The Hodgman government is under pressure to detail how they are continuing to prop up Forestry Tasmania following the withdrawal of the $110 million contingency fund upon first of July this year.
“Yet again the Treasurer shirked giving a straight answer to a straight question on a matter clearly in the public interest,” said Greens Leader and Forestry spokesperson Kim Booth MP.
“The Greens have asked numerous times in the Parliament how the Hodgman government was going to keep Forestry Tasmania operational if they were to remove all public subsidies from the GBE, and not just the contingency monies, and yet again today they refused to answer.”
“We are now in the new financial year, so clearly something has been arranged to keep Forestry Tasmania afloat without access to the contingency monies.”
“This is a government business enterprise and therefore the Tasmanian public deserve to know whether the GBE has been issued yet another letter of comfort to cover up its insolvency, and what other modes of public funding, capital injection, debt swap or asset sale have been undertaken or planned in the future to keep it afloat.”
“What has this Hodgman regime got to hide? Why this outrageous secrecy and refusal to answer these valid questions?”
“The more the Liberals refuse to answer, the more questions their behaviour raises.”
“At a time when many frontline public sector workers are facing salary freeze and job cuts, Tasmanians have a right to know how much of their hard-earned cash is still going into propping up Forestry Tasmania despite the Liberals’ rhetoric that public subsidies would cease,” Mr Booth said.