Electorate Updates

Published: 17 July 2018

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I will speak on a matter that relates to what we have just spoken about.

I have often stood in this place and raised concerns about taking bills under suspension. I raise my concerns regarding the taxation bill we dealt with recently. I made the point at the time that while I appreciated the individual briefing I was provided the day of the Budget, an hour before the Budget was delivered, I was not able to access a copy of the bill before that time and neither was anybody else. I said during the briefing that other members might comment on that during the debate. The section relating to the foreign investor duty surcharge was a very complex section of the bill - 40 pages long - and I said to them at the time, 'I guess we have to take you on trust this is going to work.' Subsequently, I had some communication from the Law Society. I asked during budget Estimates who was consulted during the process of the development of that bill - no-one was consulted, it was all done in-house.

Published: 17 July 2018

ADJOURNMENT - Wednesday 11 July 2018

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I will make a brief contribution and suggest members might like to listen to it.

It has been a frustrating period in many respects, the last few weeks, in terms of receiving answers to questions. The Leader committed to providing the table related to workplace injuries and has not done so. I assume we will receive it at a later time. The request was for workplace injuries based on the industry sector and not public or private sector, which was never mentioned during the debate. The reason this became a problem was because we received a distinct lack of answers from one minister. When written answers were received, they did not answer the questions asked. I hope we see a greater improvement in that.

Published: 03 June 2016

20 May, 2016: Letter to the Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Minister Jeremy Rockliff MP

Dear Minister, I know that you are well aware of the challenges that dairy farmers are currently facing. I also appreciate your recent comments regarding the dairy industry and applaud the coordinated response from industry and government in understanding the implications to respond immediately to ensure that the dairy farmers, their workers and their families have a secure future.

Published: 24 March 2017

Murchison MLC Ruth Forrest has repeated recent calls she made in Parliament for the Government to take a long term view to find a workable solution for King Island shipping services in light of more evidence interim solution is inadequate.

“A reliable shipping service is essential for King Island and the Government have failed to take timely action and provide a solution to shipping services on King Island” Ms Forrest said.

Last week Ms Forrest called on the State Government to work with the Federal Government to find a long-term solution to provide a reliable shipping service for King Island.

“It is clear that the current ‘interim solution’ proposed by the Government will not meet the needs of King Island” Ms Forrest said.

This lack of suitability of the interim replacement vessel has already been demonstrated before the vessel has even arrived in King Island.