Tassie 2022: Rental crisis, aged care and transport woes challenge state’s future

EVERYDAY Tasmanians have key concerns about Tasmania’s future: housing, transport, health and jobs.

Kate Cashman, 33, lecturer and business owner Maureen Coombe, 69, retiree and Erica Campbell-Graham, 21, uni student discuss Tasmania for 2022 campaign Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

THE key concerns of everyday Tasmanians are the basics of daily life: health, a place to call home and transport.

As political rhetoric gets louder in the lead up to the state election, many Tasmanians are quietly waiting for reassurance their basic needs will be met into the future.

In asking three Tasmanians from different age groups about the state’s needs over the next four years, it is clear growing pains associated with an increasing population are already being felt.

University student Erica Campbell-Graham, 21, is feeling the rental crisis first hand.

She said the scramble for rental properties in Hobart was “massively competitive”.

“I’m looking for something to rent at the moment and it’s difficult finding a house close to university because they go so quickly,” Ms Campbell-Graham said.

“It’s nuts trying to find something even remotely close.”

On the other side of the rental crisis sits Kate Cashman, who rents out an investment apartment in Bellerive.

Dr Cashman, a lecturer and small business owner, said demand for her one-bedroom rental had soared in recent years — and the level of desperation was now “heartbreaking”.

“Ours is only a one-bedroom flat, but we get lots of applications from families,” she said.

“We’ve had people saying they are so desperate … they’re living in cars with their kids. It’s heartbreaking.” She is also watching friends battling to get into homeownership because of rising prices.

Dr Cashman, 33, said investors had clearly moved in to the Tasmanian housing market because of tourism growth, but the entrepreneurial opportunities created by Airbnb and the sharing economy needed to be balanced to protect people’s right to a roof over their head.

“Perhaps this needs regulation, and improved support for first home buyers trying to buy a home,” she said. As the rental crisis forces more people to look for accommodation outside of cities, the dispersed population wants improved transport options.

Ms Campbell-Graham, who lives on the Eastern Shore, knows too well how frustrating the bus network can be for those relying on public transport.

“We need better buses and they need to be more regular,” she said.

Dr Cashman, who commutes into Sandy Bay to work from Dulcot, said traffic congestion was worsening and all alternative transport options should be investigated: light rail, ferries and more buses.

For Lindisfarne retiree Maureen Coombe, 69, maintaining health is a key priority.

She said aged-care needed to be a key priority for a future government, as older Tasmanians made up the largest age-group in the state.

“I’m in the largest baby boomer group, which will need a lot of support going ahead,” Mrs Coombe said.

“There needs to be a lot of younger people being trained in aged care to replace the current workers who will be retiring in the next decade or so”.

Despite the skills shortage, Ms Campbell-Graham said jobs were not always readily available — even in the health sector — when young people graduated with qualifications. “Although there’s a real need for the health professions in Tasmania, there doesn’t seem to be enough jobs for graduates.

Mrs Coombe, a regular gym goer, said the best way for an ageing population to stay out of the health system was to maintain fitness.

“There is an opportunity for the Government or private health funds to subsidise gym membership for the ageing population,” she said.