Delivering the 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.
Speaker,
I am pleased today to deliver the Tasmanian Government’s 2024-25 Budget, which is the first Budget of this 51st Parliament.
The 2024-25 Budget focuses on driving the delivery of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future.
Vitally, it will also enable Tasmania to weather current economic challenges and grasp our unique opportunities.
Introduction
This is an important Budget for Tasmanians. The Tasmanian Liberal Government recognises and acknowledges all Tasmanians including:
- our essential frontline workers who keep us healthy, educated and safe;
- our hardworking community organisations and volunteers who make so much possible;
- our business community who invest and employ;
- the thousands of families who work hard to pay the bills and raise the next generation of Tasmanians; and
- those Tasmanians who are doing it tough and who need a helping hand.
We also recognise Tasmanians who have suffered the trauma of child sexual abuse, and our once in a generation opportunity to respond with justice and empathy.
It is all -the resilient and committed Tasmanians who drive our passion for the delivery of our commitments in our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future, and taking action on the things that matter most to them.
The 2024-25 Budget delivers on the Government’s 2024 election commitments, invests in new infrastructure, fully responds to the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry and contains additional outlays in cost of living relief and stronger public services, including in health, housing, education and transport.
Cost of living
Speaker, our Government recognises the cost of living pressures that all Tasmanians are facing.
Since the 2023-24 Budget, the Tasmanian Government has provided significant assistance to support Tasmanians facing cost of living pressures.
We have provided direct assistance to Tasmanian households and businesses through concession arrangements, energy bill relief and other initiatives aimed at cushioning the financial impacts of cost of living pressures on families. These include helping with bus fares, school and housing costs, and additional emergency food relief.
This Budget helps Tasmanians tackle cost of living pressures more than any budget before. It is one of this Government's core priorities.
In our first 100 days since the 2024 election, we have delivered a real $250 cash credit off the power bills of more than 254 000 Tasmanian households and a $300 credit for each of our small businesses.
In addition, the Budget goes further for small business through a $1.8 million Small Business Energy Audit Program, which is reducing operating costs.
This 2024-25 Budget delivers additional meaningful relief on the cost of living for vulnerable Tasmanians, including more than $460 million over four years for electricity bill relief, half price bus fares, supporting pensioners with the cost of local government rates, and water and sewerage concessions.
The Government has doubled the Healthy School Lunches Program, saving families up to $950 each year and delivered free TV for patients in all our major public hospitals, saving patients up to $80 a week.
We’ve stamped out stamp duty for two years for Tasmanians buying their first home up to a value of
$750 000 and enhanced the MyHome Shared Equity scheme to help more Tasmanians on lower incomes to purchase or build a home with a two per cent deposit.
More recently, our Government has immediately stepped up to assist those Tasmanian households in need as they deal with storm damage and power outages.
We have activated flood assistance grants, food relief grants and now emergency temporary living assistance grants due to significant power outages, with over 20 per cent of our electricity network affected by the recent severe weather event.
And I want to recognise the thousands of hard-working Tasmanian men and women who have worked around the clock to help those in need.
It is that resilience, passion and selfless commitment to our community that should help motivate everything we do in this place.
Our record
Speaker,
The Tasmanian Liberal Government has, since we were first elected in 2014, been committed to making Tasmania the best place to live, work and raise a family.
Creating economic development opportunities and driving job creation has been at the centre of that. In our first Budget we committed to getting the economy and the Budget back on track.
We invested significantly in our Jobs Creation package to create up to 5 000 new jobs. Since then, Tasmania’s employment has grown strongly and there are now around 47 000 more Tasmanians with jobs.
We have invested significantly in services.
Since the 2014-15 Budget, the Tasmanian Liberal Government has taken investment in health services from
$5.8 billion to now $12.9 billion over the Budget and Forward Estimates. Similarly, investment in education has grown from $5.8 billion to now $9.4 billion over the next four years.
When we came to Government, we confronted a significant period of underinvestment and worn-out public assets.
Over the decade, we have made a massive intergenerational investment in bringing our public infrastructure up to scratch, delivering fully $6 billion in new and upgraded assets. These include the stunning new K-block tower and helipad at the Royal Hobart Hospital, the New Bridgewater Bridge, the Midland Highway upgrades, a new high school at Brighton that will accommodate up to 600 students from next year, the
$20 million redevelopment of the Penguin District School, as well as major investments in port, rail and irrigation infrastructure that have facilitated massive investments and jobs in our industries.
