QT: Overseas Immigration - Liberal Party Support
Ms BURNET question to PREMIER, Mr ROCKLIFF [10.47 a.m.]
Honourable Speaker, I also welcome the SES crew here today. Premier, according to the last population snapshot published by State Growth from almost 12 months ago, the only thing stopping this state's population from declining is overseas migration - something federal Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, seems hellbent on cutting by up to 40 per cent, if he gets his way, to appease One Nation supporters. Noting the rising tide of One Nation support in this state from the latest poll, at the expense of support for your party, will you confirm your party's support for overseas migration and denounce any policy which might result in fewer overseas migrants coming to Tasmania?
ANSWER
Honourable Speaker, I thank the honourable member for your question. What I do enjoy as part of my role, most recently with the minister for Multicultural Affairs, is to celebrate with multicultural communities. More recently it was the Nepalese community celebrating their 184th New Year, if my memory serves me correctly. That will always be the position of this government: we will welcome people from wherever they come from to Tasmania, because they enrich our lives, they enrich our community, they bring their skills. We do multiculturalism well in Tasmania, and I'm very proud of that. You mentioned population. It was pleasing yesterday that we saw, and we will see in the Budget, evidence of growth in our economy. This is not dependent on excessive population growth, but rather a result of the clever people we have in Tasmania working day in, day out for our community, earning a dollar for themselves and their families, and creating opportunity for Tasmania. In fact, Tasmania's economy is forecast by Treasury to continue growing, in per capita terms, projections showing around 8 per cent growth over the next four years, outstripping population growth and continuing Tasmania's run of per capita economic growth. What we also need to ensure, in terms of population growth, is that we are investing in housing and the supply of houses as well. That's why I was very proud to be alongside our minister for Housing, minister Vincent, just a few days ago, and the Prime Minister and the local mayor as well around the Dowsing Point opportunity. I was very proud of the fact that we have a very clear target on top of that for 10,000 homes by 2032. More houses, more supply, more roofs over the heads of Tasmanians and those who come here and contribute to our community.
Supplementary Question
Ms BURNET - Thank you, and I welcome, Premier, your comments about how important the migrant community is because they quite frankly need to hear that. What assurances are there that Tasmania will continue to have that flow of migrants we need to sustain our vital services, including agriculture?
Mr ROCKLIFF - We're not in a disagreement when it comes to our migrant community and those that seek opportunities in Tasmania, in seasonal ways in terms of our produce that's being picked; those are important and valued jobs, as our minister for Primary Industries would well identify with. They are important contributors to our economy and we need skilled labour within this community across a range of fields, whether it's our ICT sector, whether it's our health sector, whether it's our agricultural sector. We can only but encourage and ensure that. for migrants coming into this country, that we get our fair share of that opportunity to allow people to continue to come to Tasmania, to ensure that they are welcomed in Tasmania and contribute to our economy and our community.