Updated: 19/3/24
PHAA TAS is part of the national Public Health Association of Australia, a non-partisan, non-governmental organisation. This scorecard reports on the alignment of each major party’s policies with the Vote For Public Health TAS State Election Campaign’s five priorities. We explain the parties’ stances below the scorecard.
We emailed the three major parties (ALP, Liberal-National Coalition, and Greens) to ask how their policies aligned with our priorities. As we didn’t receive any responses, we’ve based our scoring on our review of the parties’ election platforms, and their campaign announcements.
If any party or reader believes that we’ve misrepresented a party’s position, please contact policy@phaa.net.au
| Election priority | Liberals | Labor | Greens |
 Prevention investment |  |  |  |
 Food affordability |  | | |
 Nicotine control | | | |
 Improve housing | | | |
 Political influence | | |  |
Vector icons by various authors via Flaticon
Party policies align with PHAA election priority.
Party policies partially align with PHAA election priority.
Party either has policies that conflict with the PHAA election priority, or, to our knowledge, has no policy position on the election priority.
Prevention investment
No clear commitments made
Labor has committed to increasing clinical preventative services including: Ruling out a GP payroll tax is intended to address cost of living and increase access to primary care, to reduce strain on the hospital system.
Provision of free health checks for adults, teens and kids would assist by preventing or detecting conditions that “can be caught early and treated quickly.”
One of the Greens’ three priorities for health is to “invest in preventative health to ensure long-term improvements in community wellbeing” which includes:
• Preventative Health Grants – extend the ‘Healthy Tasmania’ grants program for community-based preventative health initiatives to $5 million per year, and fund it beyond 2026
• Health in Schools – extend the SmartFood and Move Well Eat Well programs to all public schools
• Smoking Cessation – establish a program for free, government-funded, smoking cessation product handouts in GP clinics
• Health and Wellness Apps Fund – empower people to meet their own health goals
• Healthy Eating Advisory Service – assist organisations and businesses promote healthier foods and drinks
Another policy initiative is the “Tackling Junk Food Promotion to Children” which includes fighting to:
• ban the placement of unhealthy food and drinks near checkouts in large retailers (big supermarkets and pharmacies)
• ban television ads for unhealthy food and drinks during standard viewing hours for children
Sources:
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/stopping-the-gp-tax
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/free-health-checks/
https://tasgreensmps.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Investing-in-Preventative-Health-PI.pdf
Food affordability
Liberals:
Liberals will continue emergency food relief funding and associated capital upgrades for a further year while a whole-of-government Strategy is developed, and will provide support to Eat Well Tasmania and Food Vans to continue to deliver nutritious food programs to those in need.
Liberals have committed to double the Healthy School Lunches program to 60 schools over the next two years, with up to 75 per cent of the fresh produce sourced from local farmers. Notably there is a commitment of $20,000 for a Food Aid Program for Families in Need and the Homeless but it is only for the Kingborough community.
Labor:
“Labor will provide free school lunches at every Tasmanian government school to help kids and family budgets… by 2030”.
“Facilitate Tasmanian produce being prioritised in Tasmanian institutions, including hospitals, prisons and our school lunch program, by funding the Sustainable Institutional Food Procurement Tasmania project with $381,719 per year for three years to actively work with and connect farmers to facilities, to encourage greater use of healthy Tasmanian produce. And support Eat Well Tasmania to achieve their vision of a healthy Tasmania focussing on our wonderful local produce.”
Greens:
Under their cost-of-living policies, the Greens plan to:
• Provide funding to assist every public school to deliver breakfast programs
• Deliver more support for emergency food relief for struggling Tasmanians
Sources:
https://tas.liberal.org.au/supporting-stronger-communities
https://tas.liberal.org.au/doubling-our-healthy-school-lunches-program
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/providing-free-school-lunches/
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/putting-farmers-first/
Nicotine control
Liberals:
No clear commitments made
Labor:
No clear commitments made
Greens:
As outlined above, one of the preventive health policies includes a program for free, government-funded, smoking cessation products handouts in GP clinics.
