Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
Fault lines and the future
Historically, the underperformance of Tasmania’s economy is a recurring theme
and the subject of numerous inquiries and attempted interventions. The 1997
NixonreportontheTasmanianeconomyfortheCommonwealthgovernment,for
example, noted that ‘economic activity and jobs growth in Tasmania is the worst of
all the states’. 28 As we have noted, the Tasmanian economy is currently experiencing
a period of strong growth in what has been described as a ‘golden age’. In a speech
to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), Premier Will
Hodgman declared Tasmania was ‘now a stronger, prouder, more confident place
andtheeconomyoneofthestrongestperforminginthecountry’. 29
This economic renaissance began in the late 1990s, under Labor Premier Jim
Bacon, with a program he named Tasmania Together – an attempt to unite people
behind a plan to focus on Tasmania’s advantages – its natural attractions, its
reputation for excellent produce, the arts – and to instil a sense of confidence in
the community. Despite falling victim to irreconcilable differences over forestry,
Tasmania Together succeeded in promoting growth in tourism, a turnaround from
a net decline in population to growth from both interstate and overseas migrants,
andrecognitionoftheimportanceofeducationandtheartsasimportantsectorsof
economicgrowth.TheestablishmentoftheMuseumofOldandNewArt,knownas
MONA, by professional gambler and eccentric entrepreneur David Walsh in 2011
tapped into an international market of cultural tourism and has fostered innovation
and creativity across the state.
However, the growth in population, migration, tourism and education services
has generated its own set of problems. Road infrastructure, particularly in Hobart,
has not kept up with the growth in numbers; tourism infrastructure is struggling
to cope with increased visitation, and increased demand for accommodation has
caused housing affordability problems and a rising number of the homeless. In the
Hobart rental market, the amount of properties suitable for low-income people
declined rapidly in 2018 due to the tourism boom and the removal of properties
from the long-term market to the more profitable short-term Airbnb. Rapidly rising
housing prices have also adversely affected the rental market. 30
The ongoing struggle between economic development and the environment has
defined Tasmanian politics. Struggles such as the fights to save the wilderness from
hydro development in the 1980s and the forestry conflicts of the 1990s and 2000s
seem to be abating. However, the rapid growth in tourism in recent years has led to
environmental tension around the location and scale of tourism infrastructure, such
as resorts, hotels and a cable car, and encroachment on wilderness areas.
28 Nixon 1997, v.
29 Hodgman 2017.
30 Anglicare 2018, 6.
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