Challenges
Speaker, when I delivered the 2023-24 Budget last year, we could see the storm clouds visible on the horizon, and it was apparent that challenging economic headwinds were heading our way.
Emerging from the pandemic, we acknowledged that our decisions to keep Tasmanians safe were a significant financial commitment to protect jobs, the economy and most importantly the long-term security of Tasmania.
The Government recognised the early signs of a softening national economy. With the national economy slowing, so have GST receipts. This is further impacting state budgets, including ours. To demonstrate, Treasury advise that Tasmania’s GST revenue has been revised down by $389.8 million over the Budget and Forward Estimates since last year.
High national inflation led to the Reserve Bank of Australia raising interest rates 10 times in 12 months, with a further three rate rises since then as the RBA raced to rein in inflation. In 2022, the Federal Treasurer urged governments not to make the RBA’s job harder.
Now, rather than protecting this important institution, Dr Chalmers is making the central bank the scapegoat for the Australian Government’s own economic decisions which have hit families and businesses hard.
The Australian Government has failed to slay the inflation dragon as promised and continues to shift costs to the states from federal responsibilities like Medicare, which should fund General Practice medical services, aged care services, NDIS, energy bill relief and even employment services.
Nonetheless, the Tasmanian Liberal Government recognises the extraordinary growth in the cost of living that these decisions have caused – at the supermarket, at the doctor’s surgery, at the petrol bowser and most significantly in the cost of mortgages and rents.
Through our shared commitment to all Tasmanians, as a Government and as a Parliament, it is incumbent on us to do what we can to ease that burden, to provide stronger public services, to make it easier to do business and to support those on fixed and low incomes.
And after all, that is what Government and Parliament is here to do – to deliver services, to build economically productive assets and to establish a brighter future for all Tasmanians within the resources we have.
As any Government does, we have had to face our share of challenges and make the difficult decisions. The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly challenging. The Government and this Parliament did not hesitate to do what was needed to keep our community safe and our economy alive. However, that collective action came at a significant cost, with the estimated impact of the pandemic between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
Similarly, in light of growing evidence of criminal actions and poor oversight over many years, and under successive state governments of all colours, we took action to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s response to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings.
We did not shy away from what the Commission found. As we progressively implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, we will not ever forget the mission of victim-survivors and whistleblowers who shared their stories. We need to make sure that what happened to them never happens to any Tasmanian children and young people in future.
The recent Preliminary Outcomes Report for 2023-24 has recognised for the first time what righting the wrongs of that shameful past will cost, with a provision of $646.9 million for the estimated cost of current and future claims against the State for crimes committed against those who should have been kept safe.
These wrongs date back over four decades and are our collective responsibility that we need to meet.
Speaker, the 2024-25 Budget provides funding of $423 million over four years to fund all of the 191 recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry.
Together with the funding provision allocated in 2023-24, this means that more than $1.1 billion will be provided from Tasmania’s public finances to address the shortcomings in our protective systems, to keep children safe and to appropriately compensate those who suffered harm.
Like the impact of the pandemic, this will further challenge the State’s finances, but it is necessary and it is right. We need to meet these responsibilities.
Budget context
Speaker, it is with all this in mind that the Government approached the development of the 2024-25 Budget.
In considering the choices we had to make, the Government has examined achievements to date, the challenges that we have faced over the past 10 years, and the new difficulties that we have in front of us.
More importantly, we have also carefully considered how to improve the health of our public finances while not causing any disruption to the growth we are seeing in the Tasmanian economy.
We asked: How quickly should we return the Budget to surplus? How much support does our economy need? What are our responsibilities to vulnerable Tasmanians? How do we pursue our unique opportunities? And how much debt can be managed as we build new assets for current and future generations?
The Independent Review of Tasmania’s State Finances by Mr Saul Eslake has provided a thought-provoking commentary on these matters. While we will carefully consider and respond to Mr Eslake’s findings and recommendations, in many ways that review is consistent with the Government’s new Fiscal Strategy that was presented in last year’s Budget. The new Fiscal Strategy was also commended by ratings agencies and it will continue.
In developing the 2023-24 Budget last year, the Government recognised that prudent corrective action was required and implemented a modest Budget efficiency program aimed at reducing unnecessary expenditure and reducing programs that no longer align with the Government’s strategic priorities. It is notable that Mr Eslake argues there are ample opportunities for improving both the efficiency and effectiveness of current spending.
