It doesn't matter if you're talking about the stadium, the Marinus Link or salmon farms, transparency is a big problem across the board. It's only with independents and micro parties (like the JLN) that we can force the major parties to be honest with the Tasmanian people. It is our taxpayer dollars that they are using, Tasmanians have right to know how those dollars are spent.

Everyone who is a part of the Jacqui Lambie Network commits to following our six core values.

Those values are:

1. Decision making should be guided by empathy and evidence.
2. Understand that everyone deserves a fighting chance, but not everyone gets it.
3. Strength comes from having conviction, being honest and listening to others.
4. Debate is important; it should always be respectful. Don’t be a numpty.
5. Own your mistakes, don’t hide them. Do learn from them.
6. Be pragmatic. If you can do something good, do it.

The JLN state candidates are being mentored by Jacqui. When it comes down to how they will vote (if they are lucky enough to be elected) it is to their communities and electorates that they will go for feedback. The Jacqui Lambie Network is powered by people – we don’t take big corporate or union donations – the only people that can tell the candidates how to vote are the people that voted for them.

The Liberal Government has been in power for ten years. They have had ample time to address systemic issues in Tasmania such as the crisis in our health system, our faltering education system, and a historic rise in housing insecurity.

The truth is that each of these issues has gotten worse while they’ve been in power, not better. Not only have we gone backwards in these areas, the state budget has also been laden with debt.

It’s not a surprise that the Liberal Government called this election before they had to deliver the next budget. Because either there are either going to be some steep cuts, or we’re headed for a historic deficit that our children will be paying off for years to come.

Name a more iconic duo than politicians who are up for re-election and poorly thought through spending promises. Both major parties have been rolling around the state declaring that they will pay for just about anything anyone asks for. There have been many worthy community groups, institutions, and public services, which have received funding commitments and that’s great.

But there have also been too many political quick fixes aimed at papering over the issues we’re facing just long enough to get through the election. Their ban on ramping is pure political theatre, it sounds good on the surface, but dig even slightly deeper and you’ll hear doctors united in saying it’s not feasible and will simply band-aid over the problem and move it into another part of the hospital.

The big question we should all be asking the major parties is how are they going to pay for everything they are promising? The sad answer is that they won’t. They know they just have to get re-elected and then they can go back to doing nothing to fix the state’s long term systemic issues.

A constant feature of this Government has been a lack of transparency. When they were re-elected last time out, they promised we would have political donation reform before the next election. Instead, last year both major parties walked away from reforms that would have finally thrown some light onto who is funding their election campaigns.

We wish we could say we were surprised, but we weren’t. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about political donation reform, the stadium, or Marinus Link, there has been so little transparency over the last few years from our government. That's wrong, our goal is to shine a light on the decision making that goes on and make sure that it's in the best interests of the Tasmanian people. It's that simple.

It's only with independents and micro parties (like the JLN) that we can force the major parties to be honest with the Tasmanian people. It is our taxpayer dollars that they are using, Tasmanians have right to know how it is spent.

We're being fair dinkum with the Tasmanian people. We're a minor party, it’s unrealistic to announce detailed policies, unlike the Government we don’t have access to the books! Our priorities are fixing the health system, getting relief for people struggling with the cost of living and making sure that every Tasmanian has a roof over their heads.

Labor and Liberal are the major parties in Tasmania and whoever gets to become the Government will be making policy.  If we get people elected in Parliament, it will their job to dissect that the legislation and offer up amendments to get better outcomes for Tasmania. The same job that Jacqui and Tammy have been doing so successfully in the Senate.

Remember when Jacqui wiped Tasmania’s public housing debt, securing more than $200 million in debt relief? That action alone nearly double how much money was available each year in the public housing budget. Have we seen a doubling in how much public housing is being built though? No, we haven’t. Electing the JLN into State Parliament will give us the ability to hold the Government to account when our Federal Senators deliver something for Tasmania.

We’re not running career politicians for State Parliament. We’re running normal people who have had successful careers in a wide range of industries. They care deeply about their communities and will fight tooth and nail to deliver better outcomes for their electorates and the whole state. They will bring common sense back into Parliament. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Health

Our health system is in crisis. Ambulance ramping is a near constant, good luck getting in to see a specialist, even GP visits are becoming unaffordable for people on lower incomes and often require hours of travel time for our remote communities. For many Tasmanians it’s simply too expensive, or too hard and they are having to forego basic health care. We must do better.

