Tasmania’s economic results going from strength to strength

Lara Alexander,Liberal Member for Bass

Since coming to Government, the outgoing Premier and Treasurer Peter Gutwein has turned our economy from laggard to nation-leading on many indicators, and as the newest Member for Bass, I join with all Tasmanians in thanking him for his outstanding service to our State.

His record, and that of the Tasmanian Liberal Government, speaks for itself.

There are now more Tasmanians in work than ever before, and our unemployment rate is at a near-record low of 3.9 per cent, and lower than the national rate.

Record numbers of women are now employed, at 127,700.

Since coming to Government in 2014, 31,000 jobs have been created and our unemployment rate is a massive 3.7 percentage points lower.

There are nearly twice as many job vacancies now than before the pandemic, giving Tasmanians more opportunities to work in all three regions.

Since coming to Government, business investment has grown by 42 per cent, State Final Demand has grown by 25 per cent, and our economy is 16.1 per cent bigger.

In fact, last financial year, our economy grew by 3.8 per cent in real terms – Tasmania’s fastest economic growth in thirteen years.

And these great results have continued today, with new ABS data showing that exports have reached a new record high of over $4.55 billion in the 12 months to February 2022. This is 25 per cent higher than the year before, as our export sector goes from strength to strength, and is 64.5 per cent higher than when we came to Government in 2014.

Premier Peter Gutwein’s legacy is secure and the Government will continue to deliver our plan to grow our economy, create jobs, and provide opportunities for a better life here in Tasmania.

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