- 7/10/2025
Independent Braddon MHA Craig Garland sits down in a one on one interview with The Advocate's Sean Ford ahead of the July 19 state election.
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00:00Hello, I'm Sean Ford and I'm here with Craig Garland, an independent MHA for Braddon,
00:05who's getting ready for another run at the July 19 election.
00:10So, welcome, Craig.
00:12Thanks, Sean.
00:12Only last year you were elected for the first time after being, what I think it would be fair to say, a serial candidate.
00:18Did you come close to giving up at any stage?
00:21No, I wasn't so focused on getting elected.
00:24Sure, that's what the whole process is about.
00:27But during the election cycle, I found over the six elections I've done that your viewers get aired.
00:34You get a bit of airtime, you get a bit of coverage.
00:37So, to me, it was more important that I take advantage of that election cycle to get out the views and the information that's come to me on certain matters.
00:46So, that was probably the biggest thing for me was that.
00:50So, you found value in those earlier campaigns, even though they weren't successful.
00:53That's right.
00:54You know, in an electoral sense.
00:55How was your first year in Parliament in terms of what was it like, what you expected, or how was it different?
01:03I had no expectations.
01:05I had no background in legislation.
01:07Yes.
01:07And as far as how Parliament functions, I had no idea.
01:11Yes.
01:11I was given next to no chance of getting in.
01:15You might have heard Kevin Bottom last year saying I had no chance.
01:18I don't actually recall that.
01:20I remember thinking to myself a lot, will he, won't he, and started to become only bullish really pretty late in the count about you.
01:28Kevin said, I think he said early on when we went back to 35 sitting members that I'd be knocking on the door.
01:35Right.
01:36But my view was that it was unlikely.
01:40I knew for me to get in, everything had to line up.
01:42Right.
01:42And it did in that election.
01:44Yeah.
01:44I got preferences from everywhere.
01:48And when Darren Briggs went out, didn't survive the cut, I thought that I'd have spoken at every Greens rally that I'd been invited to.
01:56And I thought, well, I might get a few preferences here.
01:58That might drag me out of the line.
01:59Oh, yeah.
02:00Okay.
02:00And that's what I did in the end of the day.
02:03It might have been nerve-wracking for the candidates, but for us election nerds, it was all quite exciting.
02:08Yeah.
02:08Well, you know, I've had one thing that's happened with me.
02:11A lot of people that have never ever voted have now registered to vote.
02:15Oh, okay.
02:15And last year in the election, I had mates taking bets on where the preferences were going because we got to understand how the system works.
02:24So in that respect, I've brought quite a few people to the table.
02:28And I've had old people come up saying, I've never voted, boy, but I've registered now and I'm voting for you.
02:33Oh, wow.
02:33So, you know, that's good feedback.
02:36Okay.
02:36You might have the TEC asking you for a list of names and numbers.
02:39Well, I may do.
02:40We'll see what happens.
02:41Yeah.
02:42Not voting.
02:43Wow.
02:44What are your main achievements in the year and a bit, do you reckon, in Parliament?
02:49Main achievements?
02:51Oh, I've supported quite a few Martians.
02:54You know, my vote's been crucial in a few.
02:58I've, yeah, that's a, I guess my biggest achievement is understanding how Parliament functions, how it rolls, and the role that you have to play as an independent, particularly in a minority government.
03:15To that end, I thought I conducted myself really well.
03:17I worked in a collaborative arrangement with the Labor Party.
03:22You know, when the no confidence motion went through, I had talked to the Greens.
03:28I had three independents.
03:29We went to the Labor Party and said, well, we can form government.
03:32We'll put aside our kiosks.
03:34We'll focus on the matters that we can haul the ground and make this work for the first 12 months.
03:40But the Labor Party didn't want to do deals with the Greens.
03:44And the Liberal Party, we all know what happened there.
03:47So, yeah, I guess I've displayed that I can work with whoever's form government.
03:54I have no apprehensions of working with whoever's numbers to form government.
04:00But one thing that came out of all this is that we're in a new space.
