The Liberals stand exposed for lying their way into government, by promising anti-super trawler campaigners to oppose ‘freezer factory trawlers’ during the election campaign but backflipping on that commitment since, Greens Leader Kim Booth MP said today.
“The Liberals’ own 2014 paper trail tells this sordid story,” Mr Booth said.
“Will Hodgman has proven he cannot be trusted.”
“His office sought agreement from anti super trawler campaigners to drop their election campaign TV and radio adverts targeting the Liberals over their position, in return for a Liberal commitment to oppose super trawlers, defined in writing, as ‘freezer factory trawlers’.”
“Stakeholders themselves have publicly confirmed that upon receipt of these written undertakings from both Mr Hodgman and his Chief of Staff, they lobbied on behalf of the Liberals during the election campaign.”
“The anti-super trawler stakeholders, altered their election campaign to benefit the Liberal Party, due to commitments made by Will Hodgman.”
“But since then, the Liberals have back-flipped and now support the factory freezer Geelong Star’s operation in the small pelagic fishery.”
“Clearly the Liberals have lied their way into government.”
“Now he has been caught out, rather than front up and admit that he has changed his position on factory freezer trawlers since the 2014 election, Mr Hodgman instead attempts to cast aspersions upon the motivation of those stakeholders who dare to state publicly they believe they were duped.”
“Tasmanians believed Mr Hodgman stood with them in opposing freezer factory trawlers, language used in both his Chief of Staff’s email of the 21st of February and his own letter of the 22nd of February last year, only to discover they were weasel words.”
“The Premier stands condemned by his own correspondence, and he only survived the Greens’ censure motion because the Liberals have the numbers. A vote in the court of public opinion, which can read this documentation for themselves, would result in a very different outcome,” Mr Booth said.