Tim Morris: Response to Commsec Report

The Tasmanian Greens Treasury spokesperson Tim Morris MP said Tasmania’s unacceptably high unemployment rate was the most important issue arising from the latest Commsec State of the State report.

“The unemployment rate in Tasmania is still too high, and clearly much more needs to be done to encourage jobs growth in Tasmania,” Mr Morris said.

“That means creating confidence, and providing the right support to the private sector that’s needed to encourage more hiring of new workers.”

“Craig James has rightly pointed out that Tasmania’s brand is our greatest economic asset, and that our future lies in taking advantage of our natural economic strengths.”

“That means staying the course, and continuing the transformation of our economy away from undiversified and unsustainable legacy industries and toward new-generation industries.”

“Nobody said that the shift to a modern, diversified economy would be an easy job, or that it would happen overnight.”

“Tasmania’s economy is heading in the right direction, so the last thing we should be doing right now is listening to anyone selling snake oil about a return to the past.”

“The low growth in retail spending means is not all bad news, and is largely a reflection of the fact Tasmanians are saving more money than in previous years.”

“Tasmanians are cautious about spending right now, but their confidence will return and the money saved today will flow back into the economy tomorrow.”

“We should also not fall into the trap of believing that rapid population growth is the key to economic growth, as the report appears to suggest.”

“Tasmania’s population is still growing, but it needs to grow at sustainable and manageable rate.”

“We also need to be careful about falling into the trap of comparing the current rate of growth in Tasmania to the growth rate several years ago, which was an aberration.”

“Several years ago, Tasmania was on an unsustainable growth trajectory that was fuelled in large part by rapid growth in personal debt.”
Tim Morris MP Greens Treasury Spokesperson