Karate Kid to Gentleman Dan

MICHELLE Geale could never have known that a trip to the movies to see The Karate Kid with nine-year-old son Daniel would inspire one of the most superb careers in Australian sport.

It was Mr Miyagi and another kid called Daniel who inspired Geale to take up fighting -- but not boxing.

Geale instantly related to the Karate Kid's main character, Danny LaRusso, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who had to fight for everything he ever got.

Plus he thought karate looked cool.

He begged his dad Wayne to take him to his first lesson but it wasn't the "wax on, wax off" moment Daniel had expected.

"I hated it," Geale said.

"It was crap. It didn't suit me at all.

"So Dad suggested I try boxing, and there was a gym, Lilydale Boxing Club, just down the road.

"I said: 'OK, I'll give it a try'.

"From my first training session I loved it. I made a heap of friends and that's how I got started."

It also suited nine-year-old Daniel for another reason.

"I was carrying a bit of extra weight as a nine-year-old -- I had a little bit of a belly on me," he said.

"When the coach put me on the scales I weighed 42kg as a nine-year-old, which wasn't great. The boxing got me fit and I lost weight."

A month after his 10th birthday, Geale had his first fight.

"By then I was 38kg -- so I'd lost 4kg in that first year and got fit and probably grew a bit as well," he said.

"I thought boxing was a great challenge."

As well as attending high school, Daniel liked to go with his dad -- aka "Cowboy" -- on his dump truck.

"I used to do some work with Dad and I'd wash the truck," he said.

His first real job was as a cook at KFC in Mowbray, where he worked for three years, starting at 16.

"It was a good experience -- it was good to have money," he said.

Geale would go to school, train in the afternoon and then cook chicken at night.

"It worked in perfectly with what I had to do with boxing," he said.

"I knew whatever job I had, boxing came first."

Geale's skills as a boxer won him a scholarship with the TIS and he soon became Australian welterweight champion in amateur ranks. Aged 19, he represented Australia at the Sydney Olympic Games -- he was personally sponsored by the Mowbray KFC.

Despite his loss in Sydney to Italian Leonard Bundu, who had won bronze at the world championships, the Olympics were an inspirational experience for the teenage Tasmanian.

After the fight, the Italian's praise of Geale was prophetic. "I think in the future he will be a very good boxer. He has character," Bundu said.

How right he was.

At 31, Daniel is one of the world's finest professional boxers, with 28 wins and one loss. He holds two world championship middleweight belts (IBF and WBA) and is in search of a unification bout to claim the third.

While he waits, he agreed to a rematch against motormouth Anthony Mundine, who beat Geale in a controversial points decision three years ago.

A lot of people feel Geale shouldn't even give Mundine the time of day, let alone a title fight.

"I mostly agree with what people say, that I shouldn't give him this opportunity," Geale said.

"I also wish I had another 10 guys to choose from in Australia to be able to fight, and to be able to make a living.

"There are other fights I could take, but I wouldn't make any money.

"A fight against him [Mundine] attracts attention in Australia, if it didn't we would have definitely overlooked him."

Geale's dream is to fight on boxing's biggest stage, Las Vegas, and a trip to the US last month to watch the WBC middleweight title bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Sergio Martinez only strengthened that resolve.

"Unfortunately those fights haven't come around at this stage," Geale said. "We've got a bit of time in between, and for us this is the right time to right that wrong from a few years ago."

At their fight announcement last week, Geale was cool and calm while Mundine disrespected him and his Aboriginal heritage, as well as his wife, kids and Tasmanian Aborigines.

Mundine said: "I thought they wiped all Aborigines from Tasmania out, that's all I know. I don't see him [Geale] representing us black people. I don't see him out in the communities doing what I do with people. He got a white woman, white kids."

Geale, who wears the Aboriginal colours on his boxing trunks, maintained a dignified silence.

"Inside I was tossing up whether or not I should jump up and punch the guy," Geale said.

"That definitely went through my mind. But our sport takes enough hits without people doing that sort of stuff."

