GUNNS’ proposed Bell Bay pulp mill remains one of the few potential kickstarts to the state’s economy, according to the latest national business outlook.
Deloitte Access Economics found in a report released today that Tasmania was one of the few states on the wrong side of the country’s two-speed economy.
“The past couple of years have been pretty tough for Tasmania – retail spending has fallen, housing construction has stagnated and so too have housing prices,” the report said.
“Rental vacancy rates have risen, population growth has fallen and, more recently, employment growth has dried up.”
It said that many of the big construction projects that kept the state afloat during the most recent global financial crisis were coming to an end and there were few similar- sized projects to replace them.
They include the proposed $500 million Central Highlands wind farm development at Cattle Hill, which has still to present a development application to the Central Highlands Council and the $88 million Midlands water scheme, the report said.
“There may also be good news in the offing for the long-awaited Gunns pulp mill, at Bell Bay, ” it said.
The Deloitte Access Economics business outlook found that Tasmanian manufacturing businesses were struggling everywhere, “from carpet to canning and from furniture to forestry”.
The surge of Australians travelling overseas had affected the state’s tourism sector leaving occupancy rates lower than a couple of years ago. Occupancy rates in other states have risen during the same period.
Falling job vacancies suggest that some of these risks will be ongoing, the state’s business investment spending is down and the impact of the federal government’s stimulus withdrawal is hitting harder in Tasmania than in most other states, the report said.
One of the few positives in the gloomy picture painted for the state was that Tasmania’s housing construction levels were close to their average levels for the past decade.
Examiner report is not online
What Mercury says: Grim report for Tassie: HERE