04:06Majority government doesn't seem to be on the horizon.
04:10And everybody needs to man up to that very thing and sit down at the table and take a collaborative approach to governing in this state.
04:18Okay.
04:18So, if I've achieved one thing, it's that we're in a new space and you have to work in a collaborative manner with the crossbench.
04:26You can't ignore the crossbench because they're extremely important in a minority government.
04:31You obviously believe that independents have a place in the parliament.
04:35But can you tell us why?
04:36What's the use of indies?
04:38Well, you know, majority, they can ram home whatever they want.
04:43You know, back in the day before parties, there's no mention of parties in our constitution.
04:47Before the parties became prevalent, it was the quality of the debate that determined where the vote went.
04:53And we've come out of a period where they have the numbers.
04:58You don't have to go on the quality of the debate because you have the numbers in the room.
05:02So, you can ignore and disrespect everyone else's view.
05:08But with a minority government, it makes sure that there is a quality of debate and that things can't be rushed and pushed through.
05:16Even though last year, you know, they changed state coastal policy to suit a developer.
05:22They introduced specific legislation for the Stony Rise development.
05:25They've brought forward the enabling legislation to rush through the stadium.
05:31So, I was very concerned about where democracy was going.
05:35You know, we have to adhere to the process, everyone else in the community.
05:39But when it doesn't suit their purpose, if you have a majority, they can change and do whatever they want.
05:43And I think that's very, very dangerous.
05:46Okay.
05:47Now, you were saying before that you could potentially work with the Liberals again.
05:51Could that be the case if Jeremy Rockwith is still the leader, given the no confidence motion?
05:55Well, that's up to the Liberal Party, you know, who they want to put as the leader.
06:02That's entirely at their feet.
06:05That's nothing to do with me.
06:06And if they see fit to put Jeremy again as the leader, and I'm elected in a minority government, I have no choice but to work with the government.
06:15I think what they've learned is don't ignore the crossbench.
06:18This is one lesson out of this whole debacle.
06:20And if that's the situation, well, that's what I have to step up and do.
06:26You know, I have no apprehensions of working with anybody that's willing to form government and make it work.
06:34Okay.
06:35What did he offer you, Jeremy Rockwith, as he was trying to stay off the no confidence motion?
06:42What did he offer me?
06:43What did he offer you?
06:44Oh, there was some heated discussions, but I'm not going to go into that.
06:47There was, yeah, it was just a heated discussion.
06:53And we both had differing views on where things were.
06:56Yes.
06:57But I think out of that, now, if we're in that situation again, things will be a lot different.
07:04You, you, so he made you an offer that you're not prepared to say what it was?
07:09Well, not a specific offer, no, but just a general discussion about managing certain aspects of the Tasmanian situation.
07:21And we agreed to disagree on a few matters, but there are certain things I won't back down on.
07:27And he knows what I got elected on, my platform I've been around.
07:31I think this is my seventh election in seven years.
07:33I was just reading the other day where Jeremy had done eight in 20 years.
07:37Yeah.
07:38Yeah, well, I've done seven in seven years.
07:40So.
07:41That says something, doesn't it?
07:42Yeah.
07:42Wow.
07:43Yeah.
07:44A bit of OCD there.
07:45We get that from my father.
07:46Oh, right.
07:47It can be a useful trade in politics, I think.
07:50Well, it can if you don't give up.
07:51And I won't give up.
07:54Tasmania is really important to me.
07:56I've lived here my whole life.
07:57I've had one foot in the ocean and one foot in the bush.
08:00I've seen, you know, forestry, fishing, farming.
08:04I've got a background and a knowledge base that, well, if you go back into my shipping
08:08industry days, I was fully aware of everything that was being imported and exported out of
08:13this state, which was very interesting.
08:15I remember being in a customs house one day.
08:17They have a social night every Friday night.
08:19Yeah.
08:20And we was looking at what we were importing in the way of olive oil products.
08:23We were importing 99.9% of our olive oil products into Australia.
08:27Okay.
