Tasmania

The island of Tasmania, an Australian state, is located 240 km (150 miles) south of the eastern portion of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait. Tasmania has a population of 456,652 (census 2001) and an area of 68,332 km² (26 383 square miles). As at 31 March 2003, Tasmania's estimated resident population was 476,199. Tasmania has the nickname Apple Isle due to the large number of apples grown there.

Economy

Tasmania's erratic economy was first experienced by colonists in the early 1800s.

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The reasons have been many and varied over the years. More recently the reasons have been attributed to: lack of federal infrastructure highway, lack of a gold rush, lack of open immigration initiatives, lack of population, decline in the wool and mineral economies, lack of early colonial initatives, or lack of foreign investment. For the length of the history of Tasmania there has been a continuing exodus of youth to mainland Australia in order to seek employment opportunities.

Related Topics:
Highway - Gold rush - Immigration - Wool

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Traditionally Tasmania's main industries have been: mining, including copper, zinc, tin, and iron; agriculture; forestry; and tourism. Significantly in the 1940's and 1950's there had been a notion of 'Hydro-Industrialisation' but even that has ebbed. These all have had varying fortunes over the last century and more, involved in ebbs and flows of population moving in and away dependant upon the specific requirements of the dominant industries of the time.

Related Topics:
Mining - Copper - Zinc - Tin - Iron - Agriculture - Forestry - Tourism

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There had been a decline in manufacturing during the 1990's, leading to a drain of some of the island's trained and experienced working population to mainland Australia. The major urban centres such as Melbourne and Sydney are popular destinations.

Related Topics:
Manufacturing - Melbourne - Sydney

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The state has a large number of food exporting sectors, including fish Atlantic Salmon, Abalone and Crayfish.

Related Topics:
Atlantic Salmon - Abalone - Crayfish

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Since 2001, Tasmania has experienced a positive turn around. Favourable economic conditions throughout Australia, cheaper air fares and three new Spirit of Tasmania ferries have all contributed to what is now a booming tourism industry. Record numbers of tourists are discovering the island, the property market is booming and the growth of businesses are now being limited by labour constraints.

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Tasmania's economic woes have caused many Tasmanians to view the world and their place in it quite differently from the rest of Australia. Consequently, Tasmania has a thriving, though under-resourced, arts community and environmental movement. However, this has turned out to be as much a divisive as an inclusive issue in respect of Tasmanian's sense of identity.

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The thrust of the environmental lobby has resulted in large areas of the state being conserved in national parks and other protected areas thus limiting economic development through means of industries such as forestry and mining as well as new places of settlement for future population growth. The position of the environmentalist lobby is that such developmental limitation is offset by enhanced tourism prospects. -->

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Today, a significant number of employed Tasmanians work for the government. Other major employers include the Federal Group, owner of several hotels and Tasmania's two casinos, and Gunns Limited, the state's biggest forestry company. In the late 1990s, many national companies based their call centres in the state after cheap access to broad-band fiber-optic became a reality.

Related Topics:
Federal Group - Casino - Gunns Limited - Forestry - 1990s - Call centre

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Apparently the states housing market was undervalued in the early part of 2000, and a large boom in the national housing market finally made Tasmanian housing prices rise dramatically.

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The shortage of rental properties that followed the investment rush caused problems for many of Tasmania's low income earners.

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Small business is a large part of the community life and it is believed by many that the business environment in Tasmania is not an easy one to survive in. However there have been many success stories, Incat and Moorilla and Tassal

Related Topics:
Incat - Moorilla - Tassal

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