Talking Point: To rebuild, we have to create the right environment for business

Our philosophy is to grow the economy, for a Tasmania that stands on its own two feet and help businesses feel confident to invest and create jobs. PREMIER’S FULL BUDGET MESSAGE >>

THIS year COVID-19 has delivered challenges, disruption and uncertainty.

As a government we acted quickly, we acted decisively and used our island advantage to protect our community and save lives.

We have followed advice, and swiftly put in place restrictions on activities and movement to limit the spread of the virus, followed by a sensible and responsible glide‑path to easing them.

These immediate steps, difficult as they were, enabled us to control the spread of this insidious disease, and in recent months they have allowed us to return in a staged and careful way to a more normal, albeit a COVID-normal way of life.

Tasmanians have demonstrated compassion, courage, great resilience and ingenuity through these times, and today, I sincerely say thank you.

The challenge we face has two elements. It is both a health crisis and an economic one as well. We must deal with both and the road ahead will not be easy.

There are things we cannot control, such as volatility in international markets, or how soon a vaccine may become available.

However, what we can control is how we respond to the situation. Our health response, and our economic response.

And in the face of the most deadly global pandemic the world has seen in a century, our response must be proportionate and it must be strategic.

We can never tax our way to prosperity, nor can we cut our way to recovery.

The way to rebuild a stronger and more resilient Tasmania is to invest heavily to support jobs, to regain confidence and to rebuild our economy and our community.

Yesterday, I announced the largest and most significant infrastructure program in the state’s history.

Over the next four years the budget provides for $5b of infrastructure investment to support jobs, confidence and our communities.

This investment will support about 25,000 jobs and increase aggregate demand right across our economy.

We will build the intergenerational infrastructure communities need, we are backing Tasmanian business, supporting their recovery and growth, and making it easier for them to employ.

We are investing record amounts of funding, $9.8bn for health, $7.5bn for education and skills, $2.4bn for our roads and bridges and more than $300m for social and affordable housing.

Before delivering his speech to parliament, Premier Peter Gutwein talks to Mercury political editor David Killick during the budget lockup. Picture: Richard Jupe

In addition to specific commitments made and outlined in this year’s budget, funding of $145m in 2020-21 has also been allocated to a central COVID-19 provision in Finance-General.

The provision initially supports response measures that align with recommendations made by the Premier’s Economic and Social Recovery Advisory Council, also known as PESRAC, by supporting businesses, stimulating economic activity through improving the environment, creating regional jobs and supporting young people into training and apprenticeships.

Of the $145m provision, $50m has been allocated to initiatives to support businesses and our economy, assist women back into work, support the cultural and performing arts sector, improve our environment and invest in public housing infrastructure upgrades.

To ensure we continue to have a whole-of-government approach to respond to COVID-19, with resources ready and available for a pandemic, but also for other state emergencies which may arise, such as bushfires or floods, $4.4m will be invested for an ongoing centralised COVID-19 co-ordination centre for the next 12 months, in partnership with the commonwealth government.

We will also transition the government fleet to electric vehicles by 2030, and $30m will be invested into circular economy initiatives including a Container Deposit Scheme, Waste Action Plan and waste recycling and reuse facilities.

And we will invest $168.7m for Tas Irrigation to build the next tranche of our pipeline to prosperity irrigation projects statewide.

As a government, we recognise the valuable investment business makes in training the next generation of Tasmanian workers.

To ensure our businesses are incentivised to hire apprentices and trainees, we will extend our successful Payroll Tax Rebate Scheme and small business apprentice and trainee grants scheme for a further 12 months until June 30, 2022, and we will broaden these schemes to all industries.

This will be an investment of more than $22m to significantly boost jobs for apprentices, trainees and youth employees.

We will also extend the payroll tax rebate for all youth employees for a further 18 months, from the end of this year to June 30, 2022.

These schemes are already supporting nearly 4000 apprentices, trainees and young people.

And we expect these initiatives to support an additional 4000 new full-time jobs for apprentices, trainees and youth employees.

We also recognise that we need to do more, particularly to attract and support more women into non-traditional roles, with these sectors set to play a vital part of supporting our recovery.

That is why the 2020-2021 budget includes $2.5m over two years to develop a statewide program to enable and empower more women to participate more broadly across our economy.

To achieve this, government will work with peak industry bodies, and skills and training providers, to support women to train and enter roles in industry, and to support employers to help them develop the skills that they need to succeed and to shift community and employer perceptions of traditionally male-dominated industries.

With a quiet confidence and cautious optimism returning, Tasmania is returning to a more normal way of life.

We will continue to take action with the levers we have to keep us safe and to provide security, certainty and confidence for Tasmanians, our businesses and our community.

As a Liberal government our philosophy is to grow the economy — and for a Tasmania that stands on its own two feet — and to do this we must create the right environment for businesses so they are confident to invest and to support and create jobs.

I have no doubt that we will not only recover, but we will rebuild a stronger and more resilient Tasmania, for all Tasmanians.

Peter Gutwein is Premier and Treasurer of Tasmania.