Doing nothing is not a responsible option
Tasmania's Department of Treasury and Finance has issued a dire warning about the state's finances, saying they are forecast to "rapidly deteriorate" and the state does not have the ability to grow its way out of the problem.
In effect, Tasmania will be borrowing money to pay the interest on rising debt.
Eventually the growth in interest payments will become so great no reasonable reduction in services will be capable of achieving budget repair.
A letter to Tasmanian Treasurer, Eric Abetz
Dear Eric,
You’ve heard your own Department of Treasury and Finance’s dire warnings.
Tasmania’s finances are forecast to “rapidly deteriorate” and we don’t have the ability to grow our way out of this mess.
We can’t keep borrowing more and more money to pay off a debt that just keeps growing.
Eventually, even slashing services won’t dig us out of this hole.
Treasurer, it’s time to put Tasmania before self interest, pride, Liberal Party ideology or politics.
Your own Department of Treasury and Finance has people actually qualified to guide Tasmania out of this mess.
Stop believing your own publicity and let the specialists guide the financial decisions that can save Tasmania from turning into a failed state with crumbling health care, failing infrastructure and spiralling debt.
The alternative is a legacy as the failed Treasurer who plunged Tasmania into a dark period of recession that will take generations to recover from (assuming the next generation stay here).
From Tasmania's Future
"Without action, the annual growth in debt servicing costs is projected to exceed the growth in state revenue within 10 years,"
"Eventually the growth in interest expenses will become so great that no reasonable reduction in services will be capable of achieving budget repair."
"The cost of servicing this debt would increase from 2 per cent of operating revenue to more than 50 per cent within 15 years, while deficits would become "increasingly unmanageable".
IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE BELIEVING THIS...
The 2026 Fiscal Sustainability Report (FSR) was prepared by the Department of Treasury and Finance in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of Budget Responsibility Act 2007.