20-28 March 2008 EMRS poll
1000 Tasmanian adults were interviewed by telephone. Of these, 500 were from the South, 280 from the North and North East and 220 from the North West and West Coast regions. (Please note that the original data for question 1 was incorrectly transcribed. The correct data showing the results for question 1 are shown below. Our apologies for any confusion - an embarrassed Admin) 
Question 1: of five areas (listed below) which is the most important for the government to spend money?
Results:
- Health Infrastructure and Services 69% (692)
- Education Infrastructure and Services 16% (162)
- Public Housing 8% (82)
- Water Reform 5% (53)
- Infrastructure specifically for the Pulp Mill 1% (11)
Question 2: of the 5 listed which is the least important for the Government to spend money? Results:
- Infrastructure specifically for the Pulp Mill 79% (794)
- Water Reform 11% (107)
- Public Housing 8% (82)
- Education Infrastructure and Services 1% (14)
- Health Infrastructure and Services 0% (3)
Findings
Only 11 respondents (1%) found the “infrastructure specifically for the Pulp mill” to be the most important area for the government to spend money. 69% found “health infrastructure and services” to be the most important. “Infrastructure specifically for the Pulp mill” was seen as the least important area for the government to spend money by over three quarters of respondents (79%).
Commentary
What is revealed in these poll results is a huge gap between what the people polled see as funding priorities and what the Premier of Tasmania and the State Government are doing and plan to do with public monies. The Premier and the State Government have allocated public money to expedite and promote the Gunns pulp mill and are "examining" building a $60 million pipeline from the Trevallyn Dam to Long Reach to supply water to the pulp mill. The State and Federal Governments are spending $70 million on improvements to the East Tamar Highway.
At a time when essential services such as health, education, public housing are being run down the Government is essentially misappropriating public money to build Gunns their pulp mill.
These poll results show how unpopular this policy is with the Tasmanian people. TAP spokesman Bob McMahon said the "the Labor Party must change direction and to survive it must cut the leader loose. You can have either a pulp mill or a health system. You can't have both."
Source www.tapvision.info
For the history of poll results about the pulp mill see opinion polls.
