PREMIER Will Hodgman says he expects Tasmanians will find the pain of budget cuts are worth it in the long term.
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But after a first-term Liberal government was swept from office across Bass Strait, Mr Hodgman says his team takes nothing for granted.
Mr Hodgman said the defeat of the previous Victorian government last month had brought the importance of keeping the public on side into sharp relief.
‘‘I wouldn’t say we ignore what happens in other places,’’ he told The Examiner.
‘‘It does make your appreciate that the privilege of governing can be swiftly removed if you’re not effective, if you’re not delivering, if you’re not communicating with the electorate.’’
Mr Hodgman acknowledged the concern caused by the government’s cuts to health and education staff, but was confident the public could be convinced the pain was worth it for the budget’s sake.
‘‘I can certainly appreciate that people are anxious about what impact it will have,’’ he said.
‘‘[But] I hope that in time the perspective in which we’re approaching this will show that it will not compromise good, long-term outcomes in health and education.’’
Nine months after sweeping to power, Mr Hodgman said the government was still listening to the public.
‘‘We’re a government that will be decisive, but engaging with the community,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ll always look at ways to do that more effectively. We’re aware that there are significant challenges we have to negotiate, notably the fundamental task of repairing the budget can never be an easy one.’’
Despite saying the Abbott government had given his own administration ‘‘unexpected and unwelcome’’ challenges through the budget, Mr Hodgman said he would not be picking fights with Canberra.
‘‘Some would delight in me constantly bickering with the federal government or getting embroiled in silly arguments which don’t deliver a tangible benefit,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve got to work as constructively as we can with the federal government to get good outcomes.
Mr Hodgman said the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping was a highlight of 2014.
‘‘I certainly think it was a wonderful, rare, historic occasion for the state that will be long remembered as a fantastic showcase of what we do,’’ he said.
‘‘The value that you place on such a thing cannot be measured.’’
Mr Hodgman said he was disappointed the Legislative Council had rejected the pay freeze bill and heavily amended his government’s anti-protest laws, but he would work co-operatively with the upper house in 2015.
‘‘We don’t assume that the Legislative Council will automatically support what we propose,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re not arrogant enough to presume that the Legislative Council should just rubber stamp what we want to pass through the Parliament.’’
Mr Hodgman identified reforms to the state’s planning schemes, electricity market and high schools as the government’s major goals for next year.
He ruled out trying to restore the House of Assembly to have 35 seats until the state’s budget had improved.
‘‘In the current climate where we’re making reductions in agency budgets, reductions in the size of the public sector, putting more politicians into Parliament House is way out of whack with what the public would expect of us,’’ he said.
Mr Hodgman said he expected to still be premier at Christmas next year.
‘‘We’re a political party that has shown we can manage ourselves because it gives people confidence about our ability to manage the state government,’’ he said.
‘‘We are, in every sense, a strong team. I don’t claim all the credit for it, but I am proud to be the leader of a party that can point to that as something we’ve placed a high value on.’’