Media release – Guy Barnett, Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing, 28 June 2022
Tasmania’s population booming
In a major revision to population data released today with the 2021 Census, ABS data shows that Tasmania’s population is now 569,800 as at December 2021.
The data shows that Tasmania’s population growth over the year was 0.8 per cent, which was the third-strongest growth in the nation, with our population growing by a significant margin of 4,270 persons.
When we came to Government, Tasmania had one of the lowest growth rates in Australia thanks to the disastrous economic management of the former Labor-Green government.
We committed to reversing that decline, setting a bold and ambitious target to increase the state’s population to 650,000 by 2050, and it is clear that our Plan is working with an increase of 56,100 persons since March 2014.
Labor’s Dr Broad and Rebecca White ought to be embarrassed about having claimed a “people recession” was occurring, as part of their relentless campaign to talk down Tasmania’s success.
These statistics confirm what we already know – that Tasmania is an attractive choice for people looking to live, work and raise a family with an economy that continues to perform strongly, with historically low unemployment.
Rebecca White MP, Labor Leader, 29 June 2022
Census results reaffirm depth of housing crisis
Results of the 2021 Census have reaffirmed the need for urgent and meaningful action to address Tasmania’s housing crisis.
The results show what many Tasmanians already know – a shortage of rental properties, and prohibitive increases in rental costs, especially when compared to average incomes.
The number of unoccupied dwellings has dropped by more than 9 per cent since 2016 – to 29,185 in 2021.
At the same time, the cost of rent keeps rising – but wages are not keeping up, leaving households with less money to pay for other essential items like petrol, groceries and electricity.
Between the 2016 and 2021 Census there were 11 per cent more households paying rent in the range of $275 to $349 and the number of households paying $350 to $449 rent per week increased by 142 per cent.
But during the same period, the number of households earning negative/nil income rose by over 200 per cent, and the number of households earning just $150 to $299 a week was up by 142 per cent.
The Census information underlines the complete lack of action on housing by successive Liberal governments over almost a decade, which has left almost 4,400 families languishing on the public housing waiting list.
The Rockliff-Ferguson government is continuing that tradition of big, empty promises, with nowhere near enough in the recent State Budget to address the lack of affordable or social housing.
Instead of ongoing bad economic management, this governments needs to follow through on its promises, get back to basics and deliver the housing so many Tasmanians desperately need.
