2200 fewer jobs in state
By DANIEL McCULLOCH
July 9, 2015
The Examiner

THE state government's promise to create 8000 new jobs is looking more and more tenuous every month, the opposition says.

Tasmania's jobless rate climbed to 6.9 per cent in trend terms last month, up from 6.8 per cent in May.   

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Thursday showed 2200 jobs had disappeared in the state since December, with half of them full-time positions.   

Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the figures vindicated the government's focus on creating jobs, and said there was clearly more work to do.

But he pointed out the state's unemployment rate had fallen since the election and closed in on the national figure, which sits at 6 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.

"Tasmania is now heading in the right direction, our economy is growing, retail trade is at record highs, the building and construction sector is strong and importantly business confidence is high," he said.

"It's critically important now that we consolidate the gains of the past 12 months, and build on the growing momentum."

However, opposition finance spokesman Scott Bacon said the data should sound alarm bells for a government he claimed were taking a "hands off" approach.   

Mr Bacon said manufacturing, forestry and resources jobs were drying up across the state.


"What we want to see from the government now is a long-term plan about diversifying our economy in regional areas," he said.

Mr Bacon said the static participation rate, which sits at 60.7 per cent, was also a cause for concern.

"We know this means people are less hopeful that they can find work here in Tasmania," he said.

"That's why we want to see a clear direction set by the government, so people can have some sense of securing that they can work here in Tasmania."

Mr Bacon said the government's 8000 jobs budget promise was appearing increasingly challenging.

"Now we know that is becoming less and less likely as each month goes by," he said.   

Don't worry, I'm sure we can just continue blaming labor and greens for another couple of decades yet.

cods wrote on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 11:02am:


see? 

you ban logging, you ban this and you ban that. you block this, halt that and delay soemthing else and then you wonder where the jobs went?

the Greens are the economy's worst enemy.

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 6:41pm:


I tend to agree with your panzi but you just can't shut the entire state of Tasmania down to protect the trees..

you've only done half a job...

you have to diversify and create other jobs at the same time to employ those that you have put out of work to protect the environment..

the Greens/Labor shut down all of the jobs but failed to create one new job..

idiots..

I would have said to the logging companies decades ago that they need to have sustainable logging.. plant forests...

but they didn't plant hardly one bloody tree to save their own jobs..

it'll take another decade to stabilise Tassi.. at least..

but they do now need to protect their forest and environment as that's what tourists come to see.. which is about the only industry they have left down there... very sad for a Beautiful state.. 

President Elect, The Mechanic wrote on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 6:59pm:


Thats an argument for resource-rich third world countries - not for first world countries like Australia.

If our only hope for our economy is to rape our environment clean - then we really are a basket case of a country.

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 6:41pm:


It's called harvesting. Like growing vegetables but a bit bigger.

Sustainable and creates wealth, jobs and pride. Probably three things missing in your world.

polite_gandalf wrote on Jul 10^th, 2015 at 8:26pm:



That's right, if we are relying on forest re-growth for our survival, we are going to run out of time.

THE FACTS

•  Tasmania’s old growth forests are home to the world’s tallest hardwood trees and a wealth of threatened wildlife such as the Tasmanian Wedge Tailed Eagle, the Swift Parrot and the Giant Fresh Water Crayfish just to name a couple

• Areas of forest that have received calls for World Heritage Nomination are still being clearfelled and woodchipped and their native wildlife deliberately poisoned and shot 

• Over 10,000 football fields of native forests are logged every year on public land. This is an area equivalent to 200 square kilometers, or over 500 times the size of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne

• Tasmania’s Tall wet eucalypt forest has borne the brunt of this logging and clearing for plantations
  90% of native forests logged end up as woodchips

• The rate of forest clearance and subsequent conversion to plantation is the highest in Australia

•  The estimated number of jobs in logging Tasmania’s old growth forests is about 325. The estimated number of jobs that would be created by protecting them and re-configuring mills is well over 900.