Tasmania's tourism industry is celebrating the start of another cruise ship season, hoping it will ease the pain of a delay in getting the new spirits sailing. It comes as a new economic report ranks Tasmania in the middle of the pack and highlighting the challenge in getting people to call Tasmania home for good.
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00:00Hobart, a port of call once again.
00:05A welcome sight for a tourism industry deflated by another delay in getting the new Spirit
00:10ships operating.
00:11We're going to have a blooming summer and this is the start of it with these ships coming
00:14in so we really want to talk up the positivity of Tasmania at the moment and what this summer
00:19is going to bring for hospitality.
00:20And while tourists start flowing, a new economic report shows the state is struggling to keep
00:25residents from leaving.
00:27We're seeing a plane load of Tasmanians leave Tasmania every four days and they are working
00:33age Tasmanians who are seeking better opportunities on the mainland.
00:38The report ranks Tasmania in the middle of a pack, first in the country in equipment
00:42investment but last in population growth.
00:46Economists worried by jobs figures that are also trending in the wrong direction.
00:50Growth is moderating and if that were to continue at the current pace, that will place real
00:55pressure on all Tasmanians, both businesses, households and governments going forward.
00:59Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 9,300 jobs were lost in the 12 months to September.
01:06Tasmania also has the lowest participation rate, the percentage of working age people
01:10in the workforce and the highest rate of people wanting to work more hours at 7.9 per cent.
01:17We're up there with the nation when it comes to the economy, wages growth up, inflation
01:24the lowest in the nation, I mean these are really positive signs.
01:28Several economists say there needs to be a top down review rather than a cash splash
01:32to get Tasmanians into the workforce and hope a review of the state's education system
01:37due at the end of the year will provide some answers.
01:40We're spending more per student than most of our mainland counterparts and getting worse
01:44outcomes and that was pointed out by several other commentators recently.
01:48That's not an issue about spending money, that's an issue about how the money is spent
01:51and whether we're really looking at those institutions and how well they're performing.
01:55A plan to navigate the state through choppy waters.