It has taken just two months for Jeremy Rockliff and his Treasurer to drive Tasmania into a technical recession.
For the second quarter in a row, State Final Demand has gone backwards. After shrinking 1.5 per cent in the December quarter, Tasmania's domestic economy has fallen another 0.6 per cent.
As Peter Gutwein used to repeatedly say, State Final Demand is the key measure of Tasmania's economic performance.
Tasmania is the only state to go backwards and our economy is now $220 million smaller than it was last September.
This result has been caused by falling business investment-down $261 million compared to the September quarter-and falling household spending driven by Tasmanians tightening their belts because of the cost-of-living crisis.
This comes on the back of Tasmania's population shrinking for two quarters in a row, as our young people once again move to the mainland seeking better pay and cheaper housing.
Business confidence is also down, the budget is in deep trouble-with the Government borrowing three and a half million dollars every day for the next four years on the way to record debt of $5.2 billion-and consumer confidence has taken a battering.
As these figures make abundantly clear, Jeremy Rockliff has dropped the ball on the basics of economic management.
He is too weak to make the tough calls, and his Treasurer is too incompetent to make the right ones.
Shane Broad MP
Shadow Treasurer
