The Department of Treasury and Finance’s 2026 Fiscal Sustainability Report is the most damning indictment yet on the Liberal Government’s utter failure to manage the State Budget.
Across 150 pages of careful examination, Treasury has delivered statement after devastating statement on the truly alarming position the state’s finances are now in.
Traditionally spruiking themselves as ‘responsible economic managers’, this report makes clear that the Liberals have instead managed to send Tasmania to the brink. The situation is so serious that Treasury are even warning about a loss of sovereignty over the control of the state’s finances.
For years the government has ignored the warnings from its own Departments and of independent experts. Instead of increasing revenue and stopping spending on unnecessary projects – like the stadium – they’ve doubled down.
Despite all the evidence, the Rockliff Government has always claimed the only way to fix the budget is to grow the economy. This report again directly contradicts that argument. It says – as the Greens have consistently maintained – we must increase revenue and stop unnecessary spending.
As Treasury has made clear, there is so much that needs to be done to fix the budget. There is no silver bullet. But the worst thing we could possibly do right now is to add billions to our debt for unnecessary infrastructure. Incredibly, that’s exactly what the Liberals – supported by Labor – are doing with the stadium.
If Tasmania’s bills could be paid with glib talking points by Liberal Ministers, we’d be living in a golden age. Unfortunately their failure to take this issue seriously is putting us well on track to being the basket case state.
It’s well past time the Rockliff Government got its head out of the sand. They must scrap the stadium, rein in unnecessary spending, and make big corporations pay their fair share.
