Tasmania’s stronger population growth is here to stay, forecaster Deloitte Access Economics believes.
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Good global growth and a lower Australian dollar were giving Tasmania its strongest economy in years, Deloitte said.
“Farm exports to Asia and tourists from elsewhere in Oz are creating job opportunities, and that’s attracting more Australians to move to the Apple Isle,” it said.
“The recovery in population growth looks like it’s here to stay.”
Deloitte’s latest Business Outlook report said Tasmania’s economy had a tough time in the decade to late 2016, but the news had been “consistently happier” since.
“Even better, the outlook remains reasonable,” it said.
It noted strong growth in tourism and said export growth had skyrocketed, bucking the national trend.
“China, the largest consumer of Tasmanian exports, has contributed the most to this growth,” it said.
“In part, that’s simply a reversal of low exports over 2016-17, but, nonetheless, exports to China and the ASEAN countries have reached historic highs.
“Both the lower Australian dollar and the ongoing strength of the global economy will support this growth, a happy story for Tasmania given the large share of exports in its economy.”
Shadow Treasurer Scott Bacon said the report confirmed the Tasmanian economy was performing well because the global and domestic Australian economies were growing.
“Deloitte reported that even though Tasmania is enjoying economic growth, its share of Australia’s economy will continue to fall over the medium to longer term,” Mr Bacon said.
“The Tasmanian economy is export orientated, exporting over twice as much as it imports.
“It does well when the Australian dollar is low and not so well when the Australian dollar is high.
”With global and Australian domestic conditions projecting ongoing growth, you would be concerned if the Tasmanian economy was not also performing well.”
He said the state Liberals liked to take credit for good economic conditions, but they could not point to a single economic reform since they took government in 2014.
”Labor continues to be concerned that the positive economic conditions are being wasted,” Mr Bacon said.
“There is no economic reform plan and no strategy.
“When the global economy slows or the Australian dollar rises, this will have a negative impact on the economy.
“The government should acknowledge that and undertake a strategy that will protect the Tasmanian economy from future economic shocks.”
Treasurer Peter Gutwein said: “The report says that the Tasmanian economy is the strongest it has been in years and confirms Tasmania has come a long way since the dark days of the Labor-Green government that had people leaving Tasmania in droves and drove the state into recession.”
“Our economy is strong, Tasmanians are the most confident people in the country and we have achieved the highest numbers on record for international visitors.”
“Tasmania is truly on the cusp of a golden age in the second term of the Hodgman majority Government.”