Southern Tasmania’s major population centres are being treated as second-class citizens during the federal election campaign, according to two local mayors.
Analysis presented by Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds and Glenorchy Mayor Sue Hickey shows voters in the marginal electorate of Lyons are being offered $3,500 worth of election sweeteners per person, while those in the safe seat of Clark receive just $116 per person.
“Southern Tasmania is missing out and we just do not think that is fair or reasonable. It just does not pass the pub test,” Reynolds said.
“Hobart people pay their taxes … and they deserve to see some of that income come back into their communities and come back into important projects in where they live.”
The mayors revealed that marginal seats have attracted substantial pledges, with $409 million for Lyons, $157 million for Bass and $66 million for Braddon.
Meanwhile, safer seats Clark and Franklin have been promised just $12 million and $9.8 million respectively.
Clark is held by independent Andrew Wilkie and Franklin by Labor’s Julie Collins, making them among the safest seats in the country. Bass and Lyons, however, are among the most marginal.
The two mayors claim vital projects totalling $200 million in the state’s south remain stalled due to lack of funding.
Hickey said an $84 million swimming pool upgrade in Glenorchy has received no interest from either major party.
“Just because we don’t sit in a marginal seat doesn’t mean our community infrastructure needs aren’t important,” she said.
In response, Labor’s campaign team provided a list of commitments the Albanese federal government has made to southern Tasmania totalling more than half a billion dollars.
It includes $240 million for the Macquarie Point precinct, $188 million for wharf upgrades, and $80 million for the Southern Outlet revamp.
