Media

Media appearances and press coverage featuring Ruth Forrest.

Treasurer insists Tasmania is repairing its finances – but the Budget documents clearly tell another story
Treasurer insists Tasmania is repairing its finances – but the Budget documents clearly tell another story

Hope is not a fiscal strategy for our States’ Long-term future Every budget tells two stories. There is the story the Treasurer reads aloud in Parliament – polished, confident, reassuring.…

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ABC Breakfast with Ryk Goddard
ABC Breakfast with Ryk Goddard

You can listen to my interview with Ryk Goddard on Hobart Breakfast here: [...]Read More... from ABC Breakfast with Ryk Goddard

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Special Interest Matters – Creative Paper Tasmania
Special Interest Matters – Creative Paper Tasmania

Legislative Council, Tuesday 14 April 2026 Today during Special Interest Matters I spoke about Creative Paper Tasmania, a thriving tourism experience based in Wynyard. You can view my speech here:…

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ABC Mornings – Public Accounts Committee
ABC Mornings – Public Accounts Committee

You can listen to my interview with Leon Compton about this week’s PAC hearings here: [...]Read More... from ABC Mornings – Public Accounts Committee

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SPECIAL INTEREST MATTERS – Filmmaker Kirsten Slemint
SPECIAL INTEREST MATTERS – Filmmaker Kirsten Slemint

Today I spoke in Parliament about Tasmanian science and natural history filmmaker, Kirsten Slemint. You can watch my speech here: [...]Read More... from SPECIAL INTEREST MATTERS – Filmmaker Kirsten Slemint

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House rules, and how game is rigged
House rules, and how game is rigged

Intergenerational Inequity Isn’t a Mystery – It’s a Design Feature Every few months, another report laments the widening gulf between young and old. Commentators wring their hands about falling home…

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Mental health in political life vital to democracy
Mental health in political life vital to democracy

The wellbeing of our elected representatives should not be hidden, if they are struggling then decision-making suffers. Politics is demanding work. Not just intellectually, but emotionally, psychologically, and personally. The…

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Why our Budget needs to confront reality, not continue to pretend we’re living in fantasy land
Why our Budget needs to confront reality, not continue to pretend we’re living in fantasy land

Fiscal Fiction and Waiting for a Miracle For years Tasmania has been governed by a budget process that seems designed not to confront reality but to defer it. The latest…

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Six Months In, Hydro’s “Subdued Year” Looks More Like a Storm Warning
Six Months In, Hydro’s “Subdued Year” Looks More Like a Storm Warning

When Hydro Tasmania’s Chair quietly warned of a “subdued year ahead” at last year’s GBE scrutiny hearings, most people probably heard it as corporate modesty – the kind of cautious…

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ABC Drive – 10 February 2026
ABC Drive – 10 February 2026

You can listen to my latest interview on ABC Drive here: [...]Read More... from ABC Drive – 10 February 2026

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Productivity – what are we actually measuring?
Productivity – what are we actually measuring?

Every few months, Tasmanian workers are treated to a familiar sermon. It usually comes from a business lobby, an employer group, or a CEO who has never staffed a ward,…

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Hydro Tasmania: What the Numbers Show – A multi-chapter analysis of operating performance, liquidity, structural risks, and public myths.
Hydro Tasmania: What the Numbers Show – A multi-chapter analysis of operating performance, liquidity, structural risks, and public myths.

Now that Chapter 18 has been posted, the Hydro Explainer series has reached the end of its journey – at least for now. My thanks to everyone who has stayed…

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