After sinking in a public relations cesspit of his own creation, Mundine apologised to Geale three days later in a TV face-off.

"It's easy to say things in the heat of the moment about the guy you are fighting," Geale said. "But when you say it to them about other people, there are a lot of other people who probably needed that apology more than me.

"They need to accept that apology -- like my wife and kids and the people of Tasmania -- they're very angry at what he said."

Daniel's wife Sheena was particularly upset. "She didn't like the comments at all," Geale said. "The first thing she said to me after the interview was 'you can't accept that apology on my behalf'."

It was a low blow for Daniel, to whom family -- Sheena and kids Bailey, 8, Ariyelle, 6, and Lilyarna 4 -- comes first.

"Family is what it's all about," he said.

"For me, we didn't have it easy as kids -- me and my brother. My mum and dad worked very hard for us all the time and we didn't have everything we wanted.

"They tried to give us everything, and for me that's always been great motivation, to be able to give my kids us much as I could and work hard for my family."

Boxing won't last for ever, and Geale is already preparing for the next phase of his career.

"I've already got plans to own my own gym," he said.

"We've been in Sydney for about nine years now, and we're going to start setting up a gym here soon, but there are other opportunities as well to maybe own gyms around Australia as well."

Even though Geale left Launceston in search of opportunities, his love for Tasmania will never fade.

"Other than Tassie being such a beautiful place, and the scenery everyone probably takes for granted, the people are different," he said.

"People in Tassie are relaxed and it's a lot easier to get along with people.

"Walking around the streets, even when people didn't know me, you can just walk up and talk to a stranger, no problems. In Sydney, it's different, people aren't usually that friendly and I like that about Tassie."

When the boxing game ends, the likable Tasmanian will have deserved everything he earned.

"My plan was to work as hard as I could at an early age and hopefully set ourselves up and be able to relax a little bit when I'm a little bit older," Geale said. "At the moment things are going OK, I just have to keep going along those lines.

"I talk to people to motivate them and tell them be hard-working now and it will be easier later. If you don't work hard now you'll be working hard later."

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Greinke to face theft charges

FORMER Queensland rugby league player and coach Gary Lionel Greinke, 52, will be extradited to Queensland today to face stealing charges.

Police allege Greinke stole $62,000 from a fruit business, Malgary Pty Ltd, which he operated with former Brisbane Souths teammate and business partner Mal Meninga.

Magistrate Robert Pearce granted the extradition order, which was not opposed, during a hearing in the Launceston Magistrates Court yesterday.

There was no application for bail and Greinke was handed into the custody of Queensland CIB officers.

He is scheduled to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on October 29.

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Armed robbery warning

LOCAL small businesses are being urged to change their routines as new figures show a 20 per cent jump in armed robberies.

New police figures show there were 78 armed robberies in the past financial year, up from 54, 56 and 58 in the previous years.

Tasmanian Small Business Council chief Robert Mallett said armed robberies would always occur during tough economic times. "As the economy gets tougher there will be more people that will turn to alternative means to get cash," Mr Mallett said.

He said businesses that operated with a lot of cash were the most vulnerable. "Operators using cash as a primary source of transaction is where the big issues are," he said.

He said having as little cash as possible on the premises, banking regularly, banking at different times and taking different routes to the bank were all effective ways of making it difficult for would-be robbers.

"If someone tries to rob you give them all you have and train your staff to do the same," he said. "Most businesses are insured, shopkeepers should be encouraging their staff not to resist."

Opposition police spokeswoman Elise Archer said yesterday the rise was because of Budget cuts.

"Armed robberies of retail outlets have doubled from last year, and there's also been an increase in armed robberies on the footpath," she said.

"It is literally becoming less safe to walk on the street under this Labor-Green Government."

Police Minister David O'Byrne said the Liberals were scaremongering.

"The Tasmanian Liberals will say anything and twist anything to scare Tasmanians and damage Tasmania," Mr O'Byrne said. "The reality is clear. An 11 per cent reduction in total crime last financial year, including a 16 per cent drop in serious crimes like robbery and assault."