08:27And then from that point on, people started planting olive groves.
08:31And as far as managing this state, that's a very interesting thing to sit down and look
08:35at what we're bringing into the state, what we can produce ourself.
08:38Can we make it better?
08:39And that's an area that I think should be looked at.
08:44Because, you know, back in the day, we were building ships in every harbour and every inlet.
08:48We had more extensive rail out the Roger River and all these little places in the 1800s
08:53and what we've got now and look at us now, you know.
08:55So I mentioned last night at a function in Launceston, you know, if we were cut off from
09:01the rest of the world for 10 or 20 years and necessity is the mother of invention, you
09:06watch what would have happened.
09:06We've got some extremely talented, smart, forward-thinking people in this state.
09:11And I believe when time comes, they'll step up.
09:14And what I've found is most people are not listened to.
09:17They're not being listened to.
09:18You know, in the government space.
09:21Because as an independent, I'm getting them come to me.
09:23They've had dissatisfaction with the major parties over the last number of years.
09:27And an independent in a minority government has seen as somebody to go to now.
09:32So we've been very, very busy collating information and having meetings with people that have not
09:38been attended to.
09:39All right.
09:40Just if I could get back to the talks you had with Jeremy Rockwith.
09:43If you've accused the Liberals of not being transparent about things like mass fish deaths,
09:50the Mariners business case.
09:52So why won't you be transparent on what Mr. Rockwith offered you?
09:57Well, we didn't agree on anything, you know.
09:59Yes.
10:00So, and I believe you've interviewed Jeremy?
10:03I have.
10:04Did you ask him that first?
10:05I did.
10:06And what did Jeremy say?
10:07It was a straight bat reminiscent of Geoffrey Boycott, I'd suggest.
10:13But, however, I do understand it was to do with stopping Salmon Farmers' expansion into
10:19Bass Strait.
10:19Can you confirm that?
10:21Salmon was always on the agenda with me.
10:25You know, it's not been regulated properly.
10:27We're not getting a proper return from the use of our waterways from that industry.
10:33And right from the start, I guess, the reason I'm in politics is because they've relocated
10:39seals on us from the salmon industry for 20 years and then promised to do something about
10:45it.
10:45And then when they got elected, they did nothing.
10:47So did he offer you some sort of ban or moratorium on salmon farming expansion into Bass Strait?
10:52Nothing.
10:52Nothing.
10:53Nothing concrete.
10:53Okay.
10:55Wooden Town.
10:57What are the main issues people are telling you when you're out and about during this campaign?
11:01Oh, cost of living.
11:02You know, health, housing, and energy prices.
11:06Okay.
11:08That's it.
11:09You know, I think we've got 4,000 or 5,000 people waiting on a home.
11:13The health department, from the people that I've been briefed by, there's too many chiefs
11:18and not enough Indians there.
11:20And I see a comparison back in the day on the waterfront when things were going in disarray.
11:24The workers, the foremen, and everybody else were not being listened to.
11:30They had all the answers.
11:31Oh, right.
11:31And I see a similar situation with the health professionals.
11:35So you're hearing this from insiders in the health system?
11:37Yes, I am.
11:38Okay.
11:38And then I've looked at, oh, there's 23 or 24 people in, you know, a very well-paid
11:45position.
11:46And would you say they're doing justice right now in the health system or the way it is?
11:50So I'd say no.
11:52So I'd say listen to the people on the floor and those that have years of experience and
11:58they'll determine the pathway forward for fixing and attending to the health matters.
12:03Housing, you know, we're in a situation now, I really feel for our young people.
12:07I've got one mate that's paying $700 a week rent.
12:11How in the hell, he's a young bloke, how is he ever going to get a deposit to get a loan
12:16to buy a bit of land?
12:17It's not going to happen.
12:18So we've been, and I've been an advocate for this for a long time, crowned land, degraded
12:22land around the communities through the local councils.
12:25We can offer the long-term leases that we had in the day.
12:28I don't know if you remember, Sean, but most of my mates bought a block, put down a slab,
12:32lived in the shed when they got their finances.
