Today’s retail figures show that the Government is delivering on its long-term plan to build a stronger Tasmania.
Under the Liberal Government over 6,000 jobs have been created, there is a construction boom under way, business confidence is through the roof and today’s ABS figures show that retail trade is at record highs.
While there is still a long way to go, the November figures released today show that there is strong momentum in our retail sector. In November, Tasmanians spent $464.3 million. In the 8 months since the election, retail trade increased by 3.1 per cent compared with the 8 months prior to March 2014.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many retailers had a strong Christmas trading season and the Australian National Retailers Association forecast that Tasmanians would spend about $637 million over the Christmas period, making it one of our best Christmas retail periods ever.
These figures show that claims by Labor and the unions that reining in the public sector would ruin retail are completely wrong.
Peter Gutwein, Treasurer