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Tarkine truce hopes dashed

A "Tarkine Heritage Listing" sign suspended over Lake Rosebery, at Tullah, earlier this month. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

HOPES of averting an environmental war in the Tarkine have been dashed even before any form of peace talks begin.

Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson had handed an olive branch to the Australian Workers Union hoping the mining industry and environmental groups may be able to reach some compromises on the Tarkine.

But both groups emerged from talks yesterday bitterly disappointed with the outcome.

The union's national secretary, Paul Howes, delegates from Tasmania's West Coast, Mr Whish-Wilson and Tarkine National Coalition campaign co-ordinator Scott Jordan held talks in Sydney.

Mr Whish-Wilson described the talks as being disappointing. "Both parties went in with good faith, but there is too big a gap to bridge based on what they told us today," Mr Whish-Wilson said.

"Based on the discussions today it does not appear there is any wriggle room."

Mr Howes described the talks as spectacularly unsuccessful.

"The war is on, there is no point having any more discussion," Mr Howes said.

"It's encouraging to see that some Green politicians and environmentalists are at least prepared to have the conversation about mining and conservation in the Tarkine region.

"I told Senator Whish-Wilson and Mr Jordan that the AWU is not interested in a closed-door deal to draw arbitrary lines on a map for a new National Park or World Heritage Area."

Although versions of what went on in the AWU headquarters varied, the sticking point is the proposed Venture Minerals project that environmentalists have been most concerned about.

Mr Jordan said the offer was not sincere or acceptable.

"What we got was 'If you let us do Venture Minerals then we will have a talk'," he said.

"As it stands, it looks like we are heading to a thorough campaign to stop it."

Mr Howes said the AWU's high-profile television campaign would continue and a rally had been organised for Burnie next month.

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Myer unveils Hobart vision

An artist's impression of the revitalised Murray St frontage.

HIGH-end fashion stores are set to open in Hobart for the first time as part of the Myer redevelopment.

Plans for stage two of the $100 million project have been announced.

It is set to feature retail space across four levels and a "basement food emporium".

It won't open until 2015 but real estate agency Knight Frank is already seeking retail tenants for its Icon Complex.

About 3300sq m of retail space will be available on the ground and first level of stage two.

It fronts on to Murray St, in the site occupied by Myer.

There will be a food court on the lower ground and the top two levels will be occupied by Myer.

Myer will also occupy five levels of the Icon Complex fronting on to Liverpool St, which will be built in stage one of the project and is due to open at the end of next year.

While the Myer store on Liverpool St will have an ultra-modern glass and steel exterior, the Murray St building will retain its original facade.

Knight Frank Tasmania chief executive Scott Newton said negotiations had begun with a number of high-end retailers not yet operating in Tasmania.

"We're confident that we'll have a large proportion of the retail arcade leased prior to the second stage of the development commencing," Mr Newton said.

While he could not reveal the names of prospective retailers, he said the luxury brands were excited by the modern retail space on offer.

"There is pent-up demand for high-quality retail space which has been lacking in the past," he said. "Quality retailers have been reluctant to come to Tasmania because they won't compromise their brand by going into secondary facilities."

Mr Newton said the Icon Complex would have "quality finishes, second to none".

He said rental costs were "fair" but on the upper end of the price scale for city retail space.

Retail business in stage two of the Icon Complex was expected to be worth $35.2 million in 2015-16, with sales predicted to reflect an average productivity level of close to $9,020 per square meter.

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New push to boost literacy

A POWERFUL network has committed to tackling Tasmania's woeful literacy rate.

Half of the state's adults struggle to read and write well enough to get through daily life.

The 26TEN network -- set up under a $17 million adult literacy five-year plan -- is made up of business and community groups that will work to improve literacy and numeracy rates.

Premier Lara Giddings, right, said the campaign would shine a spotlight on the problem and encourage the community and economy to break free from the shackles of poor literacy.

