TCCI report lays down gauntlet to Govt to hit key economic targets on budget, energy, GBEs

Tasmania’s peak business body has announced ambitious targets for productivity growth, budget surpluses, and increased energy generation that it says the state government must achieve by 2028.

TCCI boss Michael Bailey. Picture: Chris Kidd

Tasmania’s peak business body has put the blowtorch on the state government to lift its economic performance, setting out ambitious targets for productivity growth, budget surpluses, and increased renewable energy generation it says must be achieved by 2028.

In its annual Tasmania Report, to be released on Friday, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also called on the Rockliff government to spend the next three years establishing a sovereign wealth fund, boosting female apprenticeship numbers, reducing business costs, and reforming the state’s issues-plagued GBE sector.

Describing the Tasmanian economy as being at the “crossroads”, TCCI chief executive Michael Bailey said his organisation’s 2028 vision offered the government a clear and achievable roadmap to future prosperity.

CEO of the TCCI, Michael Bailey. Picture: Linda Higginson

“What we do now, and over the next few years, will determine how well our state tackles the challenges that we will face over the next generation,” Mr Bailey said, ahead of a sold-out lunch at Wrest Point on Friday.

“There are no silver bullets. We need meaningful, long-term planning with clear targets.

“The Tasmania Report – Vision 2028 outlines six key areas: energy; the budget; the economy; education and skills; consultation; and government business enterprises and state-owned companies.

“Each of these areas is fundamental to our future. We need our political leaders to say how they will address each of these areas and deliver on each of these targets.

“This will require the government between now and 2028 to embark on significant reform – to the budget, the public sector, GBEs, service delivery and the workforce – and will require bold and decisive action.”

The TCCI lunchtime event will include a presentation on the Tasmanian economy by Deloitte, and a panel discussion including Kath McCann from the Tasmania Devils, UTAS Professor Richard Eccleston, and CareSuper’s John Mazengarb.

Marinus Link.

As part of its Vision, the TCCI wants Tasmania to increase its on-island renewable electricity generation to 15,000 gigawatt hours each year – up from 10,000MWh in 2020 – and for the first of two Marinus Link cables to be under construction by 2028.

The report calls for the government to maintain a net operating surplus over a rolling four-year average, and to cap the cost of the public service at 40 per cent of the state budget.

The TCCI also set the government the twin education and skills goals of increasing Tasmania’s Year 12 completion rates to the national average by 2028, and raising the per capita level of apprenticeships to the highest in the country.

After a bruising 12 months for the state’s government business enterprise sector over its handling of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry fiasco – during which Mr Bailey called out “significant cultural and leadership issues” within government, TT-Line, and TasPorts – the TCCI has demanded significant reform for GBEs and State Owned Companies.

The 2028 Vision calls for all GBE/SOC charters to be less than two years old, for directors to serve no longer than eight years on the one board, and for improved levels of satisfaction from the Tasmanian business community.

The TCCI has also demanded that all major industrials in Tasmania have access to “acceptable” long-term electricity contracts, in order provide adequate business certainty.

Mr Bailey said the TCCI would continue to monitor the government’s performance against each of its published targets, and provide updates to its members and the Tasmania community.