Tasmania's building approvals data shows huge drop, Labor says

Labor treasury spokesman Shane Broad said the decline in building approvals spelt bad news for the rental market and the state economy.

"This week saw the return of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) reporting data for 2024, with the Liberals starting the year like they ended 2023," Dr Broad said.

"ABS building approval figures showed building approvals in Tasmania have crashed - down 22.6 per cent, which is the worst in the country.

"The number of new houses being built in Tasmania was at its lowest level since 2017."

Government minister Jo Palmer in response said the onus fell on the federal government to reduce interest rate hikes.

"When you have 13 interest rate hikes in a row, it would be fairly obvious to assume that people are not going to be in a position to be putting in applications for building approvals," Mrs Palmer said.

"This is why we need the federal government to get the Australian economy back under control so that we can see those figures return to what they need to be."

Dr Broad said the figures painted a damning picture as Tasmania's cost-of-living crisis worsened.

"Every time the ABS put out statistics, we see bad news for Tasmania," he said.

"Tasmania recorded the weakest retail trade in the country for November, with a 1.3 per cent growth on the previous month compared to a 2 per cent average nationally.

"To round out a bad week of economic data, jobs figures showed vacancies were down by 1200 since February last year as the labour market slows down.

"These figures come off the back of last year's poor performance, which saw business investment nosedive, and the economy forecast to shrink."

Dr Broad said the government must act to reduce the challenges and unnecessary delays to construction.

"What we see in any economy is that building approvals and the building industry is the canary in the coal mine," he said.

"But what we're seeing with this decline in building approvals is that there'll be fewer houses to build in the coming 12 months when there's a desperate need for housing.

"So the government needs to step up and try to work on strategies to increase confidence, things like getting rid of the red tape in the planning approvals processes, but also things like capping energy prices, which will give a little bit more money in people's pockets to spend."