Consultant blowout proves Liberals’ waste while cuts hit Tasmanians

Labor is calling on Premier Rockliff and Eric Abetz to put an end to 13 years of Liberal waste in next month’s State Budget.

Since coming to power, the Liberals have overseen a staggering blowout in spending on consultants, with costs spiralling year after year while services are cut.

In 2023-24 alone, the Liberals budgeted $25.5 million for consultants but spent $65.2 million – more than two and a half times what they said it would cost.

The year before, they spent $56.5 million against a $27.3 million budget and last year they blew the budget by $22.6 million.

The Liberals have blown their budgets on consultants, now Eric Abetz is cutting jobs and services to pay for it.

And while Abetz is sharpening the knife, the Government continues to sign off on wasteful consultancy spending:

• $117,000 for public relations advice at TT-Line
• $115,479 for a communications consultant at Hydro
• $65,095 for a communications consultant at Treasury
• $99,900 for “Strategic Advisory Services” at State Growth
• $72,616 for leadership coaching at DPAC

After 13 years of the Liberals, Tasmanians are paying for their waste through cuts to jobs and TAFE.

The Liberals should stop cutting TAFE, stop cutting jobs, and start cutting their wasteful consultant spending instead.