$190 million for a cableway at Cradle Mountain, expanding the number of seats at MyStateBank Arena and keeping the Tarkine ‘as it is’ are some of the federal funding commitments being sought by the state government.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has released the economic priorities ahead of the upcoming federal election.
“The Team Tasmania election economic priority list outlines 11 initiatives that, no matter who is in Canberra, we want them to commit to for the future of Tasmania,” he said.
Among them are all the cash needed to build a cableway from the Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre to the Dove Lake car park and $35 million to increase Hobart’s MyStateBank Arena by 2,500 seats to 10,000.
Co-investment is also being sought to back a $500 million STEM development at the University of Tasmania in Sandy Bay and backing of an ‘intermodal facility’ at Launceston Airport.
The demands also include a commitment to reduce red tape, business insurance reforms, more investment in housing, a review of the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme and attracting more skilled workers.
Amy Hills, head of the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania, has welcomed the plan.
“We feel that unity is very important as we go into talking with candidates across the political spectrum in the lead up to the next federal election,” she said.
“The initiatives that are in this document are really those critical ones that we see will really make a huge difference to us over the next decade.”
The Tasmanian Government’s list of requests for the Federal Government:
– Develop Bilateral Deals through the EPBC Act with the state to unlock key economic growth projects
– Acknowledge that the Tarkine is and has been a mixed land-use zone for 150 years, and that there is no case to change the classification of the region
– $180 million to deliver a cableway at Cradle Mountain
– Immediately increase payment rates for the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme, preceding a full review of the scheme as recommended by the Senate Select Committee
– Ensuring Tasmania gets its share in the benefits of skilled migration
– Increase funding for housing infrastructure to build more homes for Tasmanians
– Support the expansion MyState Bank Arena
– Invest in a contemporary STEM precinct at UTAS’ Sandy Bay campus
– Invest in enabling infrastructure for the TransLink industrial precinct at the Launceston Intermodal Hub
– Reducing red tape and lower the regulatory burden with tangible targets to make it easier to do business and increase productivity
– Urgently finding solutions to address the issue of access and affordability of insurance for tourism operators.