We have good people working in our health care system, but they have received little to support from our government. We urgently need system wide investment and support. Local doctors and nurses who study in Tasmania should receive subsidised education if they stay and work in Tasmania once they graduate. Our existing hospitals urgently need investment and modernisation. Clinics in rural communities should be supported so those communities don’t have to drive for hours to receive medical care. The list is huge, but the JLN will be laser focussed on advocating for long term fixes if elected.

Housing

Every Tasmanian deserves access to safe and affordable housing, but that housing needs to be built close to existing services. If it's Crown land- that's the people's land and there should always be some set aside for social and affordable housing. Tasmanians should always be at the front of the queue, not mainland and overseas investors who let houses sit empty or Airbnb them.

Cost of Living

We must find more ways to help Tasmanians struggling with the cost of living. Electricity prices must be controlled whether that's by capping them or beefing up the existing energy saver loan scheme. Public transport should be more affordable and widely available and school lunches should be free or subsidised so that all of our kids are eating well. We will be looking at every option available at a state level to make life easier for Tasmanian families.

Education

Our kids need more help. Help to finish school and help to find a career that works for them. Only 53% of young Tasmanians are leaving school with a Year 12 or equivalent qualification – that is compared to 76% nationally. What is even more shocking, is that we spend more on our kids that the any other state or territory except the NT. If the JLN candidates are elected, they will be looking very closely at that funding and talking to the experts about what needs to be changed.

Child Protection

Tasmania's child protection system is broken - vulnerable kids are being housed in hotels and caravans guarded by security guards because there is such a lack of Child Protection Officers. The Liberals have had ten years to protect our most vulnerable kids and they have failed! The Minister tried to bring in this 'teams' system - it hasn't worked and needs to be changed.

An Integrity Commission with teeth

There is only one way to keep politicians on their toes and that is when you have an integrity commission with real teeth! Tasmania’s Integrity Commission has never held a single public hearing or a prosecution. The JLN would like to see an Integrity Commission with real teeth and a turn around on Right to Information Requests no longer than three months.

Power/Renewables

Knocking $250 bucks off your power bill isn't enough. The Tasmanian people own Tas Hydro - it must work for them. We must be careful about where we put renewable developments. The community that surrounds Robbins Island has been very clear that they don’t want a wind farm there but there is a great project on the West Coast that has full community support. The only thing holding up this wind development is the Tasmanian Liberal Party, they need to sign off the lease of the crown land so they can get on with it!

Bring transparency to big infrastructure

Who knows what is happening with Marinus, it’s yet another casualty of this Government’s chronic lack of transparency. Renewable energy is important, but it must benefit Tasmanians and not just be about generating cheaper power for the mainland. If elected, we will get to the bottom of what’s going on with the project.

The announcement of the AFL stadium at Macquarie Point was shrouded in secrecy. It didn’t even go through cabinet first! The recent polling is clear, Tasmanians are worried about the massive lack of transparency around the deal. Jacqui has from the outset said she was concerned about the deal and the impact on the Cenotaph by the new AFL stadium. The RSL wasn’t consulted, they don’t support it and it will overshadow the Cenotaph.

The JLN is totally behind Tassie's AFL team, but we also have to make sure that a new stadium won’t have a funding impact on health, education and housing.

Forestry

JLN candidates don’t support an expansion of native forest logging. 

We need more support for plantation timber - it's a critical employer and the timber and fibre produced is essential for our sovereign capability.

Salmon Farming

Jacqui has been a supporter of the salmon industry in the past, but she has been worried about the impact of Tasmania’s salmon on our global food brand.

The tonnage of salmon in Macquarie harbour has increased 20-fold since it was first set up in the late 1980’s. Tasmanians were first alerted to the issue in Macquarie Harbour in 2016 when the former owner of Huon Aquaculture Frances Bender blew the whistle on the dead zones in the harbour.

Doesn't matter if you are talking about the Stadium or Salmon - they have all the same transparency problems. If there is a big fish kill Tasmanians don't find out for weeks.

We know there is a lot of concern from fishermen, abalone farmers and cray fishers about the impact from large salmon pens on their local waterways. We also understand that for salmon workers in places like Margate, Strahan, and Huonville - every job is important, if there are changes in the industry those workers must be looked after.

Youth crime/Youth justice

Tasmanians have the right to feel safe in their homes and streets. But locking kids up just turns them into bigger criminals. We used to have a great program called U-Turn that would work with kids and families to get back them back on the right track. On the mainland there are bootcamps for kids that have a proven track record. We should be running those programs here so our at-risk kids can receive the support they need to turn things around.

Properly funding rural law enforcement

Does a local police station make a community feel safer if there are no police stationed there? We’d say no, it doesn’t. But that’s what rural communities are increasingly facing. We need to properly fund our emergency services, so they have boots on the ground, even in rural areas.