A former university executive who first entered politics over a backyard bushfire bunker is now setting his sights on Tasmania’s upper house.
Michael Rowan is running for the Legislative Council seat of Huon with a platform built on budget accountability, education reform and tougher environmental protections.
This story is part of a Pulse deep-dive series on the May 2 Legislative Council elections. To read more about candidates standing in Huon, click here.
He and his late wife built a personal bushfire shelter on their property, following recommendations from the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission that were made after 173 people died in the 2009 Black Saturday fires.
The shelter was accredited by Victorian authorities against the National Construction Code and won a national award from Resilience Australia.
Kingborough Council refused to approve it.
“My wife ended up being prosecuted for refusing to pull the bunker out,” Rowan said.
He said the council argued that even if the family’s access road was blocked and their house was on fire, entering the bunker would be dangerous because it hadn’t received council approval.
“I just looked at that and I thought, the world has gone mad,” he said.
When he presented the council with a detailed analysis alleging maladministration and illegality, he said the response was a letter telling him to go away.
He has since referred the matter to Tasmania’s Integrity Commission.
Rowan said both that experience and his work on education reform convinced him the Legislative Council was where he could make the biggest difference.
In both cases, he said, the only reason he made any progress was through the work of independent upper house member Ruth Forrest.
“Ruth Forrest is the only reason that we have got good data on the success of our senior secondary system in Tasmania,” he said.
Rowan and his late wife, Eleanor Ramsay, moved to Tasmania from South Australia and were shocked by the state’s low year 12 completion rates.
He said a booklet given to families enrolling children in government schools contained a curriculum map that ended at year 10 and didn’t mention the Tasmanian Certificate of Education once.
“To a family who has no experience of kids going beyond year 10, that’s saying, if you don’t already know how to get to year 12, you don’t belong,” he said.
Through Forrest’s questions in the upper house, Rowan says he obtained data showing the gap between perception and reality was enormous.
He said he sat opposite a principal of a well-regarded Hobart high school who estimated 86 per cent of year 10 students went on to earn a year 12 certificate.
“I had the data in front of me thanks to Ruth Forrest, and I said, it’s 49,” he said.
In the Huon electorate, he said only one school gives a year 10 student better than a 50 per cent chance of completing year 12, and that is Woodbridge, the wealthiest school in the area.
On Tasmania’s budget, Rowan isn’t pulling punches.
He said reports from economist Saul Eslake, the state Treasury and a fiscal sustainability review all point to the same conclusion.
“Before the end of this decade, we will be spending on interest 20 per cent of our operating budget for health and education,” he said.
“So that means every time a government wants to spend ten bucks on schools or hospitals, the treasurer takes two dollars away to spend on interest.”
He said Tasmania needs to reduce its budget deficit by $300 million a year for five consecutive years just to stop going further into debt.
Rowan is also deeply concerned about the salmon industry, a major employer in Huon.
After touring Huon Aquaculture’s facilities, he said he met “lots of really good, young, smart people who are really trying to do the right thing.”
But the broader problem, he said, is that fish are being farmed in conditions that stress them, leading to heavy antibiotic use that then leaches into the surrounding environment.
He said antibiotic-resistant diseases killed more people in Australia last year than the road toll and that the World Health Organization identifies aquaculture as a major risk factor.
“I don’t think Tasmania should be doing that,” he said.
He wants the state government, the University of Tasmania and industry to collaborate on research into alternatives, including selective breeding and vaccines.
On greyhound racing, Rowan argues the data suggests the sport is too cruel to continue but that the industry must be compensated on fair terms.
He pointed to the gap between the government’s $4.8 million offer and the industry’s $125 million claim and said both sides need to negotiate honestly.
Rowan says he brings credentials from running a university division with 400 staff, 13,000 students and a $57 million budget.
He said voters should ask one question of every candidate.
“What does this person think the job is, and what have they done already that shows that they’re prepared for it?”
