Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Treasurer

Friday 18th December 2009

Where’s Aird?

The Government is ramping up its election campaigning, launching a staggering string of back flips. But Michael Aird as joint-architect, along with the Premier, of many of the Government’s problems has gone missing.

Where has Mr Aird gone? Has he taken an early Christmas holiday? Or have the Premier’s minders shut him out to limit the damage he is doing to the Labor Party?

Given that the two biggest back flips to date have been within the Treasurer’s own portfolio, he would be one of the key people to explain to Tasmanians exactly what the back flips mean and exactly why the Government has completely changed its mind on just about everything.

Perhaps the Labor Party has finally lost faith in the Treasurer. Michael Aird started his career as Treasurer by trying to tax people for using an ambulance.

Then he decided to hit Tasmanian households with unfair water and sewerage charges.

Then he decided to sell TOTE in the middle of the biggest global financial crisis in living memory.

Then, after years of arguing the opposite, he agreed that his Land Tax system was unfair and needed to be changed.

No wonder the Government doesn’t want to let him out - every time they do it costs taxpayers millions of dollars.

However, given he hasn’t shown his face for quite a while now, perhaps the Treasurer could at least let us know if he’s OK?