Tuesday 6 June 2017 - Estimates Committee B (Hodgman)
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UNCORRECTED PROOF ISSUE Tuesday 6 June 2017 - Estimates Committee B (Hodgman) LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ESTIMATES COMMITTEE B Tuesday 6 June 2017 MEMBERS Ms Armitage Mr Dean Mr Finch Ms Lovell Ms Rattray (Chair) Mr Willie (Deputy Chair) IN ATTENDANCE Hon. Will Hodgman MP, Premier, Minister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Minister for Heritage and Acting Minister for the Arts Greg Johannes, Secretary David Nicholson, Deputy Secretary - Policy Ruth McArdle, Deputy Secretary Frank Ogle, Director - State Service Management Office Kate Kent, Director - Communities, Sport and Recreation Kathy Baker, Director - Service Tasmania Melissa Gray, Director - Policy Wendy Spencer, Director Robyn Webb, Chief Parliamentary Counsel Simon Roberts, Director - Office of Security and Emergency Management Paul Austen, Director - Tasmanian Institute of Sport Kim Enkelaar, Manager - Government Services Louise Mills, Deputy Director - State Service Management Office Alex Schouten, Manager - Office of Aboriginal Affairs Helen Langenburg, Manager - Development - CSR David Strong, Acting Chief Operating Officer Brook Teale, Senior Policy Analyst, CSR Policy, Communities, Sport and Recreation Tim Baker, Deputy Secretary, DPIWE Estimates B 1 Tuesday 6 June 2017 - Hodgman UNCORRECTED PROOF ISSUE Events and Hospitality - Department of State Growth Kim Evans, Secretary Amanda Russell, Deputy Secretary, Business Services Jacqui Allen, Deputy Secretary, Cultural and Tourism Development Adam Sproule, Director Events Tasmania Glen Dean, Director of Finance Tourism John Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Tasmania Mark Jones, Director Operations and Planning, Tourism Tasmania Heritage, Arts and Aboriginal Affairs Ester Guerzoni, Acting Director, Heritage Tasmania Steve Gall, Director, Aboriginal Heritage Gary Davies, Director Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Janet Carding, Director, TMAG David Sudmarlis, Director, Arts Tasmania Alex Sangston¸ Executive Manager, Screen Tasmania Legislative Council David Pearce, Clerk Legislature-General Jason Hendy, Manager, Finance Peter Hancox, Manager, Computer and Electronic Services Government House David Owen, Official Secretary Ministerial Office Brad Stansfield, Chief of Staff, Premier’s Office Vince Taskunas, Deputy Chief of Staff, Premier’s Office Sandy Wittison, Senior Adviser, Premier’s Office Angela Williamson, Adviser, Premier’s Office Jennifer Fry, Senior Adviser, Premier’s Office The committee met at 9.00 a.m. Estimates B 2 Tuesday 6 June 2017 - Hodgman UNCORRECTED PROOF ISSUE DIVISION 7 (Department of Premier and Cabinet) CHAIR (Mrs RATTRAY) - Good morning, Premier. Welcome to Estimates Committee B. We very much appreciate this opportunity. I am sure you know everyone at the table, but I want to acknowledge the newest member of the parliament, the member for Rumney, Sarah Lovell. We are very to have Sarah allocated to this committee. We are not sure we are going to keep her for a long time, but we will certainly will be making the most of her enthusiasm. Premier, can you please introduce your team at the team for Hansard. That would be very useful. Mr HODGMAN - I certainly shall: Greg Johannes, Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet; Deputy Secretary Ruth McArdle; David Strong, who is the Acting Director of Corporate and Culture; and Mr David Nicholson, who is also Deputy Secretary for Policy. CHAIR - Thank you. The usual procedure is that you provide a relatively brief overview. Is that something you would like to consider? Mr HODGMAN - Yes, I welcome the opportunity, Chair. CHAIR - We will then start the line items and do our best to address each one as we usually do in this House. Mr HODGMAN - Thank you, Chair and members. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you to talk about this year's Budget, which is literally all about building the state's future. With the Budget back in balance, through determined and disciplined financial management, we are now better able to invest in building essential services and better job opportunities for Tasmanians. Health is clearly a priority in this Budget. It delivers the biggest-ever funding boost to Health. We will fund 106 more beds and around 350 more staff to help build a better health system. Total recurrent spending on health will be in excess of $7 billion across the four years of the Budget. That is an increase of more than $650 million. We well know that our health system is under immense pressure, particularly in the south. We have responded to that in this Budget by injecting as much additional resources as we are able to. It is not accurate to say that the situation is because of budget savings measures taken in 2014- 15 because we actually increased spending on Health in the 2014-15 Budget compared to the year before. The savings we made on backline efficiencies were reinvested into the frontline of health service delivery. There are