The Hodgman Liberal Government wants to put Tasmania back on a path for long term population growth by promoting Tasmania as a great place to live, work, study and invest.

In particular we want to ensure that Tasmania is seen as a great place to raise a family.

Population growth strengthens the economy, creates more job opportunities and creates a stronger community by increasing diversity. That’s why we have a bold and ambitious target to increase Tasmania’s population to 650,000 by 2050.

The strategy includes a targeted and comprehensive set of actions aimed at encouraging more people to our state through job creation, migration and ensuring Tasmania is recognised as the great place it is to live, work, study and invest. While this will not be easy, and there are no silver bullets, this must be done to ensure we are giving our State the strong and positive future it deserves.

The Government will invest $10 million over the next four years to implement the Population Growth Strategy released today.

This blueprint for our future outlines 50 targeted and comprehensive actions for Governments, stakeholders and the community across three key areas, including;

• Job creation and workforce development – we will facilitate job creation and opportunities in the State to enable people to move to, and stay in, Tasmania. We will also identify and promote current and future employment opportunities, to enable us to target our education and training systems to provide skills for Tasmanians as well as inform our migration attraction strategies.
• Migration – we will actively pursue and facilitate overseas and interstate migration to Tasmania and encourage Tasmanians living elsewhere to come home.
• Liveability – we will build and promote Tasmania’s liveability, to attract and retain people in Tasmania. We will foster a culture which is vibrant, inclusive, respectful and supportive.

We know that if we can reduce the average number of people leaving Tasmania every year by a quarter we will go much of the way to achieving a long term sustainable population growth rate and achieve our target. That’s why we will be working hard to retain our best and brightest in Tasmania.

We know the best way to have people move to and stay in Tasmania is to create jobs and this strategy will facilitate job creation through actively pursuing investment and business relocation and invest in real skills for real jobs.

The Government wants people from all walks of life to feel welcome in Tasmania and have the opportunity to contribute positively to our community and economy. We recognise the critical importance of our migrant communities to the future prosperity of Tasmania and that’s why this strategy is about actively pursuing overseas migration, increasing our share of humanitarian entrants and increasing the number of international students.

One of the key actions to be implemented will be the establishment of an ex-pat network. We want to better connect with Tasmanians all over the world and show them the opportunities that are waiting for them back home. We want them to know and to have the confidence that there will be a pathway for them to return, when they are ready, and to bring the wealth of knowledge and experience back with them.

I want to celebrate the successes of Tasmanians and share what is possible here. I want Tasmanians to be able to achieve that work life balance to which so many people now aspire: the opportunity to participate in meaningful employment while also leading an active and fulfilling life.

We must take action on population growth and plan for our state’s future. Tasmania’s population currently stands at around 515,000 and we have the oldest and slowest-growing population in the country. If current trends continue, the ABS and Tasmanian Treasury predict that Tasmania’s population will be in decline by 2050.

A declining population will result in a slowing economy, fewer people in our workforce to support those unable to work and a reduced capacity to fund essential services such as education and health.
On the other hand, stronger population growth will support stronger economic growth. Economies with larger populations sustain a broader range of industries and provide a wider range of employment opportunities.

We cannot afford to wait. Population change takes time. I recognise that the population target we have set for Tasmania is bold and ambitious, but it is a challenge we are ready to take on. We will only achieve our target with strategic intervention which will require short, medium and long term action involving cooperation between government, industry and the broader community.
Matthew Groom, Minister for State Growth