Federal budget delivers $1.4 billion for Tasmania, highest per capita in Australian history

Tasmania has secured $1.4 billion in federal budget commitments, its highest ever dollar allocation and the highest per capita federal investment of any state in Australian budget history, with a concentration in social housing, health infrastructure, digital connectivity, and the tourism and arts infrastructure that underpins the island's economy.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Tasmania's exceptional per capita allocation reflected both the genuine infrastructure deficits that the island had accumulated over decades of lower economic capacity and the federal government's commitment to ensuring that Australians in all parts of the country had access to comparable services and opportunities. "Tasmania is small by population but not by importance. This budget treats it accordingly," he said.

The social housing component of $285 million will fund 680 new dwellings across the island — the largest single-year social housing investment in Tasmanian history — with a concentration in Hobart and Launceston where the private rental market has become the least affordable in the state's history relative to median incomes. The dwellings will be managed by the Housing Tasmania authority and community housing providers under a mixed ownership model.

Health infrastructure funding of $220 million will support the Launceston General Hospital's expansion and the upgrading of community health centres in regional Tasmania, where access to primary care has been identified as the most serious health equity issue facing the state. Seven new or expanded community health centres will be built across rural and remote areas under the investment.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff described the allocation as the most significant federal commitment to Tasmania since the Commonwealth funded major hydroelectric projects in the mid-twentieth century.

This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.