12:34Yeah, that was a pretty common thing.
12:35It was a common thing.
12:36And I see that as a way to take the banks out of the equation, take that huge deposit
12:42out of the equation, get a bit of much-needed work done on rehabilitation.
12:46It could be a condition on the lease and give our younger people some semblance of hope
12:51and a future and something to work towards.
12:55So that's where I see housing going.
12:57Energy, my God.
13:00You know, the spirit debacle, if we don't get this energy situation right for us, mum and
13:07dad householders in this state, it's going to make that spirit look like a picnic.
13:11You looked at, we were going to have two cables for Marinus not that long ago for $2.5 billion.
13:17Now it's one for five and the cost is still going northward.
13:20The heavy industrials have been told under Marinus Stage 1, their prices are going straight up.
13:26And mum and dad householders right now in a cost of living crisis cannot afford to have
13:32to endure any more rises in power prices.
13:35Because as you know, when power prices go up, everything else goes up accordingly.
13:39Yeah, that's true.
13:41One thing in your brochure that you're putting around that's really interesting, you're calling
13:45for research and development in tidal energy.
13:48Can you tell us a bit about that?
13:50Yeah, well, Tasmania, if you look globally at where there is sufficient tidal movement
13:55to harness and create energy, it's absolutely minuscule.
13:59And if you look on the north coast of Tasmania, Bank Strait and also Wulnorth, we've got it
14:05in spades.
14:06Okay.
14:06We've got, it's constant, it's 24-7, it's not as problematic as wind farms.
14:14You're certainly not killing birds, you haven't got the visual.
14:18So to me, it's, if you've got that resource, and that is a resource at tidal movement.
14:23Oh, well, it's doing stuff all the time.
14:25Yeah, it should be looked at, and, you know, it's a bit like on-land salmon trials, you
14:30know, it needs a bit of a focus in that direction to say that it's not viable and not doable
14:36at this point in time.
14:37It was probably quite correct, but if you're not willing to go that direction and do the
14:42research and trials, you'll never come up with a better solution.
14:47And, you know, I see Tasmanians has generally been people that try and do things outside the
14:52box, and when you've got that sufficient tidal movement there, you know, it should be looked
14:58at.
14:58It is an alternative.
15:01Okay.
15:01You've been pretty clear about your opposition to the Macquarie Point AFL Stadium.
15:07Are you getting much pushback on that from voters?
15:09Are you getting a whole lot of the stadium, build the stadium?
15:13What are you talking about?
15:14Oh, mate, the Locked Profiles and the Devil's Jumpers that come up on Facebook, and they're
15:21quite abusive.
15:22Right.
15:23You know, I've been called everything under the sun, but, you know, they do a bit of research
15:27and they're pro-stadium.
15:28Oh, yeah.
15:30You know, but generally, the older demographic, who is fully aware of budget constraints and
15:36whatever you, and finances, to the man is, we don't need this.
15:41We don't need it.
15:42Are you seeing a different attitude in terms of a trend?
15:46I mean, everyone's got different opinions, but among the younger people?
15:49No, there's been very few younger people that have approached me about the stadium.
15:54It's either the footy jocks that I played with, you know, and I understand.
15:59Like, I was a passion of football.
16:00I love me football, and I realise how important football is and what it does.
16:04But at this point in time, you would have seen the pre-election financial outlook, which
16:11was $3 billion worse than our budget.
16:13So it's getting worse and worse all the time.
16:16And when you're in a budget crisis and you've got facilities that have, you know, they've
16:21been playing AFL in York Park for 20 years, you know, you make do with what you have.
16:26I'm not against a stadium per se forever, but just right now, at this point in time, and
16:32also that location, I got briefed by the Hobart City Council on what they have to attend
16:36to with that stadium being put there, and others as well as the RSL, the Tats Symphony Orchestra,
16:42the Aboriginal community.
16:44You know, the contaminated soil that has to be carted out, I think there's 100,000 tonnes.
