Walking and preventive health
[12.40 a.m.]
Ms BURNET (Clark) - Deputy Speaker, I welcome this topic for the MPI from Professor Razay, and I know it's really close to his heart. Who doesn't feel better, as the Health minister said, after going for a walk? Exercise is so important for all of us. Why is it that the simplest of solutions are often the solutions that have less money spent on them? We know that if you spend - so the international best practice when looking to achieve a significant modal shift to active transport, is to spend 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the road budget and dedicate that to active transport infrastructure. Frustratingly, the funding situation over the coming three state budgets is worse than it has been previously, with $1.22 billion allocated to road and bridge projects and zero dollars to active transport out of that budget.
Analysis of the past decade's state budgets from 2016-17 to 2025-26 shows that the combined state allocation to roads and bridges was $2.2 billion and over a similar period, albeit slightly longer, there was only $17.5 million allocated by the state government for active transport infrastructure, which roughly equates to 0.8 per cent of the state's road budget allocation. We're really floundering as far as spending and making that commitment ‑ that active commitment to activating Tasmanians.
The preventive health strategy, as the minister alluded to, must be delivered. It's very important that that's delivered. I think everybody in this House has a responsibility to make sure when the budget lands that there is a preventive health strategy embedded and properly funded so that we can get good outcomes to reduce obesity, to reduce dementia rates and diabetes rates as well.
I will finish by reflecting on the new choice of Governor, and I congratulate Ms Caroline Wells. Both I and the Deputy Premier, but also others around the Chamber, have been on Diabetes Tasmania rides ‑ the Pollie Pedals ‑ with Caroline; that's her background. The [inaudible] really needs to work with state government, local government, as Ms Dow has said, but also with the not for profits and organisations whose everyday job is to deliver for Tasmanians and for a healthy and active lifestyle.