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Published: 12 April 2016

March 19, 2016 12:00am - The Hobart Mercury -  Opinion

I used to work in the Safe Schools program that faces the axe. It was not called that then. It was Family Life Education. I was employed by the Catholic welfare organisation Centacare, to deliver a program to school students from Kinder to Years 11 and 12 across the North-West Coast.

Published: 31 March 2016

THE regrettable trend in modern politics, whereby winning elections is far more important than governing, is evident wherever parliamentary government is practised.

Published: 16 March 2016

A  PARLIAMENTARY inq­uiry has recommended an overhaul of Tasmania’s preventative healthcare systems with the state lagging far ­behind the national average in several areas.

Published: 18 November 2015

Wednesday 11 November 2015. 4.39 p.m.
(No. 46) Second Reading

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, the purpose of this bill is obvious from the opening line of the speech.  The bill is to recover some of the general costs of law enforcement and administration if a person is sentenced for offences in Tasmania.

Published: 18 November 2015

November 15, 2015. 2.44 p.m.
Ms FORREST question to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Dr GOODWIN

Mr President, this is the supplementary question to the question I asked yesterday which was not fully answered by the Leader. 

Published: 18 November 2015

November 15, 2015. 4.00 p.m.

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, each year the section 19 report gets a little better.  I am not referring to the amounts in the report, more the accompanying explanations.  When it comes to the impact on the budget, we do not get the full story.

Published: 18 November 2015

Tuesday 10 November 2015. 11.54 a.m.

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, if there was ever an issue that we should be able to discuss in a true nonpartisan way, then free trade should be it.

Published: 18 November 2015

Tuesday 10 November 2015. 11.16 a.m.
International White Cane Day

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I am very confident in suggesting that not one of us in this Chamber gave any real thought to whether the entry to Parliament House may have changed this morning as a result of the current works underway on the Parliament Square development, and whether we may need to avoid obstacles or take additional care to avoid running into something as we walked along.

Published: 18 November 2015

ALL the heavy lifting has been done, all major decisions made. The Tasmanian Government is back on track. This is what the media releases and headlines tell us. But is it really the case? The fact the general government sector, which covers all departments and agencies commonly referred to as “the government” forms only part of the overall state sector, is often overlooked.

Published: 17 September 2015

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I am sure all of us love to be entertained and we often travel long distances to attend quality productions that offer class acts in terms of great acting, music, comedy and all-round entertainment.

Published: 15 September 2015

Ms FORREST question to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Dr GOODWIN

With regard to the provision of rural school bus services, are all or any school bus routes or services currently under review or due to be reviewed?  If so, when will the review be completed?  Will the outcome of any review be publicly available?  With regards to each route and service, what criteria will be used to determine whether they are viable?

 

Published: 25 August 2015

All Governments do it. Cherry picking figures to suit their narrative.

The Treasurer released the Government’s Preliminary Outcomes Report for 2014/15 and proclaimed a much better result than the estimated outcome contained in the May Budget papers, which in turn was much better than the original budget handed down in August 2014.

Published: 30 June 2015

More than any other State, Tasmania doesn’t have much wriggle room when framing budgets.  The Treasurer’s recently released Revised Estimates Report for 2014-15 shows this year’s budget hasn’t strayed too far from what was expected. It would have been alarming if it had as only four months elapsed from budget day to the end of the first half year. 

Published: 02 June 2015

 2015 will no doubt bring challenges, surprises and the inevitable good with the bad. Tasmania’s future will continue to be uncertain until there is a shared understanding of the problems the State faces. It will be easier to solve problems together if we can develop such an understanding. 

Published: 26 May 2015

ONE would have expected dancing in the street – or at least an acknowledgment – after the news that Tasmania may have dodged a bullet. Hidden in the Federal Budget papers is Tasmania’s projected share of GST for the next three years at $500 million more than expected a year ago. The Hodgman Government’s response has been remarkably subdued.

Published: 26 May 2015

The meandering local government reform process is in urgent need of direction. There is a consensus that something needs to be done but what exactly are we trying to achieve? 

Published: 09 March 2015

The community are often the forgotten stakeholders in the debate around health service delivery. To achieve meaningful change the community across Tasmania needs to have a real understanding of why health service delivery has changed and why it is vital that it continues to change.