Almost 50 per cent of Tasmanians have inadequate literacy skills to cope with everyday needs, including filling in forms and reading bank statements, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The national rate is about 47 per cent.

A Tasmanian Council of Social Service study said low literacy was strongly linked to poor job opportunities, depression and the inability to help children learn, which was continuing the cycle of disadvantage.

An army of volunteer tutors has reached 570, marshalled by 23 paid co-ordinators.

"We all need to work together to break down stigma and help more Tasmanians get the skills they need to secure jobs and opportunities," Ms Giddings said at yesterday's launch in Parliament House.

"Literacy isn't just about reading and writing, it's also about technology, problem solving and communicating with others. It impacts on our quality of life, on participation, on productivity in our workplaces and on health and wellbeing."

Education and Skills Minister Nick McKim said it was not good enough that almost one in two Tasmanians had difficulty with important daily chores, or even enjoying a book with their children.

"This needs to change, and what sets Tasmania apart from the rest of the country is that we have an action plan for change," Mr McKim said.

26TEN program president Jane Forward said it was unique and about two years' work had already been done.

"We hope more and more organisations get involved," she said.

Unions Tasmania president Roz Madsen said the issue affected the workplace and people's confidence.

Read more in today's Mercury.

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Second daring devil found

Itchy the Tasmanian devil is back behind bars after being on the run in Western Australia for almost a week. Picture: PEEL ZOO

A SECOND Tasmanian devil that escaped from a West Australian zoo has been caught in a midnight ambush.

Three young devils – Itchy, Scratch and Genghis -- scarpered from Peel Zoo at Pinjarra, south of Perth, early on Tuesday last week.

Scratchy was recaptured in the early hours of Sunday and the zoo was thrilled to find Itchy earlier today.

Zoo co-owner Narelle MacPherson said a couple at nearby South Yunderup were awoken during the night.

"We got the call about 20 past midnight this morning," Ms MacPherson said.

"Erica and James heard a noise outside. They thought it might be a cat; they've got a couple of dogs.

"They investigated and managed to net him -- good job -- and by the time we got there, they had him in a cage."

She said Itchy had a bit of a bump on the nose but appeared relatively unscathed.

"We have him in a box in a quiet room and will give him a proper check over," Ms MacPherson said.

"Scratchy's fine. Now we've got the two boys back that we hand-raised."

Genghis, however, is still on the loose.

The 18-month-old males are offspring of devils bought from East Coast Natureworld, at Bicheno, in 2010.

They escaped after a tall gum tree fell on their enclosure during the night, crushing the fence.

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Accused man 'shot at' accuser

A MAN rumoured to have stolen diesel and a chainsaw from a logging coupe confronted his accuser with an axe and later fired a shot in his direction from a high-powered rifle, the Supreme Court has heard.

Fabian Shane Graham, 29, of Swamp Road, Lachlan, pleaded not guilty to assault and two counts of aggravated assault.

The opening day of his trial today heard that in September last year Graham asked his friend Tyler Burchill if he had any 44 gallon drums because he was planning to "milk some diesel" from a Styx Valley logging depot.

When the depot was robbed a couple of days later, Mr Burchill recounted the conversation to Les Walkden Enterprises harvesting supervisor Andrew Clark.

Crown Prosecutor Heather Mannering said that on October 23 last year, Mr Clark went to Graham's house to inquire after the 1500 litres of diesel and a chainsaw and radio that were taken, but he wasn't home.

Graham turned up at the Walkden depot at New Norfolk a few hours later.

"Fabian jumped out of his vehicle with an axe," Mr Clark told the court.

"I walked back into the office. He was yelling at me: 'Why did you accuse me of stealing the diesel? I'm going to cut you into little pieces and come back and shoot all your employees'," he said.

Mr Clark told the court that a few hours after Graham left, he and tree feller Dale Robert Booth went to Graham's house.

"We just wanted to talk to him about it," he said.

They found Graham near his house, had a short conversation and followed his vehicle. Mr Clark said that as they headed up Graham's driveway in their car, he had a "funny feeling".

