May has been a difficult and challenging month for hardworking Tasmanians doing it tough, with new price rises announced for both power and water set to push family budgets to the limit.

Earlier this month, TasNetworks announced it was a proposing a 15 per cent transmission price rise from 1 July, driving up household power bills by $113 on average.

Yesterday, TasWater confirmed they too would be upping prices, by 3.5 per cent per year for the next four years, seeing water bills rise by $46 on average per year.

RTI documents obtained by Labor show that in 2023, 2,569 Tasmanians defaulted on their TasWater payment plans, with 443 of those people holding concession cards.

35 households had restrictions placed on their water services, with two of those concession card holders.

With the rise in the cost of living showing no signs of slowing down, there’s a strong chance the number of Tasmanians struggling to pay their bills will become even greater.

State governments can’t do everything about the cost of living, but they should do everything within their power to ease the burden placed on households and families.

This includes ensuring that Tasmanians pay a Tasmanian price for Tasmanian power, stimulating the economy and supporting Tasmanians into jobs where wages and conditions keep pace with living costs.

However with Jeremy Rockliff already foreshadowing a “difficult and challenging” budget, it looks his mismanagement of the state’s finances will mean he is unable to pull any more levers needed to help Tasmanians.

Josh Willie MP
Shadow Minister for Cost of Living