Doorstop at Sorell, Tasmania

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
SORELL 
SATURDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: Help to Buy; Environmental law reform; Albanese Labor Government investments in Tasmania.

REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE: Thank you very much to you, Andrew, for allowing us to have access to this site here in Sorell, where there are 22 units being constructed, which will be in the price range of about $550,000, which is exactly the range that the Help to Buy program the Federal Government is providing across the country would assist first homeowners or other homeowners into, except here in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Government has decided not to progress the enabling legislation through the Parliament that would enable Tasmanians to have access to a scheme that helps them buy a home with assistance with the deposit, but also shared equity, so that it makes it easier for people to get into the housing market. There's no sensible explanation from the Tasmanian Government as to why they're not supporting the expansion of the scheme here. It doesn't cost the State Government anything, this is Federal Government money being provided to support people into home ownership, and it's actually quite disappointing that the Tasmanian Government isn't taking up this opportunity. There are 10,000 places across the country every year that will be supported through this, and Tasmania would have benefited from that, but as of today, when the program opens on 5 December, Tasmanians will not be eligible to apply. We are doing everything we can as a Federal Government to help people into home ownership, assisting them with accessing affordable rental accommodation, assisting people into social and affordable housing. This is a part of solving that puzzle. We know that we need to assist people into home ownership, and that's why we've rolled out the Help to Buy program.  It's a very real shame that the Tasmanian Government isn't partnering with us to deliver it here. I'm going to hand across to Julie, and then if there are any questions.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Thanks, Bec, and it's terrific to be here in Sorell, and as a Federal Government, of course, we have been doing everything we can do to get more homes on the ground, more quickly. That includes, as Rebecca's outlined, the Help to Buy Scheme, it also includes the fact that we've got now almost 1,000 homes underway in Tasmania with Federal Government support through Housing Australia or through the Housing Accelerator Program with the State Government. We've now had more than 3,100 Tasmanians purchase their home with the 5% Deposit Scheme. And what you've seen this week in the Federal Parliament is our government stepping up again with the reforms to the national environment laws. What these national environment laws mean is that we'll get faster yes's and faster no's, and that is important, particularly for greenfield housing sites, and we know that there are some here in Tasmania that have been held up by the EPBC, so we hope that in the future we'll get faster yes's and faster no's because of the reforms that we've made. As part of the EPBC reforms, knowing how important, of course, the timber industry is to the housing construction sector, we have also announced $300 million to support the timber industry in Australia. That $300 million is $150 million in terms of loans and support for millers to retool to allow them to be able to deal with more plantation wood, but importantly, also another $150 million in grants that we will work through with the industry on the design of that package. What we want to ensure is that we have strong, secure jobs in the timber industry here in Tasmania and around the country, and that is why we're investing that $300 million. There have been some changes in relation to the EPBC and in relation to Regional Forest Agreements. There's been a lot of misinformation going around. What I want to do is be incredibly clear: we are not ending native timber logging. What we are doing is what we said we would do, and that is to bring Regional Forest Agreements up and into national environmental laws, and that is what we achieved with our new laws this week. And as I've said, Tasmania will benefit from faster yes's and faster no's for things like housing construction to renewable energy projects, to a whole range of projects that may trigger national environment laws. Happy to take some questions.

JOURNALIST: So the State Government here has said that they haven't said no, they've said the Federal Government hasn't given them enough information to say a firm yes. What do you think of that?

WHITE: So this was a decision that was made at National Cabinet, and every state, including Tasmania, agreed that they would roll this out. Across the country, the start date is 5 December; it's only Tasmania here that's decided not to progress the enabling legislation. There is no sensible reason why they can’t run the scheme alongside the existing shared equity scheme, which the Tasmanian Government offers, it just offers more places, for more Tasmanians to access shared equity programs so they can buy a home. There's no cost to the State Government, and there's no sensible reason that they can give for why they haven't signed up to something they said they would do.

JOURNALIST: The Government says we have MyHome, and that that's enough. Do you think that's enough?

WHITE: We have the opportunity here to offer more places, for more Tasmanians to access support through the Federal Government to buy their own home. There's no cost to the State Government, it doesn't undermine existing programs they run, it complements them, it offers more places for Tasmanians, and one of the important differences is that the Federal Government program offers this opportunity to couples who've got an income up $160,000 a year, which is a greater threshold than what the Tasmanian Government program offers. So this is a better program in that it is available to more people who will be able to access financial support from the Federal Government to buy their own home, and there's no sensible reason that the Tasmanian Government can possibly give why they're refusing to participate, given they said they would.

JOURNALIST: The eligibility for the Federal Government one is 160, what is MyHome, do you know?

WHITE: It's about 120,000 for a couple, or joint tenants.

JOURNALIST: Okay, and for single people?