"That's when I saw Fabian come out of the house holding a gun. I started to reverse down the driveway. When I took off I heard a shot."

He denied threatening or confronting Graham before the shot was fired.

The case, before Justice Alan Blow, is continuing.

Read more in tomorrow's Mercury.

david.killick@news.com.au¬¬

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State wins, mums lose

Mums and their families have taken an estimated $3 million hit, with the Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan slashing the baby bonus for second and subsequent children.

TASMANIA has been given a $40 million GST revenue boost, after the Federal Government released its mid-year budget report yesterday.

But mums and their families have taken an estimated $3 million hit, with Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan slashing the baby bonus for second and subsequent children to $3000 from $5000 as the Government cuts spending.

The Federal Government's Mid-Year Fiscal Outlook shows Tasmania's GST receipts will be about $40 million higher next financial year than forecast in the State Budget, Premier Lara Giddings said yesterday.

A war of words quickly erupted about how the state should spend its surprise windfall.

Economist Saul Eslake told the State Government to "not spend it on anything", but to lessen debt.

The state Liberals warned the Government to find other ways to boost the economy, on the back of a number of reports during the past week critical of the state's economy.

Federal Labor member for Franklin Julie Collins encouraged the State Government to consider whether any windfall should be placed into infrastructure or back into services.

Ms Giddings, who is also the Treasurer, said yesterday it was too early to determine what impact Commonwealth-announced saving strategies, such as a reduction in the baby bonus, might have on Tasmania.

With an estimated 1700 baby bonus payments made in Tasmania each year, the local economy could lose about $3.4 million a year.

Ms Giddings said despite the fiscal outlook appearing to show a downturn in GST receipts on paper, because of a different methodology used for calculations, State Treasury modelling of the outlook suggests Tasmania will get a $40 million boost in revenue during this financial year and $93 million in the next four years.

Ms Giddings was buoyed by the prediction yesterday, after a lengthy period of decline in GST receipts crimped the Tasmanian Budget.

But she was coy on whether the boost would allow the Government to get next year's Budget into the black.

"While modest, this $40 million increase reverses a trend which has seen Tasmania's share of GST fall dramatically since the height of the global financial crisis," she said.

"This is the sign of confidence growing across Australia."

Ms Collins said yesterday any increase in GST receipts posed a number of questions for the Government to consider.

"The question now for the State Government is: What will it do with the additional funding?" she said.

Ms Collins said Tasmanians needed to have a debate about whether extra money should be invested in education and health, job-creating infrastructure projects, such as the Bellerive Oval development, or both.

Mr Eslake said Tasmania should be holding on to any extra cash it gains, particularly with the Federal Government's GST review still under way.

The review, expected next month, could change the GST carve-up and outweigh any short-term gains.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Peter Gutwein said "the small increase in GST funding is welcome".

"But we've also got to do more to help ourselves."

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Tiger back in Tassie fly zone

The first Tiger Airways flight to Hobart touching down in January 2008.

TIGER Airways is heading back to Hobart next week with a safe and more efficient service, chief executive Andrew David says.

Twice daily flights to Melbourne are scheduled when Tiger returns on November 1, with a third service to be offered during the peak summer period.

Mr David urged Tasmanians to take advantage of its budget flights, rather than relying on Tiger to put downward pressure on rivals' fares.

"All the restrictions put on us by CASA [Civil Aviation Safety Authority] have been cleared, so if anybody is worried about safety, I can tell you ... two million people over the past 12 months can't be wrong," he said.

Tiger announced on Friday that CASA had given it a new Air Operators Certificate which has no restrictions associated with last year's grounding.

The airline has been staging a step-by-step return across Australia since August last year, after its fleet was grounded nationwide by CASA in July.

Mr David said he believed many travellers were concerned about operations and on-time performance and the airline had worked on those.

"Our focus on operational excellence has started to pay dividends." He said last month Tiger had fewer cancellations than its competitors, only 0.6 per cent of flights compared with more than 1 per cent for other airlines.

"We're still operating those very affordable fares." he said.