Our budget efficiencies equate to a saving in this year of 50 cents out of every $100 of Government spending.
This level of efficiency is much more modest than the planned savings from Labor’s 2011-12 Budget, which in the first year equated to $3.73 out of every $100 and grew to $4.95 out of every $100 in the final year.
The total savings measures represent just 1.6 per cent of operating expenses over the Budget and Forward estimates. After taking into account the savings measures across the Budget, additional operating funding has increased by 3.2 per cent overall.
In short, for every dollar of efficiencies the Government has committed over $3 in new funding. And we can do this without increasing taxes.
Speaker, to be clear – the Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to no new or increased taxes.
As part of the Government’s consideration of the issues we face, it is our judgement that now is not the time to be increasing the burden on Tasmanian households and businesses just to deliver a surplus in the near term.
Nor will the Government be implementing a slash and burn or austerity approach to rebuilding Tasmania’s public finances, with the job losses and destruction of business confidence that would naturally follow a sudden fiscal contraction as we saw in 2011.
Tasmania’s debt position reflects the Government’s investments to grow our economy, deliver intergenerational infrastructure assets, and meeting our responsibilities and the challenges we have faced in recent years.
Tasmania’s Net Debt remains low compared to other states and territories, being the lowest on a nominal basis and the third lowest as a percentage of Gross State Product, the key measure of the productive value of our economy.
As part of our program to restore Tasmania’s finances, the Government is committed to improving our key fiscal measures over the medium term.
The 2024-25 Budget has been developed with a view to returning the Budget to a balanced position by 2028- 29 and a Net Operating Surplus by 2029-30.
The economy
Despite the challenges in the national economy and the inflationary pressures that are hitting family and business budgets, Tasmania has proven to be resilient.
Tasmania has now enjoyed the longest run on record of the unemployment rate starting with a ‘4’; for nearly three years now it has been 4.2 per cent or less. Our population continues to grow and is the highest it has ever been with nearly 575 000 Tasmanians.
Since the pandemic our exports sector has continued to prosper, thanks in part to our trade missions, and the annual value of merchandise exports has been consistently between $4.3 and $4.7 billion since reopening the borders in 2021.
With a strong jobs market, retail sector and exports trade, it is no wonder that over the past six years Tasmania has been the strongest performing state economy in the country. We have done this together, despite the impacts of the pandemic, 13 interest rate rises and stubborn national inflation.
The recent National Accounts data from the ABS shows that Tasmania’s domestic economic activity in the four quarters to June was at an all-time high, but the Government does not take it for granted.
The sluggish growth observed nationally is undoubtedly cause for concern. Treasury’s budget forecasts of the economy are necessarily cautious, but they remain positive.
We have reason for optimism, and as leaders in our community we have a responsibility to talk up Tasmania. That’s because business confidence is about belief in the future of our State.
It’s that confidence and belief that means our young people get those apprenticeships, business leases get signed, new homes get built and exciting major developments get the go-ahead.
Those who continually talk Tasmania down are not the ones who pay the price for their negativity. Our business community is looking to us.
They know our economy is resilient and strong despite all the headwinds. But they want and need us to be positive, not reckless; to demonstrate stability, not just promise it.
Because our businesses depend on this Parliament to not talk Tassie down, but to be positive and work together for stability and optimism.
Budget priorities
Speaker,
The Tasmanian Liberal Government’s 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future will continue to invest in the services and infrastructure Tasmanians need and deserve.
We will continue to invest in supporting our economy to grow, with a strong investment of $5.1 billion in infrastructure over the next four years.
This investment is central to our Plan for Tasmania’s future, by providing contemporary productive assets and also by supporting thousands of jobs and skilled training positions during construction.
Of this $5.1 billion, $1.9 billion is dedicated to roads and bridges and we are investing $650 million in our hospitals and health services and $359 million in schools and education facilities.
The Budget continues the New Bridgewater Bridge, with $786 million in funding – making this the biggest transport infrastructure project in Tasmania’s history, at the same time significantly improving safety and transport efficiency.
This is coupled with the completion of the $605 million Midland Highway Action Plan, with only 10 kilometres of upgrades remaining to be done this summer.
Of the health investment, an additional $291 million has been provided to support our major health projects, including Stage 2 of the Launceston General Hospital redevelopment and the St Johns Park Health and Wellbeing precinct.
