Labor stands for safe, secure, well-paid jobs.

The latest ABS labour force data reaffirms that the Rockliff Minority Government is bad for jobs, and bad for the economy. Since Premier Rockliff took his government into minority, nearly 7,000 full-time jobs have been lost.

Tasmania’s workforce participation and underemployment levels are a massive handbrake on the State’s economy. Under the Liberals, Tasmania continues to have the weakest participation rate in the nation, 6.7 percentage points below the national average. Underemployment is also the worst in the country, a full percentage point clear of the second worst at 7.4 per cent.

According to research from the TCCI, if Tasmania’s participation rate was at the national average, over 11,000 jobs would be created, households would be $1,500 better off and the State’s economy would be boosted by over $3.7 billion annually.

Labor’s priority is making sure Tasmanians can find work in well-paid, safe, and secure jobs. Boosting workforce participation, getting people into good jobs, is one of the keys to getting our economy back on track.

Working age Tasmanians are leaving our state in search of better opportunities elsewhere. The Government needs to provide better work and study opportunities here in Tasmania and remove barriers to entering the workforce like access to childcare services.

If the Liberals had done more to address these issues in the past 11 years, maybe the Premier wouldn’t be trying to sell off Tasmania’s assets to prop up his busted budget today.

Josh Willie MP
Shadow Treasurer