We caught up with Dr Darren Briggs who discussed why Greens' policies may be misunderstood by voters across Braddon.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Why aren't you doing better in Braddon?
00:02 Good question. It's been a while since we've won seats in Braddon.
00:07 And I guess what, you know, like out on the doors, chatting to people, talking to people,
00:13 what we find is there's real misconceptions of what the Greens mean and what they stand for.
00:19 And it takes that time to have those one-on-one conversations, to connect with people and explain to them what we're about.
00:29 There's long-held misunderstandings in the region. That's how I feel, to tell you the truth.
00:36 Are there any Green policies that you think are turning off voters in Braddon?
00:42 There's plenty that I think turn voters on in Braddon.
00:46 You know, like the biggest things we were talking about with people was around health care.
00:54 And people get our policies, like the removing junk food from the major supermarket checkout aisles.
01:02 They get that. They get that we should be banning junk food during kids' viewing hours.
01:09 So they absolutely get those.
01:11 Also with our housing, our different policies, not just about building extra houses,
01:17 but, you know, rental, making them more secure, removing the no-cause evictions,
01:25 making sure that rentals don't increase in price unacceptably.
01:30 And our policy around exploring other options of housing for the people that are currently homeless or couchsurfing
01:39 in regards to tiny homes goes down really well.
01:43 Policies that traditionally don't go well down here are because they're misunderstood.
01:49 So, classically, forestry, they think a lot of people have the misconception that we want all logging to stop.
01:59 And when we get to speak to people, we're able to say, "Hey, we're talking about stopping logging in native forests."
02:08 Forestry workers that are working in native forests are actually part of the response
02:13 and our approach to climate change and our loss of biodiversity.
02:16 We want those workers working in plantations.
02:19 We want those workers in rewilding and revegetating lands, the degraded lands.
02:25 We want them in fire prevention and management.
02:27 We want them in pest and weed control and research and development.
02:29 So forestry workers are actually part of our solution and response to climate change and biodiversity loss.
02:34 So it's a matter of that may not go down well, but it's because there's misunderstanding, misconceptions as to what the policy is.
02:42 Do you think that maybe the party is being perceived as being too Hobart-centric or South-centric?
02:49 Hey, we're out here, and I've been doing this since 2021, fighting for regional Tasmania.
02:56 Because I've worked quite a lot in it, not just, like I currently work in Alveston as a GP.
03:02 For the last couple of years I've worked in Mersey Emergency Department, mainly, for 13 years prior to that.
03:09 But during that time I also worked quite a lot in the smaller country towns, Smithden, Queenstown, Rosebury, and also in the North East I did some as well.
03:24 And look, I guess I'd say about being too Hobart-centric, you know, sadly, because of all of these misconceptions,
03:30 we haven't, the vote has dropped off. As a result, we haven't had the voice for this region.
03:36 But, you know, talking on the doors to people, people like our policies, they get that we're talking and addressing the root causes,
03:46 be it, you know, with healthcare, we're talking not just about increasing nursing numbers and paramedics,
03:52 but we're talking about the preventative health response to keep people from getting unwell and to reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
03:59 They get that, they see that that's important. Same with housing, you know, they get that we're wanting to build extra houses,
04:05 but at the same time we've got other options of what to do for our housing, like reforming the tiny home laws to make more accessible, cheap, affordable housing more available.
04:16 We're improving rental conditions. So they get that they are good, we just haven't had that representation,
04:24 which we are working incredibly hard to break down those barriers.
04:29 Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
04:32 I want the preventative health stuff to come up, because like, you know, honestly, prevention, OK, so, you know, I've worked in here,
04:40 I've worked in the region since 2011. The health system sadly has deteriorated in that time, as in waiting times for GPs,
04:49 waiting times for emergency ramping, bed block, and the health of our region is sadly deteriorating as well.
04:58 We've got the, you know, some of the biggest percentages of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes and chronic disease in the country, some of the biggest.
05:08 We need to hit preventative health incredibly hard. Our policies address that.
05:14 Prevention, preventative health is cheap, it's been under-invested in, and it's part of the solution to reduce the burden on our health care system.
05:27 That can turn around our health care budget, and it can turn around people's waiting times.
05:33 Thank you so much for talking with us.
05:35 Thank you.
05:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]