almost 160 more full-time equivalent - FTE - nurses in the Tasmanian Health Service. There are more doctors and allied health staff. The current situation in the south, with temporary capacity constraints at the Royal Hobart Hospital, has been compounded by a significant increase in Emergency Department demand over the past 12 months. That is why we are responding with urgency and priority, providing additional Estimates B 3 Tuesday 6 June 2017 - Hodgman UNCORRECTED PROOF ISSUE resources. We are able to because of our strong budget, and are doing so as quickly as we can so that Tasmanians can get the health services they need. More opportunities for Tasmanians to get a job is also a focus of the Budget with a package of initiatives designed to support 7600 people into work, including incentives for Tasmanian businesses to hire apprentices and trainees. Our commitment to improving education results is also clear with additional funding in the budget forward Estimates period of $6.4 billion, an increase of more than a quarter-of-a-billion dollars compared to last year's Budget. This will provide more teachers, more support staff and will deliver the full Gonski needs-based funding. This Budget very much puts students first. We are taking action to reduce cost-of-living pressure for Tasmanians, capping electricity prices to save the average householder around $300 this year. The key element of our plan to take control of TasWater focuses on reducing water bills for Tasmanians. The Budget contains $2 billion in infrastructure investments, literally building Tasmania's future in health, education and human services. There is $800 million for roads and rail infrastructure. This Budget also supports those in our community who need a hand with more support. Affordable housing and better support for those who need to provide protection for children at risk or those suffering family violence. In addition to the $20.6 million committed in last year's Budget to redesign our child protection system, there is additional support in those key areas, always noting that there is a lot more to do. We are absolutely committed to keeping the budget in balance because it means we can invest more into essential services and build Tasmania's future. Briefly, I will talk a little about the Department of Premier and Cabinet specifically. I point to some of the key initiatives under this portfolio, with $8 million in new funding in 2017-18 and $17.02 million over the forward Estimates for DPAC. This includes $12.98 million for facilities across the state to support Tasmanians to be active in sport and recreation; facilities upgrades; and a coordinating role by DPAC in our action plan to reduce family violence. I am very pleased that in the first 18 months of implementation, we have made strong progress against each of the actions identified in the plan. Three new actions were announced in March this year to provide additional support to victims to improve their safety at home. I want to note that during the past year, together as a parliament, we proudly moved to amend the preamble of the Tasmanian Constitution to acknowledge Aboriginal people as Tasmania's first people in our constitution. This Budget also provides permanent funding to establish a state service employment strategy for Aboriginal Tasmanians. As well, DPAC plays a lead role in a number of key initiatives, including delivery of the $572 million four-year plan to implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme to provide more support for those living with a disability. On 1 July Tasmania will commence the next phase of the rollout. DPAC played a lead role in delivering the City Deal for Launceston, only the second city deal in Australia, underpinning $280 million-worth of investment. The centrepiece of that is the University of Tasmania's new Inveresk campus. DPAC plays a lead role in working closely with Estimates B 4 Tuesday 6 June 2017 - Hodgman UNCORRECTED PROOF ISSUE our valued University of Tasmania. Later this week DPAC will also provide support when Tasmania hosts the first Council of Australian Governments - COAG - meeting in our state for nearly eight years. Importantly, Tasmania now chairs key intergovernmental forums - the Council for the Australian Federation and also the Education Council. I will leave my opening remarks at that and invite questions from members. CHAIR - Thank you very much, Premier. That covered quite a bit of area. Can I take you to one of the issues that is alive and has a lot of interest in the community - the TasWater takeover? All members of parliament, I expect, would have received a media release yesterday from local government indicating there are serious legal doubts over the Government's proposed takeover of TasWater and citing section 109 of the Constitution. Do you have a comment to make about that? Mr HODGMAN - Yes, it is one legal opinion and the advice we have received, including from the Solicitor General, gives the Government confidence that there is no breach of our constitution or legal impediment to what we propose.