The Premier and Treasurer’s inability to answer straightforward questions about Tasmania’s downgraded Standard and Poor’s credit outlook from stable to negative tells you everything you need to know about the state of Tasmania’s finances on their watch.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff blatantly avoided questions about the impacts of the downgraded outlook for Tasmania, which is set to cost the state tens of millions of dollars in higher interest payments on the Liberals record debt.

S&P said “Tasmania’s fiscal metrics are weakening”, noted our “debt burden is rising”, and highlighted the Premier’s irresponsible “spending on election commitments”.

This follows the damning judgement of respected independent economist Saul Eslake, who in August forensically outlined the scale of the Liberals budget mismanagement, with the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in September warning the Liberals’ budget position was “unsustainable”.

The Treasurer today also couldn’t rule out a credit rating downgrade, which looks increasingly likely given Standard and Poor’s have said they will implement one if debt reaches 120 per cent of revenue.

Worryingly, Tasmania is only a whisker away from this number, with debt projected to hit 119 per cent of revenue by 2027.

Since the budget has been delivered, the Liberals have already added approximately $300 million of new spending – or around $10 million of unbudgeted new spending a day inching us closer and closer to the cliff.

It’s clear we need a government that can see the danger ahead, rather than one that pretends everything is fine.

Labor has put forward our ten-point plan for budget repair. It’s a first step and it shows Labor is serious about leading when it comes to repairing Tasmania’s finances.

Josh Willie MP
Shadow Treasurer