Economy
We can’t wait any longer to fight our debt problem
Tasmania’s Fiscal Crisis Demands More Than Politics as Usual On 27 February 2026, Treasury released a document that should have concerned every Tasmanian. The Fiscal Sustainability Report, prepared by Treasury…
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House rules, and how game is rigged
Intergenerational Inequity Isn’t a Mystery – It’s a Design Feature Every few months, another report laments the widening gulf between young and old. Commentators wring their hands about falling home…
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Why our Budget needs to confront reality, not continue to pretend we’re living in fantasy land
Fiscal Fiction and Waiting for a Miracle For years Tasmania has been governed by a budget process that seems designed not to confront reality but to defer it. The latest…
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Productivity – what are we actually measuring?
Every few months, Tasmanian workers are treated to a familiar sermon. It usually comes from a business lobby, an employer group, or a CEO who has never staffed a ward,…
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OPINION: Tasmania’s Fiscal Reckoning: The Critical Priorities for 2026
Balancing the Budget well – nigh impossible in future, given falling revenue from Government Businesses. Tasmania enters 2026 facing not only a general government fiscal crisis, but a system-wide deterioration…
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Moody’s Downgrades Tasmania’s Credit Rating to Aa3
Moody’s Ratings has downgraded Tasmania’s credit rating from Aa2 to Aa3, citing a sharp and sustained increase in the state’s debt and interest burdens that has weakened Tasmania’s financial strength.…
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Tasmania’s Housing Crisis: When the Numbers Don’t Add Up
The Tasmanian Government proudly declares it’s on track to deliver 10,000 new affordable homes by 2032. Strip away the glossy headlines and what remains is a hollow boast built on…
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Tasmania’s Budget: Smoke, Mirrors, and a $20 Billion Debt Mountain
When Treasurer Eric Abetz delivered Tasmania’s 2025-26 State Budget promising “brightness and optimism,” both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have not changed Tasmania’s outlook from Negative. When both credit rating…
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Tasmania’s Budget Crisis: Behind the Accounting Illusions
The 2025-26 State Budget promises a bright future while delivering accounting tricks, unrealistic assumptions, and a debt trajectory heading toward $20 billion. [...]Read More... from Tasmania’s Budget Crisis: Behind the…
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Operational vs Capital expenditure – a Treasurer’s fiscal and moral assessment
In a media interview this week, the Treasurer attempted to defend the government’s simultaneous pursuit of a $1+ billion stadium while cutting nearly 3,000 public sector positions. His defence rests…
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Budget Accountability and Oversight Committee Bill 2025
Legislative Council, Tuesday 4 November 2025 Ms FORREST (Murchison) – Mr President. I move – That the bill be now read the second time. Mr President, this bill is about…
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