Tasmania’s economy envy of nation

Peter Gutwein,Premier & Treasurer

The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government has a long term plan to grow our state’s economy and create more jobs and opportunities for Tasmanians.

While Tasmania’s economy is the envy of the nation, with 21,100 more jobs and 2,400 new businesses since we came to Government, we have always maintained there is more to do.

In today’s CEDA speech, I was pleased to outline further priorities for our Government, including action to address climate change.

Tasmania is the national leader on climate change, having first achieved zero net emissions in 2016. We are the nation’s renewable energy state, generating around 25% of the nation’s renewable power and remain on track to be 100% self-sufficient in renewable energy by 2022.

But we can, and should, do more. The Government is determined to take advantage of the opportunities that climate change brings, including Battery of the Nation and Project Marinus which present enormous opportunities for investment, industry, and jobs.

Whilst this Government has already instigated a nation leading tenure blind fuel mitigation program I am of the view that we need to take greater action to reduce the bushfire hazard to protect life, property, infrastructure and the environment. The window to conduct safe bushfire hazard reduction burns is narrowing, and is occurring less frequently than it did in the past.

This is why I have requested advice on making the process of fuel reduction permits easier for landowners and removing red tape around current legislation to ensure fuel reduction measures can be undertaken in a timely way.

The Government is committed to keeping Tasmanians safe, while continuing to deliver on our plan to maintain the current economic momentum and create jobs.

/Public Release. View in full here.