A Strong Plan for the East Coast

QUICK FACTS
  • Complete the 7km track from St Helens to Stieglitz around Georges Bay
  • Fit-out the St Marys Evacuation Centre
  • Help the region stay connected with a new Telstra Tower
  • Work with the region on our $5.2 million Strategic Regional Partnership
  • Deliver new dental services for concession card holders and children
  • Recruit four new community paramedics for the region
  • Upgrade rural hospitals so Tasmanians can see a hospital specialist without the need to travel to the city
  • More GPs with an attraction package for rural GPs and multi-year grant funding to sustain their practices
  • Upgrading teacher housing in regional areas with incentives to retain teachers
  • More funding for schools to establish onside Outside of School Hours Care, upgrade playgrounds and sports courts, and attract early childhood education and care staff
  • $6 million towards the Wielangta Road upgrade to insure against any future Tasman Highway closure.
  • More homes in all regions and incentives for first home buyers, new subdivisions and less land tax for shack owners.
  • Help for small businesses to get government work, and with small capital purchases.
  • Regional Hospitality Revival Fund, $50 million in loans for regional tourism and funding for regional East Coast events.
  • Completion of Iconic Parks investment at Freycinet and Maria Island.
  • A range of support for farmers, agricultural associations, young farmers, housing options for workers, fuel reduction and helping to attract and retain veterinarians.
  • More support for East Coast community and sporting and recreational infrastructure.

Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:

  • Provide $1 million towards the St Helens/Georges Bay walking track.
  • Complete the St Marys Evacuation Centre.
  • Commit $200,000 towards building a new Telstra Tower at St Helens.
  • Provide a new oral health service in partnership with the RFDS.
  • Provide $600,000 towards the upgrade of the May Shaw Health Centre.
  • Employ four new community paramedics for the East Coast.
  • Upgrade rural hospitals and provide incentives to attract GPs.
  • Support schools, child care and young people in the region.
  • Support iconic regional East Coast events, regional tourism and parks.
  • Provide $6 million towards upgrade of Wielangta Road.
  • Deliver more support for housing, farmers and small businesses.
  • Increase support for the East Coast Rock Lobster translocation program.
  • Back the East Coast so it can grow its economy and create jobs.

An important part of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future is to ensure our regions are set up for resilience and growth.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government will:

  • Provide $1 million to assist Council in leveraging Australian Government funding to complete the St Helens/Georges Bay walking track, creating a safe walk and biking route. The track will allow a connection with the existing path at O'Connor's Beach through to Stieglitz, protecting the known landslip area from future coastal erosion and connecting the township of St Helens to the rapidly growing Stieglitz area and Akaroa. Once completed, the multi-user track will stretch about 7km around Georges Bay.
  • Provide $500,000 to complete the St Marys Evacuation Centre, including fit-out of kitchen, storage, recreational items, flooring and outdoor recreational spaces. This Centre can be stood up as an evacuation centre in an emergency situation, such as bushfires, and will become a community space that can be used for a variety of activities.
  • Deliver $200,000 towards building a new Telstra Tower at St Helens, to ensure that during a natural disaster, people in the region can stay connected and have a reliable communication network.
  • Re-commit to the $5.2 million Strategic Regional Partnership signed in an MOU between the Break O'Day Council, Glamorgan Spring Bay Council, East Coast Tasmania, the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania and Regional Development Australia. The partnership will develop strategies to enhance health services, education and job opportunities for young people and deliver tourism and infrastructure planning for the East Coast.
  • Provide a new oral health service for concession card holders and children on the East Coast, from St Helens to Orford, in partnership with the Royal Flying Doctor Service for the next four years, as well as an additional $4 million for 20,000 more dental appointments for general dental care, emergency dental care and urgent dental appointments and denture care, including children and adolescents.
  • Provide $600,000 towards the $1.3 million upgrade of the May Shaw Health Centre, providing two additional GP consulting rooms in the on-site Swansea General Practice, helping to secure its long-term viability for existing doctors as well as trainee GPs, visiting specialists and allied health professionals, and up to two medical students. The funding will also provide a professional base for the home care team and improved facilities for other May Shaw staff, visitors and patients.
  • Provide four new community paramedics for the East Coast region, two to be based at the St Helens District Hospital and two at St Marys Community Health Centre. Community paramedics are fully trained paramedics with specialist training who are able to treat Tasmanians. These community paramedics will have a dual role of responding to and treating non-emergency Triple Zero calls in the local community or the home, or treating minor illnesses and injury for those who present to these rural hospitals. We will also pilot a model that allows these community paramedics to prescribe a range of medications in line with nurse practitioners.
  • Upgrading rural hospitals at St Helens and St Marys, by installing virtual infrastructure over the next 12 months to provide an immediate and vital link for hospitals to access the specialist expertise of our major hospitals, and so Tasmanians can see a hospital specialist without the need to travel into our cities. We will also provide district hospital doctors with direct access to MyEmergency Doctor for immediate specialist advice. Free Wifi will also be rolled out in all district hospitals.
  • Deliver our GP Guarantee, including:
    • A GP NOW Rapid Response Team made up of 10 State-employed doctors ready to be deployed into local communities where and when needed, in the event of a sudden GP closure.
    • Attract GPs to work in rural and regional areas, by picking up the HECS debt up to $100,000 for 40 new GPs who commit to working in the State for at least five years.
    • Partner with GPs in regional and rural Tasmania to strengthen and sustain their practices by delivering multi-year grant funding up to $250,000 per year. Grants will be flexible, helping GPs to offer extended hours, embed nurse practitioners into their business model, offer added incentives to attract doctors or expand a practice with capital upgrades.
  • $1.6 million to continue the important services delivered by Rural Alive and Well in rural and regional communities across Tasmania.
  • Helping more patients with transport and accommodation through a better Patient Transport Assistance Scheme (PTAS), including online applications and reinstating support to access private services on the mainland that are not available in either the public or private sector, and boosting the Cancer Council Transport2Treatment services.
  • Extending the scope of community pharmacies to supply more prescriptions for longer, including a two-year supply of the oral contraceptive for the one script, enabling pharmacists to diagnose and initiate treatment for UTIs.
  • Supporting education and schools with incentives to attract and retain high-quality teachers in hard-to-staff locations in a flexible approach targeting areas that most need teachers, and building or upgrading teacher and principal housing in rural and remote communities, and deliver a nation-leading driver education program in every Tasmanan School from Year 9 to 12, with more help to support disadvantaged young people to obtain their licence in partnership with the community.
  • Deliver more opportunities to skill-up young people, with $2.5 million to deliver vocational learning to Year 9 and 10 students in all secondary schools, a $30 million VET Futures Fund to deliver new and upgraded facilities and equipment at colleges, senior secondary schools and trade training centres, and expanding Youth Build to all secondary schools.
  • Help more families access early childhood education and care, including $10 million across the State to support primary and district schools establish new onsite Outside-of-School-Hours care, we will also audit government land and release surplus land for new child care facilities, and establish an Early Years Workforce Development Fund with scholarships to attract more staff, including speech pathologists and psychologists.