WHITE: It's about the same.

JOURNALIST: Bec, just very quickly on health, just generally speaking, emergency medicine professionals are gathering in Launceston today for a conference to strengthen healthcare across rural and regional communities in this State. What's the Federal Government doing to support patients in these areas?

WHITE: So we've been doing quite a lot to support patients to access the healthcare that they need. We've strengthened Medicare. On the 1st November, we saw a tripling of the bulk billing incentive. Tasmania's seen the great uptake of bulk billing incentive for anywhere in the country, about a 400 per cent increase, and that means more Tasmanians can access a GP close to where they live, and do that for free, fully bulk billed. In addition to that, we've been rolling our Medicare Urgent Care Clinics. The five Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in Tasmania see more patients every day than the Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency Department. We are taking pressure off our hospitals by making sure that people who need urgent healthcare treatment can get that treatment, and we're expanding that by building three more, adding to that network, three more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, in Tasmania. We know that we need to do more to support people to access their primary healthcare they need through a GP. That's where the Federal Government's responsibility is. It is up to the State Government to manage their hospitals, because they are responsible for tertiary healthcare.

JOURNALIST: Only a quarter of Australia's Emergency Departments are staffed by specialist medicine consultants. Why is that figure so low?

WHITE: Hospitals are run by the State Governments, and it's up to them to explain how they're staffing them. The Federal Government's responsibility is for primary healthcare, and we've been strengthening Medicare so more people can see a GP for free and also expanding our Medicare Urgent Care network. We're also in negotiations with States for the National Health Reform Agreement. There's $20 billion on the table for them to come to an agreement with us so that we can support the delivery of healthcare through our hospital systems. Of course, there's still negotiations underway there, but ultimately it's up to the State Governments and each Territory and State to work out how they deliver those services and how they staff their Emergency Departments.

JOURNALIST: I just have one back   I just remembered my question from before. You said that the scheme becomes live on December 5. Is it possible that the Tasmanian Government can change its mind and sign up? Like, is there a flexibility there?

WHITE: So the way the scheme operates is that we require States and Territories to pass enabling legislation. Under the Constitution, States are responsible for the delivery of housing services. If the State Governments want to   if the Tasmanian State Government wants to enact this by 5 December, they better get their skates on, because they'd need to pass legislation in the Tasmanian Parliament, they'd need to have that approved, and they'd need to then make sure that it's able to roll out. I think the clock's ticking here. What we need from them, though, is a commitment that they're going to deliver what they promised they would when they signed up to this at the National Cabinet agreement.

JOURNALIST: And just lastly on health, Bec, is there a case to be made given that there are pressures in our health system for Tasmania for the Federal Government to be chipping in more when it comes to funding our health system, particularly in rural and regional areas of the State?

WHITE: So we've already increased our contribution to the State Government this financial year, about 14 per cent. So we fund, across the Tasmanian budget, about 70 per cent of how the State Government delivers services, whether that's in education or health or a range of other areas. But we are doing everything we can to support people here in Tasmania to access the healthcare that they need by expanding access to Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, by tripling the incentive for the bulk billing rate for GPs right across the State, not just in cities but in rural and regional areas too. That's where our responsibility lies. It is up to the State Government to work with its hospital network to deliver the staff and support for our hospital systems so that patients needing urgent and emergency treatment, as well as other surgeries, can access that.

JOURNALIST: Perhaps just on the EPBC Act, we've heard from the Tasmanian State Government, and even some that work in the native forest logging or the forestry industry, about concerns of the EPBC reforms will have, will this in any way add to red tape for some businesses to operate in, in this space?

COLLINS: The way that it will work is that the Tasmanian State Government will need to accredit its forest practices under the RFAs in line with the national environmental standards. When the new national environmental standards are in place early next year, what we will do is work with the Tasmanian State Government to accredit the Regional Forest Agreement in Tasmania to make sure that they meet the national environmental standards. That will not mean extra paperwork for industry. What it will mean is that the State Government and industry will need to make sure, and I'm sure they will, that our world's best forest practices meet the national environmental standards.

JOURNALIST: And the Prime Minister very recently called on the Upper House of Tasmania's State Parliament to vote through the Macquarie Point stadium. Is the stadium a good idea given its $1.13 billion price tag at the moment, and its budget position and the financial pressures that the Government's currently facing here?

COLLINS: Look, what we've been doing as a Federal Government, and as Rebecca has outlined, is we have been supporting Tasmanians right across the board. Whether that be investing more in health, investing more in education, investing more in infrastructure. We are investing billions of dollars each and every year into Tasmania as a Federal Government. We have said in relation to Macquarie Point, we have $240 million on the table. What we expect is the Tasmanian State Government to do what it said it was going to do and to develop that precinct.