EDITORIAL
Labor Leader Josh Willie
Skyrocketing fuel prices due to the war in the middle east seem impossible to escape right now, and are likely to be a topic of conversation for months to come. While every Tasmanian who drives is keeping a close eye on service station price boards, businesses know all too well that the impacts aren’t only felt at the pump. It affects the price of everything, and in the context of the broader cost-of-living environment, risks leaving people with less discretionary spending to enjoy eating out or having a drink in one of Tasmania’s great venues. I’ve been speaking to businesses across the state who are rightly concerned about balancing this new cost pressure with all the other pressures that come with running a business. That’s why Tasmanian Labor is committed to offering our support and working collaboratively with the rest of the Parliament to try and make this situation the best it can be. No-one expects any level of government to be able to fix the fuel crisis overnight, but Tasmanians expect their state and federal governments to do everything they can.
We’ve seen welcome initiatives like the Federal Government’s decision to halve the fuel excise. We’ve supported the state government passing emergency fuel legislation to give it more power, and applauded cost-of-living relief such as making public transport free. Unfortunately, fuel prices look likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. Given the position Tasmania’s finances are in I am concerned about the State Government’s ability to continue to respond and provide relief, but that won’t deter Labor from continuing to put forward solutions where we can. One additional measure Labor is pushing for is for the Government to drop its proposed short stay levy tourism tax. Right now, Tasmania needs more reasons for people to come, stay longer and spend more across the state, not another barrier that pushes them to book interstate instead. Labor will continue to work constructively to support businesses and help Tasmanians get through this however we can.
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