Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If that is what the people of the member for Sydney's electorate are really interested in, then she believes in fairies at the bottom of the garden! Tasmania, on the other hand, is indeed open for business. Tasmania and, in particular, my electorate of Lyons has turned a corner and, once more, we are open for business. Employment is at the highest levels since December 2008. Unemployment is down to 6.6 per cent, from 7.4 per cent this time last year. It is not that long ago under Labor and the Greens that it had an eight in front of it. New company registrations are up 12.3 per cent, since 2013. That is very pleasing news for those innovators within the private sector. There is innovation everywhere!

We have turned the corner. The economic story no longer reads of depression and investment anxiety; rather it is one of confidence and excitement with business investment increasing every day. If we look at it sector by sector in terms of agriculture, one of the major drivers of course within our state's economy but also nationally, we see that the NAB monthly business survey: August showed that Tasmanian business confidence was sitting at an indicator level of plus 12 points, compared to the national average of plus one point.

For example, in the past financial year Tasmania exported $28.1 million worth of cheese to the world. That is why Tasmania is the third largest producer of milk in the country and we are fast catching New South Wales in that respect. The free trade agreements with China, Japan and South Korea are particularly important to my state. A hundred and eighteen million dollars worth of other milk products have been exported. This has been supported, of course, by the expansion and the investment made with the tranche 2 irrigation schemes. There have been $56½ million of fruit and vegetables in part because of the South Korean and Japanese free trade agreements that we have already concluded. I could give an example of Tim Reid, who is exporting cherries to South Korea. When we took the 24 per cent tariff off that particular market, he went from about 10 tonnes to 180 tonnes in a matter of 12 months.

There are 2,134 agricultural businesses that exist within my electorate of Lyons, and they represent over 30 per cent of the economic activity. This is why the free trade agreements are so important to our state in terms of China, Japan and South Korea. There was $147 million of salmon exported last year from Tasmania. The 12 per cent reduction in tariffs for the Chinese free trade agreement over four years would indeed be welcome for that sector, but that does not even compare with the 15 people cent that will be removed from rock lobster, another important industry in my electorate, and 14 per cent from abalone at the same time. Tassal in my electorate have just recently expanded their waste product at Triabunna in my electorate on the east coast.

One of our largest exports of services, indeed, is tourism, and Tasmania is no different. I think of the confidence that is returning to that sector, where we are seeing investment in places like national parks, where we will soon have more accommodation, and the beautiful Mount Field. I met with a constituent up at Port Sorell only last week. He runs a bed and breakfast business and, because of the increasing demand, is looking to invest in further accommodation up in that part of the world. Indeed, 197,600 international visitors visited Tasmania in the year ending March 2015, up 28 per cent year on year. Tourists are now staying longer and have increased their stays by seven per cent. Whether it is the east coast, Port Arthur, Mount Field or Cradle Mountain, all of which are in my electorate, indeed it is a good news story.

But perhaps the best news story of all and an example of confidence that is returning is the construction sector, where 17,000 Tasmanians are employed and in the past 12 months 2,460 new dwellings have been under construction, up 36.4 per cent on the previous 12 months. We are seeing confidence returning to a state that laboured long and hard under a Labor-Greens government in previous years, and long may it be the case.