Our plan to secure Tasmania’s future is working

Peter Gutwein,Premier

Treasury’s March Quarterly Report 2020-21 released today shows a continuing improvement in the State’s finances as our economy recovers from COVID-19.

The Report demonstrates that our strong budget management is working, with own-source revenue growing with improvements in property and vehicles sales and increased mineral royalties.

Importantly, these higher revenues are working to reduce the budgeted operating deficit, and as a consequence the year-to-date Net Operating Balance is significantly lower than the forecast for the year.

Our plan to use our balance sheet to invest in our recovery is also working, with modest Net Debt as at March 2021, and also on track to be significantly lower at the end of the 2020-21 financial year compared to the budget forecast.

It follows the Pre-Election Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) released last month which showed significant improvements in our budget and economy, and the Federal Budget released earlier this week which outlined a stronger than expected national recovery and increased revenues, including GST receipts, over the next five years.

With regard to infrastructure spending, it is pleasing to see that despite the significant impact of the pandemic, expenditure is almost 5 per cent higher than at the same time the previous financial year.

These outcomes are no accident, and are the result of the Government’s strong budget management and our strong economic position before the pandemic.

Tasmanian businesses are confident which is resulting in more jobs for Tasmanians. ABS payroll jobs data released earlier this week showed that there are now more jobs than before the pandemic, and 26,800 jobs have been created since we came to Government in 2014.

Tasmanians can be assured that as soon as our re-elected majority Liberal Government is officially sworn in for a third consecutive term, we’ll continue to implement our plan to secure Tasmania’s future, by keeping Tasmanians safe, responsibly managing the Budget, growing our economy and supporting even more jobs for Tasmanians.

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