Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing and Seniors) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The ABS payroll data that was released this week shows that Tasmanians have been particularly hard hit by deliberate decisions of this Morrison government. Indeed, the Tassie payroll data shows that jobs are down 4.5 per cent since the middle of March, with a further fall of one per cent in just the last fortnight since JobKeeper was cut. We've seen Tasmanians have the worst drop in wages since March: 4.9 per cent, worse than what we've seen in Victoria. That is what is happening in Tasmania. The employment-to-population ratio in Tasmania is the lowest in the country. The unemployment rate of 7.6 is the second-highest in the country. There are currently 15,321 businesses receiving JobKeeper in Tasmania, supporting 58,000 workers, and we know that, since this government made a deliberate decision to cut JobKeeper too early, 2,400 Tasmanians have lost their jobs in just the last month. It's simply not good enough from this government and the state Liberal government not to have a comprehensive plan for jobs for Tasmanians. The changes to JobKeeper and JobSeeker that this government has made is ripping an estimated $60 million every fortnight out of the Tasmanian economy. Tasmanians need better. (Time expired)