The eight-year-old Liberal
Government is continuing to fail on the economic basics as Tasmanians face
unprecedented cost of living challenges at the same time household incomes
trail the rest of the nation.
It’s
not surprising that the Rockliff-Ferguson Government brag about CommSec and its
cherry picking from the latest quarterly Deloitte Access Economics Business
Outlook report fails to acknowledge a dire state of affairs for Tasmanian
families under the tired and out-of-ideas Liberals.
CommSec looks at relative
performance of eight indicators compared to each state’s “normal.”
ABS and Deloitte give a truer
picture of the eight indicators – economic growth, retail spending, equipment
investment, unemployment, construction work done, population growth, housing
finance and dwelling commencements – which are all flat or declining.
Recent
Australian Bureau of Statistics data highlight that last quarter Tasmania’s
economy went backwards when every other state grew, our population declined two
quarters in a row and Tasmania’s unemployment rate jumped to the highest of any
state. But you won’t hear that from the Liberals.
The
Deloitte report shows price pressures are “mounting fast” and rising living
costs are placing significant pressure on our state’s ability to attract
workers. Equipment investment has also peaked and building approvals have
cooled.
Additionally,
Tasmania has the lowest employment-to-population ratio of any state by a
country mile and both income per person and employment growth are expected to
remain well below the national average.
Worryingly,
Deloitte backs up the population decline highlighted by the ABS in finding that
Tasmanians have been leaving the state in droves, unable to find well-paying
jobs to meet the demands of a growing housing crisis.
The
forecasts by Deloitte show population growth is well below budget forecasts and
the government has not addressed years of falling housing investment, falling
business equipment investment and stagnating industrial production from
2023-24.
The
mounting economic headwinds need to be managed, but instead the
Rockliff-Ferguson Government continues to impose reckless cost of living
burdens on families including new energy charges, a proposed new slug on water
and sewerage every year for the next four years amounting to almost $400 extra
for every home and a new bin tax which will see council rates increase.
It all adds up to a serious cost of living crisis caused by a Premier and a government who have lost their grip on the basics of economic management.
Shane Broad MP
Shadow Treasurer
