Media Release Contents 01 Will Hodgman 2017-18 Budget: Building Tasmania’s Future 02 Peter Gutwein 2017-18 Budget: Balanced Budgets Each and Every Year 03 Michael Ferguson Biggest Ever Funding Boost to Health 04 Matthew Groom Supporting 7600 New Jobs for Tasmania 05 Matthew Groom Keeping Downward Pressure on Power Prices 06 Rene Hidding Infrastructure Investment Tops $2 billion 07 Will Hodgman and Over $140 million To Build the Future for the North West and West Peter Gutwein Coast 08 Will Hodgman and Over $175 million To Build the Future for the North and North East Peter Gutwein 09 Will Hodgman and Over $180 million To Build Southern Tasmania’s Future Peter Gutwein 10 Jeremy Rockliff Comprehensive Support Package for King Island 11 Will Hodgman Strong Support For Tasmania’s Visitor Economy Continues 12 Will Hodgman Continued Support to Eliminate Family Violence 13 Will Hodgman Additional Support for Tasmania’s Aboriginal Community 14 Will Hodgman Tasmania’s First Dedicated Youth Arts Strategy 15 Peter Gutwein $60 million in Budget for TasWater to Speed Up Infrastructure Upgrades 16 Peter Gutwein and New Housing Incentive Package Guy Barnett 17 Michael Ferguson Delivering 106 More Beds and More Staff 18 Michael Ferguson RHH Redevelopment Support Package 19 Michael Ferguson and A Second Medical and Rescue Helicopter Rene Hidding 20 Jeremy Rockliff Record Investment in Education and Training 21 Jeremy Rockliff Supporting Students Package 22 Jeremy Rockliff $117 million Investment in Better School Buildings and TasTAFE 23 Jeremy Rockliff Better Classrooms for Non-Government Students 24 Rene Hidding $827 million to Build Better Roads 25 Rene Hidding More Police, New Tools and Additional Support to Keep Tasmania Safe 26 Rene Hidding Fire Safety Boost 27 Rene Hidding Tackling Traffic Congestion in Hobart 28 Jeremy Rockliff Growing Agriculture and Boosting Biosecurity 29 Jeremy Rockliff $14.3 million Investment in Protecting and Growing our Fisheries Sector 30 Jacquie Petrusma Supporting Tasmanians in Need with More Affordable Housing 31 Jacquie Petrusma $45 million Boost to Protect Tasmanian Children 32 Jacquie Petrusma Supporting Tasmanians in Need 33 Matthew Groom Investing in our Iconic National Parks 34 Matthew Groom Protecting our Natural Resources and the Environment 35 Matthew Groom Promoting Tasmania to the World 36 Guy Barnett Encouraging Innovation in Mining – A Key Contributor to our Economy 37 Guy Barnett Backing Forestry to Create Jobs 38 Matthew Groom and Better Resourcing our Courts and Prisons Guy Barnett 39 Roger Jaensch $4.1 million Package to Support Small Business and Industry 40 Sarah Courtney Supporting Tasmanian Communities and Volunteers 25th May, 2017 Will Hodgman, Premier 2017-18 Budget: Building Tasmania’s Future This year’s Budget is all about Building Tasmania’s Future. With the biggest ever boost to health in a single budget - $650 million and 106 hospital beds – it puts health front and centre. This additional investment will be spread right around the state but will particularly target the Royal Hobart Hospital which is under pressure as a result of increased demand and temporary capacity constraints due to the hospital redevelopment. Jobs, particularly jobs for young Tasmanians, are also a key focus of the 2017-18 Budget, with a package providing incentives to employers, including small business, to employ young Tasmanians. In this Budget we are also taking action against cost of living pressures. We are taking action to cap electricity prices, which will save the average household around $300 on their power bill in the coming 12 months. And, by taking control of TasWater, we’ll deliver lower prices to customers, saving the average household up to $550. We’re also making it more affordable to build your first home, with a New Housing Incentive Package, which includes the First Home Builders’ Boost, and reducing stamp duty on house and land packages. In education we are investing more – including funding the “full Gonski", $117 million to upgrade our schools, and we’re employing more school staff to help our kids get a better education. Supporting Tasmanians in need features strongly in the Budget, with an additional $45 million to strengthen the child protection system. And, we’re acting to keep Tasmanians safe, with funding to put more police in our community, and provide them with the latest equipment, body-worn cameras, to help them protect us. Tasmanian Budget | 2017-18 Page 1 This Budget’s $2 billion investment in infrastructure is spread right around the State - for example, we’re building a new hospital in St Helens; there’s $35 million to upgrade the Mersey Hospital at Latrobe; and in Launceston we’re providing funds to revitalise Launceston with the University of Tasmania and City Heart projects. There’s also over $800 million investment in roads and rail, with new projects including the Perth Link Road, the Mowbray Connector, and a $19 million bridge upgrade program. We’re continuing to invest