Question on Notice – Future of Local Government Review

Legislative Council, Wednesday 12 August 2026 Ms FORREST question to the The Hon Kerry Vincent MLC, Minister for Local Government The Future of Local Government Review’s Final Report (October 2023) recommended the Government examine alternative revenue from major commercial operations (Recommendation 17) and undertake a Review of Rating (Recommendation 23), partly in response to council […]

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Question on Notice – King Island Racing

Legislative Council, Tuesday 11 August 2026 ASKED BY: The Hon. Bec Thomas MLC, Member for Elwick, on behalf of the Hon. Ruth Forrest MLC, Member for Murchison ANSWERED BY: Leader for the Government in the Legislative Council, the Honourable Tania Rattray MLC No. Tasracing has provided clarity to the King Island Racing Club (KIRC) in […]

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Question on Notice – Funding for Creative Industries

Legislative Council, Tuesday 11 August 2026 ASKED BY: The Hon. Bec Thomas MLC, Member for Elwick, on behalf of the Hon. Ruth Forrest MLC, Member for Murchison ANSWERED BY: Leader for the Government in the Legislative Council, the Honourable Tania Rattray MLC That the extra $10m for creative industries announced in the State Growth budget […]

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Question on Notice – Payment in Lieu of Rates (PiLoR) scheme

Legislative Council, Tuesday 11 August 2026 Ms FORREST question to the LEADER for the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Ms RATTRAY Answers: The current methodology is not a bespoke valuation of Hydro Tasmania’s assets each year. It is an indexed, formula-based approach, reflecting the average increase in relevant council rates revenue.The broader methodology was last […]

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We’ve built our identity as a powerhouse of renewable energy, but we can’t see the same resource twice

For a small state, Tasmania spends a remarkable amount of energy telling itself what it is about to become: a renewable energy superpower and battery of the nation, a premium food and wine destination, a booming visitor economy, and now, increasingly, a natural home for data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Every one of these […]

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Interview – The Country Telegraph 

I recently had the opportunity to appear on The Country Telegraph, an Australian digital media and news platform dedicated to rural communities, agribusiness, and regional issues. I spoke about Marinus Link and data centres and their impacts on Tasmania. You can view my interview via the facebook link here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1035394352292303 […]

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1 July 2026: Basslink Regulation Day – and What It Really Means

Today marks an historic threshold in Tasmania’s energy story. From 1 July 2026, Basslink – for two decades an unregulated private interconnector – becomes a fully regulated transmission asset controlled by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). This is a significant changes and it changes everything about how electricity flows between Tasmania and Victoria. And […]

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Transparency key to uncovering where the real pressures on the state’s hospital expenditure are

Tasmania’s hospital costs are rising faster than the nation’s and we need to know why. Every state budget forces us to confront familiar questions about our health system what it costs, whether we are putting in enough to meet demand, whether we can sustain the system we have, and whether it delivers the outcomes Tasmanians […]

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Marinus: From Export Dream to Import Reality

The Minister’s recent Talking Point (The Mercury 29th June) and attached as a screen shot below, attempts to recast Project Marinus as a source of “flexibility”, “resilience” and “capability”. These are worthy aspirations, but they bear little resemblance to the rationale on which Marinus was originally justified. For years, the Government promoted Marinus as an […]

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