$4 million is being invested to provide additional beds at the Mother and Baby Unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Federal cost-shifting
These investments are important, but like all other states and territories, Tasmania relies on an important and long-standing partnership with the Australian Government, with its much greater revenue capacity to help to fund the new roads, hospitals, bridges and other economic assets that all of us need.
Partnerships require a shared commitment, but in recent times the Australian Government has been choosing to cost shift to the states instead of meeting its well-known responsibilities.
We have seen it in the recent national housing reform agreement which actually left Tasmania worse off.
We know that the Commonwealth Contribution Rate to the costs of healthcare nationally has been getting worse, not better over recent years, and is now well below the appropriate funding level of 45 per cent at just 38.25 per cent.
The Australian Government has been failing Tasmanians in regional communities by not ensuring that GP health care is viable and accessible.
The Rockliff Liberal Government has had no choice but to step in because we will not allow our people to suffer at the hands of an indifferent national government more interested in the Save Medicare slogan before elections than actually doing it when in office.
The Tasmanian Government has made a number of commitments to new infrastructure which depend on the Commonwealth contributing. These include road projects, health infrastructure and the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme – all critically important to our communities. We are committed to these projects, and for the first time have documented these projects in the Budget papers for all to see.
We will nonetheless keep progressing these projects in anticipation of the federal funding we are calling for. We stand ready, willing and able to bring them forward as soon as those funds are committed.
Noting that we are heading into what will be a closely fought federal election, the Tasmanian Government will advocate very strongly for the Commonwealth to step up and meet its responsibilities to deliver the infrastructure that Tasmanians need and deserve.
On this point the Tasmanian Government also reinforces our position that the GST no-worse-off guarantee must be made permanent.
The 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future
Our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future does not wait, it takes action right now.
Minister Ellis continues to deliver on our $1.5 billion plan to provide 10 000 more social and affordable homes by 2032, and the Government through Homes Tasmania will invest a massive half a billion dollars over the next four years to meet this goal.
The Private Rental Incentive Scheme has also been expanded with an additional 200 homes – providing housing to eligible low-income Tasmanians at an affordable rent.
Minister Palmer is building the future of Tasmanian students, with major infrastructure upgrades planned for 15 Tasmanian schools across the State. Since 2014, we have upgraded more than 70 schools, but we want this for those schools that need major upgrades. This investment will deliver the education facilities that our students deserve, in every region.
The School Improvement Program will ensure that we are able to respond to school maintenance and improvement needs as and when they arise. This is a brand new initiative and credit belongs to the crossbench who proposed it – we agree.
$45 million is being invested to construct a brand new purpose-built North-West Support School in Devonport and deliver significant upgrades to the North-West Support School’s Burnie campus, ensuring that students with a disability have access to the best, modern facilities. Whether these young Tasmanians will achieve Paralympics glory or the daily dignity of work, sport and learning, we believe in their potential and are backing them in 100 per cent.
Our investment in early childhood education and care includes four new supersized Child and Family Learning Centres in Scottsdale, Huonville, Smithton and Longford which will provide support from psychologists, speech pathologists and social workers for zero-to five-year-olds, some of our most precious Tasmanians.
Minister Abetz is expanding our public transport services and progressing key commitments to deliver congestion relief and encourage public transport uptake. This includes $20 million in capital infrastructure to build three new ferry terminals to expand our very successful Derwent Ferry Service, commencing at Lindisfarne, then Sandy Bay and Wilkinson’s Point.
Minister Barnett is getting on with our health worker recruitment blitz to employ an additional 44 doctors and 25 nurses at the Royal Hobart Hospital, significantly boosting resources in the recently expanded Emergency Department. Our targeted incentives will not only bring more nurses to Tasmania but keep them here.
We are investing $17.5 million over four years to deliver our GP NOW Rapid Response Unit, and $3.4 million to recruit 40 new doctors to our rural and regional areas for five years. Given the lack of commitment from Canberra, we are also meeting their responsibilities.
These recruitment measures will complement our significant investments in health infrastructure and diagnostic facilities.
The Government has allocated $40 million for the medical equipment fund, to ensure that our medical professionals have the critical equipment needed to continue our focus on elective surgery. And a new surgical robot for the Launceston General Hospital surgeons to save lives and retain these skilled clinicians.
