Tasmania leads way again in State of States CommSec Report

Peter Gutwein,Premier and Treasurer

Tasmania has once again been ranked the best performing economy in the nation.

The latest CommSec State of the States Report for October 2020 has now ranked Tasmania first in the country for three quarters in a row.

Tasmania comes out on top in five economic indicators, including relative population growth, equipment investment, housing finance, dwelling starts and retail trade.

CommSec found that equipment investment was up 15.2 per cent on the decade average, demonstrating the resilience and confidence of our business sector.

We also came out on top when it comes to retail rankings, with CommSec noting that “Success in suppressing the virus and higher home prices have supported retail spending.”

CommSec found that Tasmania was one of just two jurisdictions to see higher employment over the year, with Tasmania seeing 0.5 per cent more jobs, than September last year, and Tasmania recorded the highest rate of wage growth over the year to June as well. The fact is that 12,400 Tasmanians have returned to work since the height of the pandemic’s impacts in May, and there are more Tasmanians employed than this time last year.

This Report is again more proof that because we entered the pandemic from a position of strength, with one of the strongest economies in the nation and no net debt, we were able to use our balance sheet as an economic stabiliser, delivering the largest economic and social support package in the nation as a proportion of our economy, at over $1 billion.

This support has helped to sustain our economy, with CommSec finding that activity in the June Quarter was still 20 per cent higher than the decade average.

Given our leading relative population growth, it is no surprise that our strong building and construction sector was evident in the Report, with Tasmania ranked first for home finance and dwelling starts as we continue to build more homes for Tasmanians. Our $3.1 billion construction blitz, including our HomeBuilder programs, will underpin around 15,000 jobs, and will help to stimulate demand as we recover from the pandemic.

While our road to recovery won’t be easy, the Government is doing everything it can to support confidence, drive investment and create jobs, and this Report is proof that we’re delivering on our plan and doing exactly that.

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