  • Taking tourism to the next level, with $12 million for the 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy, a $50 million Regional Tourism Loan Scheme and support to continue regional events, including the Bicheno Food and Wine Festival, and the Tasmanian Scallop Fiesta and the Echo Festival.
  • Continue to deliver outstanding experiences in our Parks with more than $90 million in investment underway, including $14 million investment in the iconic Freycinet National Park and a new Visitor Gateway, funding for the Maria Island Re-discovered Project with $6.8 million for Stage 3.
  • Provide $6 million towards a $32.1 million upgrade of Wielangta Road on Tasmania's lower East Coast, subject to the Australian Government contributing 80 per cent towards the cost of this regional road project, providing a route suitable for use in the event of a potential future closure or disruption of the Tasman Highway.
  • To deliver more housing, we will:
    • Deliver 10,000 more social and affordable homes by 2032 in all regions of the State, including boosting the Private Rental Incentive Scheme. Underway right now on the East Coast is an 18-unit development at Triabunna and eight units in Fingal.
    • Reduce the minimum threshold for land tax by $25,000, abolishing land tax entirely for 4,400 landowners including shack owners. In addition, there are 100 per cent land tax incentives for property owners who build to rent, or switch a short-stay home to long term rental.
    • Our $35 million Homes Faster! partnership provides a range of incentives including no-interest loans for headworks charges to stimulate housing, a residential land rebate to unlock more residential lots.
    • For first home buyers, we are expanding the MyHome shared equity scheme to enable purchase of a home with a two per cent deposit, and we are abolishing the stamp duty cost for first-home buyers of properties up to $750,000.
  • Helping Tasmanian businesses to secure more government contracts, by increasing the weighting in competitive procurement processes to 30 per cent under the Buy Local social and economic benefit test.
  • Deliver a $1 million grant program to support small businesses across Tasmania to thrive, adapt and innovate in their local communities, with grants up to $10,000 for capital purchases, such as new technology, small-scale manufacturing equipment, computers or electronic payment terminals. Eligibility will be for small businesses registered in Tasmania with fewer than 19 full-time equivalent employees. Small businesses will be asked for a 30 per cent co-contribution towards the purchase price.
  • Deliver a $500,000 Regional Hospitality Revival Fund, providing grants of up to $2500 to support hospitality businesses in regional Tasmania to attract visitors to the region.
  • Supporting Agriculture on the East Coast, including:
    • Supercharging the Strategic Industry Partnership Program to $3 million providing more resources for agricultural associations, while also providing targeted grants on a co-investment basis to support producers and businesses in the region.
    • Continuing our AgriGrowth Loans Scheme for low-interest loans to farm and agri-food businesses.
    • Providing loans of up to $250,000 under the Young Farmer Support Package to assist more young farmers pursue agribusiness opportunities.
    • Removing red tape that restricts the ability of primary producers to provide housing options for workers, and offer on-farm residence as part of an employment contract.
    • A new $400,000 Veterinarian Attraction Package to help attract and retain veterinarians in Tasmania with a key focus on rural and regional areas, including study assistance, work placement programs and study rotations for second or third-year students, subsidised travel and HECS debt support for new graduates.
    • An additional $1.865 million to continue the important work of Landcare groups around the State, including an expansion of the successful Landcare Action Grants program.
    • Making it easier to conduct fuel reduction burns by introducing an online central portal for producers to reduce red tape.
  • Sixty more Police in Tasmania, including 20 for a new Police Strikeforce to target serial criminals and crime hot-spots around the State, and 40 officers for a relief pool to maintain safe staffing levels can be maintained at 24-hour police stations, as well as a new Cadet Program for young Tasmanians to learn and train with our Emergency Services personnel.
  • Increased supply of high-quality native forest sawlog by up to 10 per cent per year, extend long-term supply contracts to 2040 to secure low sawmillers' future and provide STT's existing customers with long-term supply contracts for plantation sawlogs, on commercial terms until 2040.
  • Increase and extend support for the East Coast Rock Lobster translocation program through an investment of $600,000 over four years and expand control of the invasive long-spined sea urchin to help recover East Coast fisheries and habitats.
  • Support local community initiatives, as well as local Neighbourhood Houses and Men's Sheds, including:
    • Deliver support, within 30 days of forming government, to ensure our Volunteer Marine Rescue units are able to secure the vehicles, trailers and vessels they need to deliver the services our boating communities rely on.
    • $16,863 to Star FM Community Radio for a new transmitter and antennae for broadcasting.
    • $130,000 to install a new irrigation system and remove dangerous trees at the Orford Golf Club and $57,825 for upgrade to toilet amenities.
    • $84,000 for upgrading the toilet facilities at the Swansea RSL.
    • $27,428 to install a new shed for golf equipment at the Swansea Golf Club.
    • $112,578 for installation of a new disability toilet at the Orford Bowls Club.
    • $10,800 for the Levendale Bushrangers Cricket Club.

Net Cost: $2.18 million – some policies costed elsewhere