The temptation for some people was to be pleased Tiger was back and heating up competition but then to fly with other airlines.

"If people want us to stay, they've got to give us a go," he said.

Mr David also praised Tasmania for its status as a hot destination.

It comes after Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania chief Luke Martin said the extra seats added by airlines, including Tiger, could deliver up to 200,000 more tourists to the state.

The extra services mean another 400,000 seats will be available on flights in and out of Tasmania this financial year.

Mr Martin urged people to snap up cheap seats early.

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Mundine's apology 'insincere'

INDIGENOUS Tasmanian music star Dewayne Everettsmith has hit back at Anthony Mundine, saying the controversial boxer isn't welcome in the state after his offensive comments questioning world champion Daniel Geale's heritage.

At a press conference on Thursday to promote their upcoming title fight, Mundine offended Geale and the state's Aboriginal community by saying: "I thought they wiped all Aborigines from Tasmania out", and claiming Geale "doesn't represent us black people".

Mundine apologised for his comments on Friday, but Everettsmith, who has won international acclaim for his role in Tourism Australia's current $250 million advertising campaign, labelled the apology "a joke" and suggested Mundine should do some research on Tasmania's Aboriginal history.

"His comments were so racist and his apology so insincere, he needs to fix this if he ever expects to again be welcome in Tasmania," Everettsmith said.

But Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre legal manager Michael Mansell yesterday accepted Mundine's apology, claiming that "not everything Mundine said was wrong" on the topic of Aboriginal identity.

Mundine expressed concerns about Australians discovering a distant Aboriginal ancestor and using that information to claim Aboriginality. Mr Mansell said the practice had seen the number of Tasmanians claiming to be Aboriginal nearly double in recent years.

"Ordinarily the claims would be dismissed as fanciful, except schools and state governments get extra Commonwealth funding for every child that ticks the box on indigenous," he said.

"The issue that Anthony Mundine has raised will not easily go away until some common sense is put back into processes that are fair, reasonable and transparent."

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$900m road and rail wishlist

SMALL CHANGE: The Brooker Highway wishlist includes $5m for planning the upgrading of the Domain Highway Interchange.

TASMANIA is seeking nearly $900 million from federal coffers for new road and rail projects.

The wishlist includes $240 million to upgrade railway tracks, $128 million to improve safety on the Midland Highway and $142 million for a Perth bypass and associated works linking the Bass and Midland highways.

Twenty-two projects worth $895 million have been proposed in the State Government's submission for the next round of federal infrastructure funding Nation Building 2 which covers the five years from July 1, 2014.

State Infrastructure Minister David O'Byrne, right, said he was hopeful of securing most of the new money.

In the first round Nation Building 1 Tasmania secured more than $800 million for projects such as the Kingston and Brighton bypasses.

"We were pretty successful with the last round but it is a very competitive process," Mr O'Byrne said.

The bulk of the spending, $618 million, would streamline freight transport flows, particularly along the Burnie to Hobart corridor but also for the mines and growing salmon industry on the West Coast.

Smaller amounts would help upgrade the eastern approaches to the Tasman Bridge, parts of the Brooker Highway, the West Coast's Murchison Highway and the Huon Highway-Summerleas Rd intersection.

The submission also included public transport projects.

Civil Contractors Federation state chief executive Tony Cook said his industry was doing it tough and more infrastructure spending could not come soon enough.

"It would give the industry a sense of sustainability," he said.

"In the last round, the money came all in one hit and, along with the federal stimulus money, it put our industry on a high but we fell off it dramatically.

"Companies had to make workers redundant and some companies moved interstate.

"If we don't get some boost we run the risk of losing capacity and skills."

Northern Midlands Council deputy mayor David Downie said the Perth bypass and upgrades to the Midland Highway between Perth and Launceston would improve the economic wellbeing of the region.

"It will take a bottleneck out of the road to Launceston," he said.

"It will also help the transport hub around Launceston airport, which has taken off in the past 10 years and has attracted $1 billion of investment from wind farm manufacturing to the supermarket distribution centre."