16:49And then you've got the heritage-listed row well building.
16:51They said, we can pull down that and build it elsewhere.
16:54But there's over a million different bits of timber in that building.
16:58The stormwater they haven't factored in, they can't deal with the traffic, the foot traffic.
17:02You know, it's just, and it's hemmed in.
17:04You've got the dermid on one side, you've got the RSL, the centre's half up there, and
17:09you've got the other buildings here.
17:11There's no space to move.
17:13Like, it's probably the wrong location.
17:16I understand they want something like that right in the CBD, and that'd be great for
17:19the CBD in Hobart.
17:21But what about the Northwest Coast?
17:23You know, my room down there I stayed in last year was $200 a week, right, for the parliamentary
17:30rate.
17:30Right.
17:30As soon as there's a sniffing of a vent in Hobart, it goes up to $500 to $600.
17:35And just recently, I was trying to get a room, and there was only two available, $550 and
17:39$800.
17:39And for the far Northwest Coast, you know, the high-performance centre they want to put
17:44down in Kingston, two-thirds of the draftees that go to the AFL come from the North Coast.
17:51This is all Southern-focused.
17:53You know, Jim Bacon got it right with using that facility there in Launceston.
17:57It's central for the time being.
17:59You can access it from the east, the west, and the south.
18:02It's fair for everyone.
18:04And as far as the marginal income workers on the Northwest Coast, they're never going to
18:08be able to afford to go down to Hobart to watch a game.
18:10They're just going to be priced out of the situation.
18:12So, to me, I was looking at it, what's the fairest thing for the whole state right now,
18:18given our budgetary situation and what have you?
18:20And there's no doubt we deserve a side, and there's no doubt that the benefits that come
18:25from having our own side will be substantial.
18:28But, once again, the Northwest Coast, we seem to be the poor cousins up here.
18:33I was in Launceston the other day, in Ulverston the other day, the crisis shelter for women
18:38fleeing domestic violence.
18:40Yes.
18:40Four beds.
18:42Wow.
18:42You know, Hobart's 58 or something like that.
18:45Launceston's even better.
18:47We've got four beds.
18:48We had to turn away 150 women and 147 children last year because there was nowhere for them
18:56to go.
18:57And that is terrible because those women fleeing domestic violence, what other alternative
19:02do they have?
19:03There's no rentals, so they'll have to go back to that situation.
19:07I think it's just absolutely ludicrous.
19:09We're talking about a big stadium, and we have issues like this that have been not addressed.
19:14St. Giles, they have funding problems.
19:16All these organisations and little groups that are calling for small amounts of money
19:21are being ignored, and we're pushing this big, divisive stadium.
19:25It's a bit of a smoke and mirrors by the government, you know, deflect all the attention away from
19:30the real things, the not-so-sexy things like domestic violence to women and disability people
19:36that need attending to, and throw this big stadium, and everyone's focusing on that.
19:41Well, my focus is on the not-so-sexy things.
19:44Those things like women fleeing domestic violence.
19:47That's absolutely atrocious to me.
19:49What geographical area was that facility serving?
19:51You're not talking for the whole North West.
19:53The whole North West Coast.
19:54And the other thing to remember, we have the highest incidence of domestic violence in
19:59the state, yet we've got four beds to deal with all these people.
20:04It's absolutely disgraceful.
20:06And we put a press release out about that a week or two ago.
20:09No-one's taken that up.
20:10You know, this is where I get really annoyed.
20:15The big, sexy projects, the big infrastructure and everything else, but we've got people that
20:19have fallen through the cracks, and domestic violence.
20:23Like, it's terrible.
20:24It's terrible that anybody has to go through that, let alone have to return to it, because
20:28we haven't saw fit to give the money and look after it.
20:32You know, four beds, North West Coast, and everywhere else has much more.
20:36Down 120,000 people live in our region.
20:39Strong take.
20:40That's right.
20:41You know, so, you know, I'm a strong advert for Braden.
20:44Like, I think we live in the best part of the world.
