Help Tassie return to normal

As Tasmania’s largest member organisation, as well as a significant employer in the state, we have an important role to play to help the community to get back on its feet.

The State Government has done, and continues to do, an excellent job in keeping as many Tasmanians safe as possible. It is now up to us to stand beside them as the state rebuilds and help in its recovery as much as we can.

We will do this in a number of ways:

Keeping people safe

We want to see Tasmanians resume their normal way of life as soon as possible. We support the Federal Government’s COVIDSafe app and recommend it be downloaded to help trace contact with known cases and slow the spread of the virus.

We also want to remind drivers to be vigilant as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, after a horror start to the year, with 17 deaths on our roads so far in 2020.

We know that with more people out and about, the risk increases.

This is also exacerbated by Tasmania’s wintry conditions kicking in, with frost, ice, snow, heavy rain and wind all adding to the risk. And we are seeing more wildlife closer to our roadways, as they have become accustomed to less traffic.

We’re asking motorists to please drive to the conditions, obey all signage, never drive through flood waters, and avoid the Fatal Five – speed, not wearing seatbelts, fatigue, distraction and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Invest now for economic recovery

We have put forward a proposal to the State Government to fast-track certain infrastructure projects while traffic volumes are lower, as part of a plan to help Tasmania’s economic recovery.

While certain restrictions are being lifted in the next few weeks, the impacts of social distancing and other measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are with us for some time yet. This will mean the lower volumes of traffic on our roads – particularly at peak times – will continue.

While there are fewer cars on the road, we believe this is the perfect time to fast-track some projects that are already planned for around the state.

This will improve our roads, increase safety and ease the burden of congestion once our lives return to normal.

We have written to the State Government asking for the following project timelines to be brought forward:

South
- Hobart Airport Interchange.
- A Park and Ride at Huntingfield linking Kingston and the city.
- A ferry service on the River Derwent.

North
- West Tamar Highway – safety improvements north of Legana.

North-West
- Bass Highway – safety improvements at Boat Harbour as part of the Wynyard-Marrawah upgrade.

Supporting Tasmanians and Tasmanian businesses

It’s great to see a number of initiatives in place to help support businesses as they get back on their feet, including the State Government’s Buy Something Tasmanian website. We’re also opening up our current member rewards program to all Tasmanians and Tasmanian businesses to help connect the community with local businesses in a way that benefits everyone.

And we are working to support the state’s tourism industry towards its economic recovery, including promotion of holiday at home opportunities through our wide-reaching communication channels.

Together we can all make a difference and return to our unique Tassie lifestyle that we all enjoy.