Federal Community Services Minister and Member for Franklin Julie Collins said the submission was "a very significant ask".

"I will be doing everything I can to ensure Tasmania gets the best possible deal," she said.

philip.heyward@news.com.au

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Mundine's apology 'insincere'

INDIGENOUS Tasmanian music star Dewayne Everettsmith has hit back at Anthony Mundine, saying the controversial boxer isn't welcome in the state after his offensive comments questioning world champion Daniel Geale's heritage.

At a press conference on Thursday to promote their upcoming title fight, Mundine offended Geale and the state's Aboriginal community by saying: "I thought they wiped all Aborigines from Tasmania out", and claiming Geale "doesn't represent us black people".

Mundine apologised for his comments on Friday, but Everettsmith, who has won international acclaim for his role in Tourism Australia's current $250 million advertising campaign, labelled the apology "a joke" and suggested Mundine should do some research on Tasmania's Aboriginal history.

"His comments were so racist and his apology so insincere, he needs to fix this if he ever expects to again be welcome in Tasmania," Everettsmith said.

But Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre legal manager Michael Mansell yesterday accepted Mundine's apology, claiming that "not everything Mundine said was wrong" on the topic of Aboriginal identity.

Mundine expressed concerns about Australians discovering a distant Aboriginal ancestor and using that information to claim Aboriginality. Mr Mansell said the practice had seen the number of Tasmanians claiming to be Aboriginal nearly double in recent years.

"Ordinarily the claims would be dismissed as fanciful, except schools and state governments get extra Commonwealth funding for every child that ticks the box on indigenous," he said.

"The issue that Anthony Mundine has raised will not easily go away until some common sense is put back into processes that are fair, reasonable and transparent."

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$900m road and rail wishlist

SMALL CHANGE: The Brooker Highway wishlist includes $5m for planning the upgrading of the Domain Highway Interchange.

TASMANIA is seeking nearly $900 million from federal coffers for new road and rail projects.

The wishlist includes $240 million to upgrade railway tracks, $128 million to improve safety on the Midland Highway and $142 million for a Perth bypass and associated works linking the Bass and Midland highways.

Twenty-two projects worth $895 million have been proposed in the State Government's submission for the next round of federal infrastructure funding Nation Building 2 which covers the five years from July 1, 2014.

State Infrastructure Minister David O'Byrne, right, said he was hopeful of securing most of the new money.

In the first round Nation Building 1 Tasmania secured more than $800 million for projects such as the Kingston and Brighton bypasses.

"We were pretty successful with the last round but it is a very competitive process," Mr O'Byrne said.

The bulk of the spending, $618 million, would streamline freight transport flows, particularly along the Burnie to Hobart corridor but also for the mines and growing salmon industry on the West Coast.

Smaller amounts would help upgrade the eastern approaches to the Tasman Bridge, parts of the Brooker Highway, the West Coast's Murchison Highway and the Huon Highway-Summerleas Rd intersection.

The submission also included public transport projects.

Civil Contractors Federation state chief executive Tony Cook said his industry was doing it tough and more infrastructure spending could not come soon enough.

"It would give the industry a sense of sustainability," he said.

"In the last round, the money came all in one hit and, along with the federal stimulus money, it put our industry on a high but we fell off it dramatically.

"Companies had to make workers redundant and some companies moved interstate.

"If we don't get some boost we run the risk of losing capacity and skills."

Northern Midlands Council deputy mayor David Downie said the Perth bypass and upgrades to the Midland Highway between Perth and Launceston would improve the economic wellbeing of the region.

"It will take a bottleneck out of the road to Launceston," he said.

"It will also help the transport hub around Launceston airport, which has taken off in the past 10 years and has attracted $1 billion of investment from wind farm manufacturing to the supermarket distribution centre."

Federal Community Services Minister and Member for Franklin Julie Collins said the submission was "a very significant ask".

"I will be doing everything I can to ensure Tasmania gets the best possible deal," she said.

philip.heyward@news.com.au

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