In northern Tasmania natural wonders make tourism a big employer.
“These rocks represent our sentinels, the guardians of Cataract Gorge because it is such an important area for our people,” said Greg Murray, proud Trawlwoolway man and owner of Kooparoona niara tours.
But the recovery of the state’s tourism industry has been mixed since its border was reopened in December.
About one-third of the sector is struggling, according to the Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania.
Greg is worried things will get worse when inflation bites and people cut back on discretionary spending.
“I haven’t had a booking in six weeks,” Mr Murray said.
Getting people and products to the island state cheaply are key federal election priorities for the business community.
Launceston, where Greg runs most of his tours, is in Bass, which is the most marginal Liberal seat in the country after Bridget Archer was elected there in 2019 with a margin of just 0.4 per cent.
The Coalition is also fighting to hold on to the neighbouring electorate of Braddon, which is held by Gavin Pearce with a margin of 3.1 per cent.
Bass Strait transport costs a barrier
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants an extension of free car travel on the passenger ferry and guaranteed funding to reduce freight costs.
“Bass Strait is one of the most expensive bodies of water in the world, because it’s such a short run,” Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) chief executive Michael Bailey said.
TCCI’s first election priority is for $3.5 billion to pay for a second undersea electricity transmission line connecting Tasmania to the mainland.
But, as far as the majority of the business community is concerned, Mr Bailey said the number main issue facing employers is access to skilled staff.
Tasmania’s jobless rate sits at 4.5 per cent, which is slightly higher than the national average, while the state has the nation’s lowest participation rate at 60.9 per cent.
In the area around Braddon, the average unemployment rate for the last 12 months of ABS data was 5.3 per cent, while in the area around Bass it was 4.5 per cent.
“We have large groups of Tasmanians who just aren’t participating at all in seeking work, and that’s where we see the great opportunity of working more closely with training in particular to unlock that workforce that’s really sitting waiting,” Mr Bailey said.
For Launceston publican Grace Robbins, finding staff and support for the arts industry are top of mind.
“The arts sector was really left behind with support, and we have really seen the effects of this as a live music venue,” she said.
She also said climate change had been pushed to the side in the election.
“Tourism in Tasmania is vital to businesses like this,” she said.
Help to find and train staff
Local manufacturing is thriving but businesses represented by the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone (BBAMZ) agreed the major parties could do more to help them find and train staff.
“Every business we represent now employs more people than they did two, three years ago, which is great for the region,” said Leigh Darcy, chairman of the BBAMZ, which is where 59 per cent of the state’s exports are produced.
BBAMZ represents members as big as smelter operators Rio Tinto and GFG Alliance, as well as local start-ups like Temtrol.
Leigh Darcy said improving training options for locals, lifting the skilled migration cap and boosting international student numbers were needed to lift productivity.
“The universities don’t have the international students here to be trained that we normally would then attract and keep them here,” he said.
“Whatever can be done to attract and to then actually allow that migration would certainly help.”
TCCI said an extra $25 million a year is needed for vocational training.
“We think that’s going to be the most logical way of really enabling that group of people but also against some of the levers that they’ve pulled recently with tax deductions and the like for trainees and apprentices make it easier for business,” Mr Bailey said.
Housing shortage at crisis levels in Braddon
In the neighbouring electorate of Braddon, workers are also in short supply and housing is a big reason.
“We’ve probably got about 30 vacancies, that’s about probably 10 per cent,” Bluestone Mines general manager Mark Recklies said.
Bluestone and Metals X run the Renison tin mine, about 15 kilometres from Zeehan, which is said to be the largest of its kind in Australia.
It is one of many mines in the electorate ramping up for another mining boom, and that means job vacancies in the industry will grow.
“There’d be a competition internally between the mines on the west coast here itself,” he said.
The mine provides some housing for workers in Zeehan, but Mr Recklies said a critical housing shortage in the area — as well as a lack of “general facilities” like daycare, schools and hospitals — could make it difficult to attract families to the area.
In Queenstown, one real estate agent told the ABC house prices have tripled in the past few years and at the time of our visit there were only three rental properties on the market.
“There are two jobs for every person on the west coast at the moment,” West Coast Council mayor Shane Pitt said.
He said the housing shortage could partly be attributed to the diversification of the town’s economy that has put pressure on housing supply since the most recent mining downturn about a decade ago.
The region is now home to a burgeoning arts community and adventure sports industry.
Mr Pitt and the West Coast Council are part of national lobby group More Than Mining, which is calling for the major parties to back tax breaks for developers that build housing in mining communities.
“The 50 per cent fringe benefits that government offer to people to build housing, they want to increase that 100 per cent, so that the people that come into the community want to build houses,” he said.
Tasmanian wages rising faster
Tasmanian workers have traditionally been some of the lowest-paid in the country, but as the state’s house prices go up and the job market tightens, there are signs that is changing.
The state recorded the highest annual growth in wages at 3 per cent, according to the most recent December Wage Price Index data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In Smithton at Tarkine Fresh Oysters, Josh Poke is also facing higher wages bills as inflation bites.
“Labour’s obviously going to go up because of inflation. Pretty much every part of our businesses has been affected. So hence, we’ll have to look at putting our price up as well,” he said.
The family business was recently bought by Tasmanian Oyster Company and has big plans to expand, as well as listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Mr Poke said to attract more staff the company is looking at building accommodation across the road.
He said whatever help the next federal government could give businesses facing rising costs would be appreciated.
“We are regional, and most of our jobs are in regional areas,” he said.
As for who he will be voting for on May 21, like most other business owners, he was reluctant to say.
“From my point of view, I think either side of politics will support our industry. I certainly hope so,” he said.
The time to convince voters is running out.
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