It was seven years ago that Tasmania was labelled as the Greece of Australia; a mendicant state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We were called a “leech on the teat”, and the teat being the Australian economy.
Both these comments stemmed from Western Australian politicians, angry that the GST carve-up was “unfairly” favouring Tasmania.
The comments at the time drew ire from Tasmanians. Then-premier Lara Giddings responded strongly, when her WA counterpart said Tasmania was a “beggar” state.
“We are a small economy, but continue to punch well above our weight in economic terms,” Ms Giddings said at the time.
It’s a GST-fuelled rivalry that still wages today, between Tasmania and WA.
For many years, Tasmania has been called names – who can forget Leo Schofield’s spray? According to him at the time, it was the state of “dregs, bogans, and third-generation morons”.
Tasmanians do not take to such insults kindly. We accept we’re a little less refined than perhaps a Melbournite or Sydney-sider, but we wouldn’t want any further polishing.
It’s a wild state and the general populous reflects that sometimes, living in tandem with the environment and the seasons.
But a lot has changed in seven years.
Hobart’s real estate economy has surpassed that of other state capitals.
Our visitor numbers are booming. We’re attracting guests from all over Australia and the world. Even guests from Western Australia.
The Tasmanian brand is invaluable when it is slapped upon produce.
In 2015, it was revealed that cherries being sold in China and Vietnam were being labelled as “Tasmanian cherries”, just because they sold better and for more money.
They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
So as the rest of the country begins to recognise the value of their mini-Greece, would those politicians who once made such controversial statements still stand by them? It is no longer true that we are closed for business. It’s arguable if this was.
But it is true that we are not the same state that we were at the beginning of the decade.
Some would say a new age is dawning for Tasmania. Others could say that we are already in the midst of it.
Regardless, no one could rightly now call Tasmania mendicant, or a leech. We’re a state that well and truly punches above its weight.
