Being in government is about fighting for every single Tasmanian to have the best life opportunity we can give them.
It was never my birthright to lead our State. My birth Mum was only a teenager when she brought me into the world as a girl from South Launceston still coming to grips with the demands of life herself. I often think about the challenges she faced and the incredibly hard choices she has had to make on the journey of her life.
What she bred into me was reinforced every day through the love and support of the family that adopted me. Those are values that my wife, Larissa, and I are now trying to pass onto our own two children. I believe in those values with everything I have. They are why i got into politics.
As Premier, it has driven me to run fast every day to build Tasmania into everything it can be.
We have created 40,000 new jobs in Tasmania and we have come through the Global Financial Crisis in very strong shape.
But there are still jobs to be created and families to be supported. Every unemployed Tasmanian is a person who deserves and needs an opportunity.
I know that for too many Tasmanians, every day is still a financial struggle. I know that students and families have been hit by the high rents that accompany higher house prices. I know that pensioners are having to do more with less in their retirement. I know that workers, especially on our North-West Coast, are struggling to hold things together for their families as mills and factories have shut down. I know that young couples are having to save longer and harder to try and buy their first home and create a life together.
And I know there are people, like my birth mum - who works in a school cafeteria – who have to watch every dollar.
What I say to all those Tasmanians is this: We have heard your voices and we stand with you. We are listening.
And we will not let you down.
David Bartlett MP
Premier
