Cranes a symbol of record Hobart boom

Tasmania’s building and construction sector is continuing to boom with a record number of cranes now visible on Hobart’s skyline.

Vos Construction’s tower crane — being used for the VIBE Hotel development — brings the total number to six, which eclipses the previous record of five cranes in Hobart.

Last month, the Mercury highlighted how Tasmania’s booming construction sector was expanding at record levels with more than $8 billion worth of building projects on the cards in the next five years.

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There are 68 high-value developments either under construction or consideration within the next five years and these projects have the potential to create almost 12,000 jobs.

Hobart is a hive of construction activity with the Parliament Square and Hyatt Centric Hotel developments that are nearly completed.

Building and Construction Minister Sarah Courtney says this achievement is not by accident.

“Under the Government’s nation-leading policies, investment and jobs in the building and construction sector are at record level highs, and red tape is being cut, making it easier, faster and cheaper to build across our state,” she says.

Courtney says the latest ABS data showed that in the year to September 2018, the value of construction work completed increased by 11% to $2.9 billion, which is nearly seven times higher than the growth rate in Australia overall.

“This strong growth coupled with Tasmania being the fastest growing economy, per capita, in the nation, is leading to increases in business confidence and jobs,” she says.

“As at October, there were 2300 jobs created this year — that’s more than 250,000 Tasmanians in work.

“The Government has a target to increase people employed in the building and construction sector by 25 per cent over the next five years, and to enable this we are extending the Payroll Tax Rebate Scheme and Small Business Grants for Apprentices and Trainees Program to employ more people into the sector.”

This article from The Mercury originally appeared as “Busy skyline a symbol of capital’s record-setting boom”.