Today’s jobs data shows more pain ahead for Tasmania, with the unemployment rate up again – in contrast with a fall nationally.
Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show Tasmania’s unemployment rate rose to 4.4 per cent in September – the fifth rise this year and the highest in the country – with 1,400 more Tasmanians unemployed since the start of the year.
Nationally, the unemployment rate fell to 3.6 per cent.
This is yet another sign of the economic storm clouds gathering under Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s leadership, with retail trade declining in Tasmania as the cost-of-living bites deeper and deeper.
Tasmania’s domestic economy has shrunk for three quarters in a row, we have the worst jobs numbers in the country, and business confidence has all but gone down the drain.
Deloitte Access Economics estimates that Tasmania’s economy shrank during 2022-23 and predicts further declines in the year ahead.
Tasmania now has record debt and deficit and Tasmanians are doing it increasingly tough, with the Australian Energy Regulator’s State of the energy market 2023 showing the number of Tasmanians with power debt is up 21 per cent in the past year.
But instead of providing relief, the government continues to punish Tasmanians, with yet another tax – this time a fire tax – set to join the Liberals’ bin tax and a new tax on the salmon industry.
After 10 years in office, the Liberal government is pushing the state further into debt and Tasmanians are paying the price.
Shane Broad MP
Shadow Treasurer
