate Senator
Richard Colbeck to
make a return there.
Bass has only been
won by a sitting member
when now State Labor
member Michelle O’Byrne
held the seat from
1998 to 2004.
You have to go back
to Warwick Smith
(1984 to 1993) and
Lance Barnard (1954 to
1975) to see when the
people of Bass enjoyed
long-term representation.
What is also clear is
that we cannot trust the
opinion polls anymore.
Right up until Saturday
night, when the results
started streaming
in, the polls were pointing
to a Labor victory.
In fact, SportsBet
paid on Labor in the
week of the election.
Listening to post-election
analysis on Sunday,
it emerged that Labor’s
own polling showed that
they were in trouble in
Queensland.
And it was in
Queensland where the
Liberal National Coalition
cleaned up.
We often talk about
the disparities between
states in Australia and
how people in Victoria
think differently to people
in Queensland for example.
What is a constant is
that people don’t like
political parties telling
them what they should
do.
In Queensland, the
Adani coal mine is a
huge issue … as many
people see it being an
important issue for the
whole country, depending
on which side of the
coal-fired power debate
you sit.
And that’s what happened
in Queensland,
where the electorate rejected
absolutely the Labor
campaign.
In simplistic terms, the
Liberal National Coalition
said to Australia: the
economy is going well,
trust us.
Labor had a campaign
of change, which was exploited
on issues such as
new taxes and franking
credits.
The TCCI argued
strongly for a government
that understands
and supports small and
medium-sized business,
the backbone of the Tasmanian
economy.
We will be watching
carefully that all the
funding promises are
delivered for Tasmania,
particularly for Bass and
Braddon.
We wish the new Government
well, so too our
newly-elected members,
Gavin Pearce (Braddon)
and Bridget Archer
(Bass).
Scott Morrison
spent an
unprecedented
amount of time
campaigning in
Northern Tasmania
before the election
– including on
the morning of
the election in an
effort to win back
Bass and Braddon
– spending time
playing pool and
drinking beer with
some locals.
Congratulation to the
returned members in
Julie Collins (Franklin),
Brian Mitchell (Lyons)
and Andrew Wilkie
(Clark).
What Tasmania and
Australia now has is
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison elected in his
own right and with his
own mandate.
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