Labor Leader Rebecca White today congratulated Peter Gutwein on being elected leader of the Liberal party.
Ms White said to be Premier of our beautiful state was an incredible honour and the hard work will start immediately for the new Premier.
“The new Premier of Tasmania must make it a priority to explain to Tasmanians his vision for the state. Neither of the contenders for the job said a single word about their vision since Will Hodgman announced his resignation.
“Tasmanians now have a Premier they didn’t vote for, leading a divided Government.
“Tasmanians expect to know the priorities of their Premier, what he stands for, and what his leadership means for key portfolios.
“All we know about Peter Gutwein is that he will not hesitate to cut funds and staff from essential public services, or to break his promises to Tasmanians.
“Before the 2014 election, Peter Gutwein promised there would be no forced redundancies in the public sector. But just weeks after the election he cut 1,500 jobs, including 256 school teachers.
“His first act as Treasurer was to cut $210m from health and hospitals, then he underfunded the health system by over $100m each year.
“He also promised not to take the budget into net debt, but broke that promise just a year after making it.
“The state budget is in tatters, net debt is heading towards $1 billion, and the budget is being propped up by raids on GBEs and deferred infrastructure projects.
“Having grabbed the top job, will Peter Gutwein make deeper cuts to prop up the budget?”
Ms White said the Liberals promised Tasmanians stable majority government, but have delivered neither.
“The division in Liberal ranks over the leadership contest has created deep wounds, and Michael Ferguson and Elise Archer’s last-minute withdrawal does nothing to reduce the tension and disunity.
“Peter Gutwein must have offered inducements in order to secure support. We need to know who will occupy key portfolios such as Treasury and State Growth and we need to know what deals have been done to allow Peter Gutwein to secure the top job.
“This is not democracy at work. This is chaotic politics that serves nobody.”
Rebecca White
Labor Leader
