Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

About a year ago I stood in the House and spoke of the dire situation in my home state of Tasmania after 16 years of Labor government. A year later, I stand here much more optimistic about the future, and can report to the House that there have been some welcome improvements.

In Tasmania, the Hodgman Liberal government in Hobart, working with the Abbott government in Canberra, is finally making inroads into the key problems holding Tasmania back. As Premier Will Hodgman says, Tasmania is open for business, our economy is growing and the eyes of the world are upon us. Lonely Planet ranks us as one of the most desirable places in the world to visit, and our clean, green, fresh produce is in increasing demand around the world. Last year, the President of the People's Republic of China, Xi Jinping, and Madam Peng visited Tasmania, and we are working hard to leverage the benefits of the three free trade deals negotiated in 2014 with China, Japan and South Korea by the Minister for Trade and Investment.

A new Department of State Growth has been established by the Hodgman government, and a new Coordinator-General is promoting economic growth and working to secure new investment. The Coordinator-General is located in my home city of Launceston, alongside the federally funded Major Projects Approval Agency, which is currently talking to project proponents with around $700 million of investment in mind.

We are working closely with the Tasmanian state government to invest in critical infrastructure, including major irrigation projects, to transform agriculture. One of these irrigation schemes, in Scottsdale, in my electorate of Bass, will be a strategic enabler of north-east Tasmania's future prosperity. These irrigation schemes will help us grow more and sell more to the rapidly growing middle classes, from India to Asia. By some estimates, that middle class grouping will grow from 500 million people to 1.7 billion people in the next decade. I congratulate the Tasmanian Liberals on their vision to grow the farm gate value of agricultural industries to $10 billion a year by 2050.

The irrigation schemes I mentioned, which the Prime Minister announced in Northern Tasmania just a few weeks ago, are a partnership of $60 million in federal funding and $30 million from the state government coupled with around $27 million from the private sector. They are a genuine partnership with our farmers. This investment will secure 95 per cent water certainty, helping unlock huge agricultural opportunities and the conversion of marginal farmland into something much more productive. We are putting the Labor-Greens dam phobia behind us, to transform our landscape, enhance our agricultural capacity, stimulate on-farm investment and, most importantly, create more local jobs. There are also major infrastructure programs underway. Six major traffic upgrades have commenced on the Midland Highway, founded on the $400 million in federal funds committed to this project.

Since the Tasmanian state election, nearly 7,000 jobs have been created, and employment levels are the highest since December 2008. So I have a much better story to tell about unemployment than was the case a year ago. Tasmania's unemployment rate has fallen to 6.6 per cent from 7.4 per cent this time a year ago. We are finally off the bottom of the national unemployment tables, with unemployment now at a 28-month low. Labour force participation is the highest in three years, meaning that more people are returning to the workforce, with hope about the future. Gross state product is increasing, construction and building activity is booming and retail trade has just had its strongest year.

I congratulate the state Liberal government for driving these improvements in such a short period of time. It has abolished headworks charges, which has doubled development and building assessments in the first six months of operation. The local benefits test championed by my state colleague Adam Brooks has seen over 200 contracts awarded to Tasmanian businesses in the first eight months of operation, almost double what it was in the eight months prior. There is a spring in our step when it comes to the economy, with businesses reporting growth in business confidence that is the highest in the nation. Will Hodgman and his team are doing what they promised in fixing the budget mess left by Labor.

I am proud that with my colleagues Eric Hutchinson and Brett Whiteley, supported by our hardworking Senate team of Eric Abetz, Stephen Parry, David Bushby and Richard Colbeck, we are focused on reinvigorating Tasmania's economy.

House adjourned at 21:29