Labor pledges greater oversight of state infrastructure
Senior Tasmanian bureaucrats will be sacked and stripped of bonuses if major infrastructure projects are not delivered on time and on budget under a Labor government.
The pledge from Tasmania's opposition comes as the party seeks to tap into frustrations over delays plaguing major projects ahead of a snap state election in July.
"We need to make sure these people understand exactly what their job is and that's to deliver for Tasmanians," Opposition Leader Dean Winter told reporters in Devonport on Saturday.
Labor pledged to "boost up" Infrastructure Tasmania and reallocate about $1 million to create a team dedicated to overseeing projects worth more than $100 million.
That would include Spirit of Tasmania upgrades, as the price of a yet-to-be-built Devonport facility blows out from $90 million to $495 million.
"If we can get these projects right from the start, then we don't see these huge stuff-ups that cost Tasmanians hundreds of millions of dollars and cost our economy even more," Mr Winter said.
Tasmanian Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff kicked off the first weekend of his campaign at a pharmacy in Riverside, outside Launceston, promising his re-elected government would extend the number of conditions pharmacists could provide treatments for without prescriptions.
Some 23 conditions would be added, including ear infections and eczema, with the government in talks with pharmacists about extending operating hours and opening on weekends.
The July 19 election was called in the days after Mr Rockliff refused to resign following a no-confidence motion in parliament.
That was passed in part due to former Jacqui Lambie Network MP Andrew Jenner, who revealed on Saturday he has switched to the Nationals.
"Seventy to 80 per cent of my area, which is the division of Lyons, is rural and regional and I don't think there's a party positioned to represent it better than the Nationals," Mr Jenner said at a press conference alongside Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie.
With the premier twice governing in minority, the Labor and Liberal parties are pushing for an outright win at the July 19 poll.
Other parties have made no secret of crossbench ambitions, with the Greens vowing not to cut the public service if they win the balance of power.
"It's not just the people that we see publicly out in front that are essential - it is everybody behind the scenes that is doing the admin, doing the paperwork and ensuring the public service functions properly," Greens MP Tabatha Badger said.
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