in our economy’s competitive strengths, with a $37 million boost for tourism which includes $8 million for tourism infrastructure in our national parks, $44 million to support agriculture and aquaculture to continue to employ Tasmanians, as well as further investments into our mining and forestry sectors. Most importantly, the Budget continues our strong fiscal discipline, with a small surplus this year, and surpluses every year across the forward estimates. We’ve kept spending under control, since our election and through to the end of the budget's forward estimates, with spending growth rate to be around 2.4 per cent, while the annual growth in revenues over the same period is forecast to be 2.7 per cent. By comparison, under the last eight years under Labor and the Greens, spending grew at 4.8 percent. We’re absolutely committed to keeping the Budget in balance, because it means we can continue to invest more in essential services, and build Tasmania’s future. Contact: Brad Nowland Phone: 0439 614 893 Tasmanian Budget | 2017-18 Page 2 25th May, 2017 Peter Gutwein, Treasurer 2017-18 Budget: Balanced Budgets Each and Every Year The 2017-18 Budget is all about Building Tasmania’s Future. It is a Budget which builds on our three years of hard work in Government. It delivers better health and education services, more jobs, better roads and transport, action on cost of living, and continued investment in essential services such as public safety and supporting Tasmanians in need. In our first Budget we had to take some difficult but necessary decisions to stem the bleeding. Our second Budget was about consolidating the State’s financial position, and the third delivered last year - albeit after losing nearly $500 million in GST - was about reinvesting back into health, education and other essential services. This Budget, the fourth budget delivered as a part of our long-term plan, will ensure that the hard work that has gone on over the last three years and the results that have been achieved are not squandered. It continues our strong plan for Tasmania and delivers not only a balanced budget bottom line, but also key initiatives and sensible investments that will build Tasmania’s future. Our economy continues to grow, and is forecast to expand above trend by 2.5 per cent in 2017-18. When businesses are confident as they are under us, they invest more and they employ more people – since the election there are now over 6400 more Tasmanians with jobs. At 5.8 per cent, our unemployment rate is equal to the national average, and is one of the lowest among all States. Tasmanian Budget | 2017-18 Page 1 The 2017-18 Budget forecasts a surplus of over $54 million in 2017-18, and we will remain in surplus each and every year of the Forward Estimates for the first time in a decade, with a cumulative surplus of just over $200 million. And rather than forecasting rising net debt as the State did three years ago, we now have a strong balance sheet and this budget forecasts positive net cash and investments across the forward estimates. Net Cash and Investments will be more than $450 million as at 30 June 2018, which is an improvement of more than $277 million relative to the estimated 30 June 2018 figure in last year’s Budget. We know like any household or business does that you must cut your cloth to suit your circumstances, that you can’t keep spending more than you earn and expect to retain a strong financial position. Over the life of the Government under our settings the annual growth in spending through to 2020-21 is estimated to be around 2.4 per cent, while the annual growth in revenues over the same period is forecast to be 2.7 per cent, which is well below the long run trend of revenue growth of 4.7 per cent. Key initiatives in this year’s Budget include: • The biggest ever boost to health, $650 million and 106 beds; • A package of measures to support around 7,600 young Tasmanians in jobs; • Action on cost of living which will save households $300 on the cost of electricity, up to $550 over six years on water and sewerage, and make it cheaper to build your first home; • $117 million for new and better school and TAFE buildings, $134 million in “full Gonski” funding for our schools, and $17.8 million to employ more specialist teachers to help our students get better results; • $44 million to support agriculture and aquaculture, and improve biosecurity; • A $37 million boost to tourism, including $11 million for marketing, $8 million for Parks, $6 million to support the Cycle Tourism strategy, and an additional $6.8 million to Cradle Mountain; Tasmanian Budget | 2017-18 Page 2 • $44.8 million to improve our child protection system and $53.4 million towards rebuilding Tasmania’s police service; • A $2 billion infrastructure spend right around the state, including $827 million on roads and bridges; • $27 million to continue the very important fuel reduction program; and • An additional $100 million into the TT-Line Ship Replacement Fund.