Economist Saul Eslake has used a speech at a Hobart conference to ram home some uncomfortable truths about why Tasmanians are poorer and sicker than the rest of the country.
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Speaking at the Economic Society's Tasmanian Economic Forum on Thursday, Mr Eslake said Tasmania remains Australia's poorest state, despite the strong economic growth seen here over the past decade.
He says Tasmania's economy is now slowing down, closing this economic gap will take reforms, but there seems to be little appetite for that in the state at the moment.
So why is Tasmania so poor compared to the rest of Australia?
Mr Eslake's answer is clear.
"We're the poorest state in the nation because fewer of us have jobs, we work fewer hours, and for each hour that we work we produce less."
There are good reasons for all of that - Tasmanians work fewer hours because a higher proportion of its people are older, and more jobs here are part-time.
We also have an abundance of less-productive industries on the island.
Relatively few Tasmanians work in intrinsically high-productivity industries, according to Mr Eslake.
He says 64 per cent of Tasmanian workers are employed in industries where labour productivity is more than 50% below the all-industry average, such as hospitality, retail trade, art and recreation and healthcare.
Education Failures
He says lack of educational attainment is the common factor underpinning Tasmania's economic underperformance.
Tasmanians are less likely to earn a university degree and more likely to leave school at year 10 than other Australians.
"There's a clear and unequivocal relationship between educational attainment and employment outcomes," according to Mr Eslake.
This educational under-performance is not a result of a lack of resources.
Compared with other states and territories, per student school spending and teachers per student are well above the national average in Tasmania.
Instead, Mr Eslake says the four "big flaws" in Tasmania's education system are:
*Children start school later than children in other states
*Tasmania has 'too many' small schools
*Schools import educational 'fads' from Victoria, such getting rid of phonics study in primary schools
*Separation of high school (years 7-10) and college (years 11 and 12) acts a barrier for students' progression
Mr Eslake is not confident of positive change ahead.
"It's not at all clear, however, that anyone in or aspiring to be in government in Tasmania has any appetite for major reforms, in education or anywhere else."
Health Divide
Health is also a factor in the state's economic underperformance.
Mr Eslake says Tasmanians have poorer health outcomes than mainlanders - not because of a lack of doctors, but because of a much higher proportion of smokers and overweight people.
Tasmanians are the fattest citizens in the nation, with nearly 70 per cent of Tasmanians classed overweight or obese, compared to a national average of about 67 per cent.
About 16.5 per cent of Tasmanians smoke, compared to about 13.5 per cent of mainlanders.