20:46I think we've got the best communities up here, second to none from where I've lived and moved
20:51around the state, yet the people that are there, Jeremy, from Braden, you'd think there'd
20:56be more of a focus on these, but I guess it's not a big headline, Rob, is it?
21:00It's not as sexy as a big stadium.
21:03Perhaps it is important, though.
21:05Oh, my word, it's super important.
21:08Just if you could, in closing, just a few quick points, and I don't need a whole lot
21:13of detail, but what are some of the things, if you had the magic wand, you'd do to fix
21:17the budget?
21:18Well, one thing straight up, which would put millions of dollars into our coffers, is a
21:23resource tax on the salmon industry.
21:25They're paying nothing.
21:26And in fact, they're using taxpayers' money to attend to the, like Macquarie Harbour, 30 million
21:32of taxpayers' money to deal with the dissolved oxygen there, which was created by the overstocking
21:38when they went to that expansion in 2016 or 17 or whatever it was.
21:43So there's one avenue to put some extra money into our coffers.
21:47And we certainly do not need to be spending a significant amount on the stadium right now.
21:55And the cost will blow out on that, by the way.
21:57Like, there's a common denominator in that space down there.
22:00Over the course of the year, costs keep blowing out.
22:03And it seems to be since COVID, there seems to be a doubling of costs and an increasing
22:08of costs more or less overnight.
22:11It's a new space we're in now.
22:13So, you know, you have to look at where you can save money, where you can drag money in,
22:19and a resource tax on the salmon industry would be one area that they could attend to.
22:25So, yeah, and TAS farmers, you know, we need more on-island processing.
22:33You know, we're sending whole cattle, guts and all in over there if we processed them here.
22:39It's half the weight you're dealing with.
22:41So, on freight, and bass rate's the dearest bit of water weight in the world.
22:46Wouldn't it be done, though, wouldn't it be done if it was financially viable to do?
22:55Well, if you look at what you're paying, you can halve your costs.
23:02Right.
23:02You know, you might have to spend money here to do it.
23:06We already have existing facilities.
23:08We've got the abattoir on King Island that's been closed down, you know.
23:13So, yeah, the more we can do here, the more we can make and produce here,
23:17and the more downstream processing, the more money stays here,
23:21the more employment there is here.
23:23It seems to be, right through my lifetime, we're sending the best of our stuff over there,
23:29and then we're buying it back.
23:30Like, in the fishing day, they were sending our best fish over there,
23:33and I could buy the fillets back a week later.
23:35You'd get a better price from the mainland, though, when you were doing the fishing, wouldn't you?
23:39So, isn't that why you'd do it?
23:41Yeah, but for Tasmania consumers, how about a focus on us?
23:45Yeah.
23:45How about a focus on us?
23:47Like, why do we have to eat the second-rate stuff and send in all the best over there?
23:51And if we can, down to the downstream processing here, there's jobs and employment in that,
23:55and then the money stays here, and also we get access to the high-end product here.
24:00It just seems to be, all the way through, from my fish shipping days,
24:05get the rest of it out there, and we'll eat the second-rate stuff here, you know.
24:10So, a focus on us, and creating more employment here, and that's one avenue.
24:16Hemp, you know, let's talk about hemp, you know.
24:19Everyone's going crook about plastics, microplastics and everything.
24:22You can have biodegradable plastic made from hemp,
24:27yet it's so hard for the farmers to get approvals to grow the product, you know.
24:32Okay.
24:33So, we've just got to, what we can, it comes back to that customs list of what we import and what we export.
24:39So, let's look at it.
24:41Let's see what we can make here, and if we can do it here, why bother importing?
24:45You know, it's the same as the olive oil products.
24:47It's just a common-sense approach to things, and that's what I'd be looking at, you know.
24:52Helping the farmers produce here and do the downstream processing,
24:58and that keeps more money here and creates employment, which is really important.
25:03Okay.
25:04Well, thank you, Craig Gellert.
25:06Oh, no worries, Sean.
25:06Appreciate your time.
25:07Yeah, no problem.
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