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

I appreciate this opportunity to talk about economic plans. I am particularly pleased that the member for Rankin is in the House, because he was at the heart of the Labor Party's economic plan from 2008 to 2013. I will be saying something about that later on in my speech. Deputy Speaker, I would like to provide you with a case study on economic plans. I am going to use my home state of Tasmania because, by any measure, Tasmania is in a much stronger position today than it was at the time of the 2013 election.

When I went the 2013 election the unemployment rate in Tasmania was 8.6 per cent. I am pleased to say that today it is some 25 per cent lower, at 6.6 per cent, with some 10,000 jobs created. Our state colleagues report that Tasmania's finances are under control. They will be back to surplus in 2017 and every year of the forward estimates. Compare that to the situation that existed when the governor-general opened the 44th Parliament. I listened to her remarks with mixed feelings, because she singled out Tasmania for some special attention. What we heard was a very poor dividend for 16 years of Labor and Labor-Greens government in Hobart and six years of Labor and Labor-Greens government, here, in Canberra. At that time, the unemployment rate in Tasmania was the highest in the country. The participation rate was the lowest.

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