Cassy O'Connor MP | Greens Leader
The Hodgman Liberals are desperately trying to deflect from Matthew Groom's woeful performance as Minister for Energy.
The Greens have spent the past week in Parliament focused on the single most important economic issue facing the State - the Basslink breakdown and Tasmania's future renewable energy security.
We brought on a No Confidence motion in Minister Groom this week because the Greens and a growing number of Tasmanians have zero faith in his capacity to steer the State through the energy crisis and set this island up for a secure energy future.
With major industrials winding back production, contractors being laid off and questions over the future of Bell Bay Aluminium, we have acted responsibly in making energy the focus of the first Parliamentary sitting week.
The government has no legislative agenda to speak of and as a result Upper House members will spend much of next week twiddling their thumbs.
Whether or not Minister Petrusma delivered her statement on child protection yesterday, or next week, the child protection system in Tasmania will continue to run. We hope the Liberals aren't making Tasmania's vulnerable children wait until the Minister's statement to fix the child protection mess.
We will respond in an informed and meaningful way to the response to the child protection system's failings when the Minister delivers her statement on Tuesday.
Parliament is not the Liberals' plaything for good news announcements and distractions from Minister Groom's poor performance.
There is a glaring hypocrisy in the Liberals criticising us for expressing No Confidence in Minister Groom. In the last term of government, they spent more than 50 hours of Parliament's time on No Confidence and Censure motions.
Rather than wasting more time and taxpayer money criticising the Greens for highlighting the obvious, Minister Ferguson should get on with fixing the underfunded mess he and his Federal colleagues have created in Tasmania's health system.
We will continue to focus in the issues that matter when Parliament returns next week.