Michael Ferguson,Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing, and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
I thank Premier Peter Gutwein and acknowledge with gratitude all that Peter and his family have given for the welfare and improvement of our great State.
During his time as Premier of our State he has overseen the Government changing so much for the better and I look forward to continuing to focus on matters Tasmanians really care about.
Importantly, we continue to lead the nation in a host of key economic indicators.
Just last week we saw that Tasmania was the strongest State for growth in engineering construction in the December quarter. Demonstrating the strength of the sector, a massive $1.69 billion in engineering construction work was completed in 2021, a new 12-month series record.
There is a significant pipeline of work ahead – the latest infrastructure Tasmania 10 Year Infrastructure Pipeline forecasts more than $22 billion in planned infrastructure investment, the most substantial capital program in Tasmania's history. In addition, there were over 3,700 building approvals in the 12-months to February 2022, maintaining activity at some of the highest levels seen in decades, as the sector builds more houses.
At the height of the pandemic, when things were most uncertain, it was our Government that stepped in to invest for the future, maintaining both confidence and preparing us for exactly where we are now.
We're also taking unprecedented action to assist the housing needs of Tasmanians by undertaking a massive 10 year housing package, in excess of $1.5 billion, to build on our existing reforms and take further action to provide affordable housing for Tasmanians in need.
We are building the infrastructure our State needs and which enables this economic growth. Our record investment into roads, rail and bridges last year was two and half times that spent in the last year of the disastrous former Labor-Green Government.
The improvements to safety and amenity on the Midland Highway are now more than two-thirds complete, on time and on budget, with more projects underway around Oatlands, Ross and Campbell Town soon.
The growth in population and economic activity around Sorell and the Southern Beaches is also being supported by the joint Australian and Tasmanian Government $350 million investment in the South-East Traffic Solution.
On the Bass Highway, the first projects have started under our $280 million joint Australian and Tasmanian Government investments.
We're also modernising our public transport services and fleet with the new, and very popular, Derwent River ferry service which we extended beyond the 12 month trial earlier this year.
To alleviate the impact of current fuel prices, we've introduced free public bus travel across the State for five weeks.
The first week of free public bus services has shown strong results with preliminary figures demonstrating an increase of about 13 per cent, or almost 4,300 passengers a day across the State.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government will continue to focus on making a difference to the lives of Tasmanians for the better.
