The alarms being sounded on the Rockliff Liberal Government’s catastrophic mismanagement of the budget are becoming impossible to ignore, with global agency Moody’s downgrading Tasmania’s outlook from stable to negative.

The Moody’s downgrade follows S&P Global Ratings’ downgrade from November, and cites the trajectory of the state’s rising debt burden and the inability of the government to turn it around as a key reasons for the decision.

Moody’s projects a rise in Tasmania's debt burden to around 168% in the fiscal year ending June 2028, from 107% in fiscal 2024.

In a damning assessment of Premier Rockliff’s leadership, Moody’s said its decision reflected “the increasing risk that the Tasmanian government will be unlikely to implement sufficiently effective countermeasures to restrain a sharp increase in the debt burden over the next 3-4 years, indicating a weakening in the state's governance.”

In other words, under the Liberals, Tasmania’s debt position is out of control and Premier Rockliff has no plan to turn it around.

This weak leadership and poor financial management will see Tasmanians paying the price for generations to come through higher interest on the Liberals credit card bill.

Josh Willie MP
Shadow Treasurer