The West Coast Council says the state government’s plan to halve opening hours at the Queenstown Service Tasmania centre makes “no sense” and sends a message that people in remote Tasmania are “second-class citizens”.
Councillors will vote at their September 22 meeting on a letter to Premier Jeremy Rockliff that “formally objects” to the cut and asks that the “current level of service be maintained”.
The government is proposing to cut the centre’s opening hours from 32.5 hours a week to 16, a reduction of more than 50%.
Queenstown is one of five regional centres facing reduced hours, alongside Oatlands, Campbell Town, Currie and Whitemark and would face the biggest cut of the five.
The council’s letter says the Queenstown centre serves Strahan, Zeehan, Rosebery and surrounding towns, with the next closest Service Tasmania centre in Burnie.
It says that trip is not realistic for many older residents, people without a car or families with school-aged children.
Some services still require people to attend in person, including applications for new driver licences and Registration to Work with Vulnerable People, which require proof of identity and a photo.
The council says phone and online services are “not equally accessible to all members of our community”, pointing to the region’s dispersed population, long travel distances and internet access that can be “limited or unreliable”.
The proposed cut comes almost exactly 12 months after Queenstown’s last bank branch closed, a move opposed by both the state government and the council.
The council also says it was not consulted before the government announced the proposal and wants the community given a say before any “significant reduction in service availability is implemented”.
“This decision makes no sense and unfortunately sends a signal that those of us who live in remote Tasmania are regarded as being second-class citizens,” the letter states.
Rockliff, announcing the proposed reductions, said two years of visitation data showed “demand at the five locations is significantly lower than the number of service hours currently provided”.
“We know many Tasmanians still rely on in-person services and that’s why these changes have been proposed based on current customer usage,” he said.
“There will be no reduction in jobs or hours, with existing Service Tasmania staff in those regions to contribute remotely.”
Consultation on the proposed reductions runs until October 2 through a survey on the Service Tasmania website.
