Felix Ellis has been forced to abandon his controversial fire levy, in yet another embarrassing policy backflip from Jeremy Rockliff’s chaotic minority government.
It was patently clear that Minister Ellis had not consulted key stakeholders prior to announcing his two modelling proposals.
His ‘my way or the highway’ approach to being a Minister is not impressing anyone and is completely unproductive.
Sadly the funding debacle isn’t the only problem with experts identifying significant flaws in his draft bill.
Hopefully Felix Ellis is able to recognise his mistakes and come back to the table with an appropriate model that has had adequate consultation.
Minister Ellis needs to listen to all the concerns that have been raised when going back to the drawing board, consult properly with stakeholders and genuinely work on a better, properly informed process that suits the Tasmanian community.
He should immediately release all the data and modelling that has informed the process to date, to enable the public and key stakeholders to provide genuine feedback.
Most importantly, Minister Ellis must also categorically rule out trying to reintroduce his two models by stealth, as unfortunately there is now a complete absence of trust in him and his approach.
Michelle O’Byrne MP
Shadow Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management