The Government’s redevelopment of the St Johns Park health care precinct will see 39 new mental health beds, and a dedicated child and adolescent mental health inpatient unit, and a new 40-bed older persons mental health facility to replace Roy Fagan, providing much needed support to Tasmanians.
Minister Barnett will also be overseeing the delivery of a new Devonport Mental Health Hub and a new purpose-built mental health precinct at the Launceston General Hospital.
And to support the ongoing rollout of new ambulance stations across the State, the Government is progressing our plan to employ 78 new full-time paramedics, including 27 community paramedics. It’s a huge health investment in every region.
Speaker, Minister Ellis is also delivering on the Government’s commitments in the 2030 Strong Plan to keep Tasmanians safe, with more than $148 million in new supports that will bolster our frontline police services.
The Tasmanian Government has been working to restore our police service and this investment further boosts our frontline capabilities, delivers record police recruits and greater services to our rural and regional communities.
The recruitment of an additional 60 police officers will take our police service to the highest level in history.
We are also making sure that all our police officers have the necessary equipment to continue to enforce the law and deal with those who cause harm to others.
We are also backing in our fire and emergency services with more than $140 million of new investments for our people, equipment and infrastructure - significantly bolstering capability to protect our community.
A key part of the 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future is the delivery of three new Emergency Services Hubs at Kingston, Rosebery and Wynyard.
Minister Ogilvie will be ensuring the necessary investment is made to upgrade and enhance our correctional facilities to improve rehabilitation and reduce reoffending.
In a boost for community safety, we are boosting our nation leading Electronic Monitoring program to deter domestic and family violence offenders and enforce home detention. This is the way to go – it’s not only good for the Budget, it’s good for society.
Minister Ogilvie has expanded the Just Healthy Families Program to provide easier access to legal services and advice for those impacted by family violence.
Minister Jaensch is supporting carers, our wonderful Neighbourhood Houses, Meals on Wheels, our emergency food vans, and countless other community and volunteer organisations that continue their vital work in our community. This includes funding for the gambling support program and a range of financial, counselling and support services.
Minister Jaensch is investing in new reforms to ensure that children are safe in detention, with the employment of additional youth workers and additional funding for community youth justice and early intervention and diversionary services.
These are vital services that will address underlying offending behaviours and support our youth to reintegrate into their communities.
And, we are providing $120 million over four years to meet the costs of Out of Home Care to foster and kinship care, respite and salaried care, and Special Care Packages, all designed to keeping our children safe.
Minister Street will be delivering the Government’s new Ticket to Wellbeing program to get more older Tasmanians participating in active recreation, building on the runaway success of our Ticket to Play program for children.
This is in addition to more than $86 million over four years in investment to support active initiatives, sporting organisations and recreational infrastructure in every region of Tasmania.
Minister Ellis will be working to ensure that young Tasmanians are equipped to pursue careers in our high demand industries, with $30 million of investment to deliver new and upgraded VET facilities and industry standard equipment at colleges, secondary schools and Trade Training Centres.
He is also ensuring that there are more TasTAFE and VET course places to help Tasmanians get the skills they need for this vibrant labour market.
These initiatives will help Tasmania to remain a business-friendly environment and ensure that more of our people can get secure, rewarding jobs.
In line with the commitments in our Strong Plan, we are continuing to enable our dedicated small business sector to capitalise on opportunities with new grants of up to $10 000 for small capital purchases.
We are also partnering with our regional chambers of commerce to deliver the Small Business Growth Strategy and continuing to support the Tasmanian Small Business Council to in turn support and advocate for Tasmanian small businesses.
As the new Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs, I will be a fierce advocate for this critically important sector of our economy and look forward to delivering for Tasmanian business.
Our Premier is also working alongside our business community to identify trade diversification opportunities, support our growing export sector and to drive industry development and innovation. Growing our exports means more jobs for Tasmanians.
In recognition of the significant contribution our tourism industry makes to the State, injecting more than
$3.5 billion per annum into the Tasmanian economy and employing over 19 000 Tasmanians, Premier Rockliff is progressing the initiatives in the 2030 Visitor Economy Strategy to firmly cement Tasmania’s reputation as a world-leading tourist destination.
With new and innovative marketing, leveraging opportunities with the aviation sector and partnering with industry, we are confident that together we will see more visitors to our island State, creating thousands of jobs for Tasmanians and boosting our economy.
