Minister Jane Howlett's incompetence was on full show in Parliament today.
Shadow Minister for Small Business Janie Finlay said not only did Ms Howlett fail to adequately explain whether JobKeeper wages were exempt from payroll tax or not, but she failed to tell Tasmanians what is going on in the Office of Racing Integrity.
"Minister Howlett is facing multiple, serious issues across the portfolio areas she is responsible for and it is now abundantly clear she is horrifically out of her depth," Ms Finlay said.
"Now is the time when Ms Howlett needs to be answering questions, not doing everything in her power to deflect and deliberately walk away from giving comprehensive, honest answers.
"The only conclusion Tasmanians can reach after her pitiful performance across the last three sitting days of the Parliament is that Ms Howlett simply does not understand her responsibilities and she simply has not taken the time or made the effort to get across the important areas she is supposed to be in charge of.
"Just yesterday Ms Howlett caused confusion for Tasmanian businesses about whether JobKeeper wages were exempt from payroll tax or not and when asked again today she once again failed to adequately answer.
"Minister Howlett needs to pull her socks up and stop the spin."
Shadow Minister for Racing Dean Winter said the under siege Ms Howlett was simply dodging questions when she was fully aware of serious allegations within the Office of Racing Integrity (ORI).
"Ms Howlett has announced a review of the Act but she also needs to focus on a full review of TasRacing and ORI because there is no other option but a thorough investigation into the matters raised by industry whistle blowers," Mr Winter said.
"We have seen a series of issues with racing integrity in the state across greyhounds, harness and thoroughbreds over the past 18 months.
"Why were people under investigation for issues associated with their integrity appointed to the body overseeing racing integrity?
"Why is Ms Howlett ignoring Industry participants who are losing confidence in the ORI? Without confidence in the integrity of the industry, we have no industry.
"Labor passionately and wholeheartedly supports the racing industry. We fully support the 5,500 jobs that rely on it and had already committed to a full review in our 2021 policy.
"Does Ms Howlett also support the industry or is she willing to bury her head in the sand?"
Janie Finlay MP
Shadow Minister for Small Business
Dean Winter MP
Shadow Minister for Racing
