Labor is calling on the state government to guarantee there will be no cuts to Tasmania’s community sector in Thursday’s budget, warning organisations are already “stressed … anxious and frightened” about their future.
Shadow treasurer Dean Winter said housing providers and community houses were unsure whether they could keep services running “in the next few weeks” without funding certainty.
“I know how they feel because I’ve spoken to them,” he said.
“They’re frightened of what it means not just to them and their colleagues but also to the people they support every single day.”
Winter urged the government to give an “ironclad guarantee” that community organisations would be protected from cuts, but said it had refused to do so.
When asked on Monday, Minister Bridget Archer would not rule out cuts, instead saying the government would “continue to work with and support” community organisations.
“We highly value our community sector and we do fund our community sector to high levels because we do value their work,” she said.
Winter said that response confirmed his fears.
“The only confidence I have is that the government is looking to cut the community sector during this year’s budget,” he said.
He pointed to Tasmania’s ballooning debt as the reason the sector was under threat, saying net debt had grown from zero to nearly $13 billion under 11 years of Liberal government.
“That means huge interest repayments every year that’s coming out of community services, out of healthcare, out of education,” Winter said.
“And the question is, what are they going to do to fix it?”
The interim state budget will be handed down on Thursday.
