IF young Tasmanians had to move elsewhere to get a job, it would not be the “worst outcome in the world”, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said during a visit to the state today.

Mr Abbott had to continue his defence of the Federal Budget during an appearance in Hobart to confirm a Federal Government contribution of $26 million for upgrades to the Brooker Highway.

Mr Abbott met with Premier Will Hodgman at the Hobart Traffic Management centre to make the funding announcement.

But a group of about 70 sign-waving teachers from the nearby Australian Education Union convention were there to provide them with an angry greeting over the Government’s abandonment of the Gonski school funding reforms.

ABBOTT HECKLED BY TEACHERS IN HOBART

Mr Abbott said his Government was not cutting money to education and health, but would not fund services to the same extend that the former Labor Government had promised because of the country’s “debt and deficit disaster”.

“If you’re borrowing from one credit card to pay the interest off the other credit card, you’re stuffed,” he said.

“We can’t go on spending money that we don’t have.”

One of the key areas of concern in Tasmania around the Federal Budget is the Government’s effort to push young people off welfare and into work given the lack of jobs opportunities in the state.

School leavers will have to wait six months before they can access any benefits, leading to fears of an increased exodus of young people from the state.

Mr Abbott said there was nothing new about people having to move in search of a job.

“If people have to move for work, that’s not the worst outcome in the world … for hundreds and hundreds of years people have been moving in order to better their life,” he said.

“People came to Tasmania in order to better their lives. So, I don’t think we should be necessarily heartbroken just because some people choose to move.”.

Premier Will Hodgman said he was in ongoing discussions with the Prime Minister about Tasmania’s budget situation.

As a result of the Federal Budget the state is set to miss out on $27 million in federal health funds next financial year.

Mr Abbott hinted at some relief on the horizon, saying that state health ministers were in the discussions with the Federal Government about the implications of the budget.

“The last thing we want to do is put the squeeze on a hospital system under pressure,” he said.