This is in addition to the work Minister Duigan is doing to keep our beautiful national parks pristine and accessible, delivering outstanding experiences that Tasmanians and our visitors will never forget.
And Minister Street will build on this investment with support for key events, visitation initiatives and the showcasing of the world’s best food, beverages and experiences right here on our amazing island.
Minister Abetz is supercharging the Tasmanian Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy and Minister Howlett is delivering on our commitment to boost the successful Strategic Industry Partnership Program, with
$2.5 million to assist peak bodies and agricultural organisations to really help primary producers and agribusinesses achieve commercial success and farmgate profit.
This is in addition to providing low-interest loans through the AgriGrowth Loans Scheme, as well as new loans of up to $250 000 under the Young Farmer Support Package.
Minister Howlett is also ensuring that we protect Tasmania’s borders with a further $12.2 million investment in biosecurity to strengthen and protect our regions and is delivering drought relief and significant funding to support the mental health and wellbeing of the farming community during recent challenging times.
This is in addition to important actions to improve animal welfare in Tasmania, with new funding of $3.2 million over four years for the RSPCA inspectorate, to enable it to effectively carry out its important work.
Minister Duigan will be managing the investment of almost $82 million over the next four years to support new renewable energy generation in Tasmania. This will create even more rewarding jobs for Tasmanians and deliver on our commitment to keep Tasmania’s power prices the lowest in the nation. That’s right, the lowest in the nation.
Difficult decisions
Speaker, in every Budget the Government and the Parliament as a whole are faced with many difficult decisions, every one of which has a financial consequence. It is, after all, what we have been elected to do.
Many good ideas are put forward, but it is not possible to fund or implement them all.
Some Members demand more spending on Monday but complain about debt on Tuesday. Our community deserves better.
Collectively however, we hope to make good decisions that future generations will regard as fair and prudent.
We have unquestioningly incurred significant costs in responding to the pandemic, and we have not walked past the obligation to address the wrongs of the past and the historical shortcomings in our protection of children in our care.
Investing $6 billion in infrastructure since 2014 that was greatly needed has proven to be the right call. And we have a lot to show for that investment in every city, suburb and town.
To say otherwise is an affront to the many men and women who have built our hospitals, roads and bridges, schools, port, rail and irrigation assets – the largest modernisation of our infrastructure in the State’s history.
The management of Tasmania’s finances is complex, with operational services spanning many areas of need, employing thousands of valued frontline workers and investing significantly to deliver what our community rightfully expects.
Whilst the State’s finances are challenged, we are pushing through the national economic headwinds that we face. And we will emerge stronger and more secure.
Overcoming challenges and adversity with persistence and tenacity is part of the Tasmanian character. Let’s never lose that character. Let’s not become stuck in the malaise of whinging.
For us, on behalf our community, we can work through our present challenges together to achieve that positive future our kids deserve to inherit.
The 51st Parliament is diverse and calls for a new way of working. That of working together in unity, with a common purpose, to deliver stable government and to make good decisions for Tasmanians.
There will not always be complete agreement on the investments that should or should not be made. But we must at least agree that our focus is on making Tasmania a better place to work, to run a business and to enjoy life with our family and friends.
Ultimately it is the Government that sets the agenda, and we know it is incumbent on us to seek consensus and work constructively achieve our goals for Tasmania’s future.
Closing remarks
The 2030 Strong Plan is our way of bringing this focus to fruition and making the State stronger than we found it.
Speaker, you will have noticed in this speech I have several times used the word ‘resilience’.
We have seen outstanding examples of the resilience of our fellow Tasmanians in the last couple of weeks, as people have dealt with floods, storm and wind damage that impacted their homes, businesses and local communities.
Each night on the news we have seen examples of people coming together to help one another.
Together with all the members of the Rockliff Liberal Government, we are confident that our State’s economy will exhibit the same resilience.
We know that people are doing it tough, and the reasons for it. In response, we are determined to take our responsibilities seriously, to make balanced decisions and to manage prudently for the future.
We have charted our course.
Last year’s Budget continued the momentum we needed, and the many careful decisions we’ve taken in this year’s Budget will position us again to weather the national inflation storm and get Tasmanians through safely, together and to an even more positive future.
With the support of each member of this Parliament, we can bolster our economy, reinforce its resilience, and progress and improve our wonderful State for the benefit of every person who calls Tasmania home.
Speaker,
I commend the Bill to the House.