Tasmania's Growth Rates and Migration

[6.25 p.m.] Ms BURNET (Clark) -

Deputy Speaker, today I asked the Premier in Question Time to acknowledge the importance of migration to Tasmania. I did so in response to the clear message from federal Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, in his budget reply last week, which unveiled his party's plans to dramatically cut migration to this country. He calls it 'mass migration', as though it's out of control, and he says it's changed Australia for the worse. So I was very pleased to hear the Premier's response this morning rejecting that premise. He said, '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,' the Premier said.

I want to read the government's 2024 population policy and it states:

Balanced population growth will see an increase in the proportion of younger families and working-aged residents, largely made up of international migration. Skilled migration matched to the needs of the workforce brings many benefits to our communities and the economy. This is also likely to support the rate of natural increase and will help to offset Tasmania's structural ageing, an issue experienced worldwide.

The facts are clear. Tasmania's population growth rates are the lowest of any state or territory, whether measured annually or quarterly. At just 0.21 per cent, we are well below the 0.48 or 0.5 per cent annual growth rate required to meet our 2050 population target. When we look at overseas migration, the picture becomes even clearer. Net overseas migration contributed 228 per cent of Tasmania's annual population growth. The next highest state, South Australia, was just 93 per cent. Put simply, without overseas migration, Tasmania's population would not just stall, it would go backwards, and quickly.

Treasury has already warned of this risk. In last year's budget papers, slow or negative population growth was identified as a significant concern. It would reduce economic activity and exacerbate existing challenges around workforce shortages and an ageing population. There is also a direct financial consequence. Our share of GST, our state's largest source of revenue, declines if our population grows more slowly than the mainland's, and that is exactly what is happening.

In 2024, Tasmania's annual growth rate was just 0.21 per cent, compared with 1.5 per cent on the mainland. If we reduce migration, the consequences are real and they are immediate. It means fewer doctors, fewer dentists, nurses in our hospitals, fewer disability support workers, engineers and aged care workers. Fewer fruit pickers and agricultural workers, fewer tradespeople, cleaners and hospitality staff. These are not optional roles - they are the essential workers that our state desperately needs.

It would also mean less GST revenue, as I said, less economic growth and, of course, less vibrancy and diversity in our community. So, to those in the community who might agree with Angus Taylor or One Nation and believe migrants are making life harder in Tasmania, I say this: the opposite is true. Migrants are the people caring for our parents in aged care, treating us in hospital, building the homes we need, and harvesting the food that comes to our table. Without them, Tasmania would be poorer socially, culturally and economically