Note that PHAA has verbally confirmed with the Greens’ campaign advisor that such products do not include vaping products
Improve housing
Liberals:
Liberals plan to:
• abolish stamp duty for first-home buyers of properties up to $750,000
• introduce “a 5 % levy on short stay accommodation (which will be used to support the first-home buyers’ program) ,
Regarding supply, Liberals plan to:
• increase rental housing through a Private Rental Incentive Scheme and land tax incentives
• “deliver 10,000 new social and affordable homes by 2032”
• “create a partnership incentive fund to stimulate supply”
• expand the MyHome shared equity scheme
• support medium density housing projects ,
For quality, Liberals plan to “deliver energy efficiency in social housing, [and] more funding for social housing maintenance and upgrades”.
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- Notably, Liberals include a commitment to increase support for women and children escaping family violence or at risk of /experiencing homelessness.
Labor:
On affordability, Labor’s “GameChanger” program for home buyers is designed to enable first home buyers and renters “to purchase a house with zero deposit”.
For supply, Labor plans to:
• build dedicated rental properties
• repair existing and purchase additional social housing
• remove red tape for new housing
• pause new short-stay permit applications ,
• build 21 houses with wrap around services to support veterans and their families
For quality, Labor plans to invest in providing upgrades to make rental and public housing more energy efficient.
Greens:
The Greens plan to make housing affordable by putting a stop to unreasonable rent increases and building more homes by supporting:
• minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties
• grants program for energy efficiency upgrades of up to $2,000 for 2,500 low-income household each year
• stamp duty exemptions for first home buyers
• reform regulations to support innovative housing options like tiny homes
For supply, the Greens plan to:
• build over 1,000 quality public homes each year by quadrupling annual funding
• stop new whole-home short stay rentals, and phase out existing listings in residential areas
• provide homeless Tasmanians with secure tenancy and wrap-around supports
• establish a Department of Public Works to deliver well-planned public housing
• introduce a 1% vacant property levy
• establish land tax exemptions for people who rent out spare rooms at below market rates
• fight for a Child and Youth Housing and Homelessness Plan and for government investment into supported accommodation, crisis accommodation and transitional accommodation services
Regarding quality, the Greens plan to:
• introduce minimum standards for appliances
• establish a Department of Public Works to deliver well-planned public housing
Sources:
Liberals https://tas.liberal.org.au/making-it-easier-tasmanians-own-their-own-home-5-short-stay-levy
https://tas.liberal.org.au/10000-social-and-affordable-homes-tasmanians
Labor:
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/a-gamechanger-for-home-buyers
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/making-housing-more-affordable/
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/2000-new-apartments/
https://taslabor.org.au/news/media-releases/tasmanian-veterans-get-housing-boost-with-labor/
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/energy-efficient-rental-homes/
Greens:
https://tasgreensmps.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Building-Homes-PI.pdf
https://tasgreensmps.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Reining-in-Short-Stay-PI.pdf
https://tasgreensmps.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Youth-Housing-and-Homelessness.pdf
Political influence
Liberals:
No clear commitments made
Labor:
Labor is making a commitment to reform political donation laws, implement recommendations for strengthening Tasmania’s Integrity Commission, review the Right to Information process, limit power of lobbyists, and protect whistleblowers.
Greens:
The Greens have disclosed all donations of over $1,500 on the Party website.
The greens have also committed to clean up politics and make politicians accountable to voters – not wealthy donors, including:
• Get the dirty money out of politics by banning corporations from donating to political parties and candidates
• Stop the dishonest and deliberate use of misinformation by implementing ‘truth in political advertising’ laws
• Require disclosure of political donations to be done in real time
• Reform and strengthen Tasmania’s information and transparency framework, including the Right to Information Act 2009
Sources:
https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/restoring-trust-in-politics/
Vote for Public Health, Tasmania 