Categoría 1

And Tasmania is economically, socially and educationally disadvantaged part of Australia and I believe in education, in public education, in particular.

(participant 20, in-depth interview) Tasmania’s geography shaped its migratory history and determined its economic development.292 The state has the most regional and dispersed population of any state in Australia, with approximately 519,000 in 2016 (ABS 2016), and half of the population living outside the greater capital city area of Hobart.

The state also has the lowest population growth in the nation, an aging population with the nationally poorest levels of health in most indicators, as well as poor educational outcomes (Alessandrini 2010a, p. 670; Eslake 2016a, 2015, pp. 35-46).293

Tasmania’s current main industries are: agriculture, tourism, fishing and forestry (Eslake 2015, p. 11).294 Once a main industry, mining is now in significant decline. The island economic

290 _{This idea, along with the view that Tasmania has too many ‘councillors’, has been supported by economists}

(notably, Saul Eslake) and business representatives, as well as by the majority of the population.

291 _{The five House of Assembly electorates are Denison, Franklin, Bass, Breddan and Lyons (Tasmanian Electoral}

Commission 2016a). A map of electorates in the Tasmanian Electoral Commission can be viewed here <www.tec.tas.gov.au>. These electorates reflect major divisions and rivalry between different parts of the state (Green 2016). In addition, there are long lines of generational political life, as illustrated by current Liberal Premier Will Hodgman, a 4th generation politician. In Tasmania, the Australian bipartisanism was broken by the rise of the Greens. Despite being a minority party, their numbers allow them to determine which of the other major parties (Labor or Liberal) would form government (Tasmanian Electoral Commission 2016b)

292 _{Its Aboriginal tradition was suddenly convulsed in the eighteenth century by the arrival of European maritime}

expeditions that changed both demography and landscape. As a colony, Tasmania experienced mainly steady growth but suffered from economic fluctuations. For instance, in the late 19th century it was known as a world-center for shipbuilding (Reynolds 2012).

293 _{The education system in Tasmania has been under review for the last five years, following concerns of the level of}

state debts that small rural schools incurred, their viability, and the social implications of their closures, as evidenced in the Tasmania Tomorrow restructuring process (Alessandrini 2010a).

294 _{The Tasmanian Government (2017) lists as key competitive sectors for the island: advanced manufacturing,}

Antarctic and Southern Ocean, building and construction, cultural and tourism industry, food and agribusiness, forestry and related industries, information and communication technologies, international education, mining and mineral processing, renewable energy and science research. Forestry, mining and manufacturing sectors are suffering a decline, particularly in the north and north-west of the state (for more information, visit <http://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/home/sectors>). In addition, Profile.id, a web portal that uses Australian Bureau

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performance is highly dependent on external factors, such as the distribution of the sales tax, termed Good and Services Tax (GST) in the country, as well as changeable industries such as tourism and agriculture (Bolwell et al 2015, p. 658). 295 _{The largest source of income is the GST} the state receives from federal government, that accounted for 42.3% of the revenue for the 2015- 2016 Budget (Bolwell et al 2015, p 660).296 _{Tasmania’s disadvantage is contextualised in the} Australian nation. The Australian economy, however, ranks highly in the world, and Tasmanians enjoy upper middle income conditions.

Food exporting sectors, including seafood, have established a solid brand due to the outstanding quality of their produce (Brand Tasmania 2014a):

There's a consistent theme here that what works in Tasmania is no longer the old-fashioned bulk production of low-value commodities competing solely on the basis of price but rather products and experiences which do have a unique component to them for which customers will pay premium prices (Eslake in Salmon 2016).

Tourism is one of the fastest expanding industries and has highly benefited from the quality of produce and improvements in connectivity, based on expanded air travel capacity and cheaper air and ferry fares (Tourism Tasmania 2016a).297 The government has recognised tourism as a strategic area for growth (Bolwell et al 2015, p. 661).298 _{Despite the surge in the tourism industry,} forestry, mining and manufacturing sectors are in decline, encouraging people to migrate, especially from the north and north-west (ABC News 2014; National Australia Bank 2016; O’Brien 2010).

of Statistics census information to shape community profiles, listed in 2011 Health Care and Social Assistance, Retail Trade, Public Administration and Safety, and Education and Training as the main industry sectors of employers, which is indicative of Tasmania’s population mix (small and old population), see <http://profile.id.com.au /australia/industries?WebID=150>. Furthermore, according to Economist Saul Eslake, dairy, beef production and the wine industry are the main contributors to the expansion of Tasmania’s agricultural sector. Beef and wine production, in particular, have capitalised on Tasmania’s brand strengths. Agriculture is the largest sector of the Tasmanian economy (9.6% GDP 2014-15), followed by tourism (9% GDP 2014-15). For more information, see Eslake (2015).

295 _{The Goods and Services Tax (GST) ‘is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or}

consumed in Australia’. For more information, visit: https://www.ato.gov.au/business/gst/

296 _{Tasmania has been involved in a long-time battle with other Australian states for the GST amount the state receive.}

Proposals to reform the distribution of GST based on population proportion will dramatically affect Tasmanians, since infrastructure investment costs are disproportionate for such a small population (Alessandrini 2011b, p. 652, 2015, p. 320). In 2016, a federal (national) review of the GST and federal funding towards the states threatened Tasmania’s economic status (Bolwell et al 2016b).

297 _{Visitor numbers increased by 8% in 2014 and expenditure by 9% following similar increases the year earlier. The}

Tasmanian Government, in light of the potential of increasing such numbers has significantly increased funding towards Tourism Tasmania’s main marketing campaign ‘Go Behind the Scenery’ (2015-2017). The state’s recent rapid increase in visitation and consequent boost to the tourism industry is a consequence of favourable economic conditions across Australia, as well as increased interest in international visitation, particularly from China (Tasmanian Government 2015). See, Tourism Tasmania Annual report 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

298 _{According to Bolwell et al (2015), the government has committed $6 million (Australian dollars) for tourism}

marketing, with the hope to create 8,000 jobs. Under the ‘T21-The Tasmanian Visitor Economy Strategy 2015-2020’, a five-year plan to increase visitation, the Tasmanian Government allocated $15 million over three years in marketing budget to promote the state through two major domestic market campaigns (Tourism Tasmania 2016a).

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Tasmania also acts as Australia’s chief link to Antarctica. Its capital, Hobart, is considered the leading scientific Antarctic research hub of Australia, and hosts key hubs for research organisations such as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Centre, and the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).299

While small business owners constitute a large fraction of the community, around 34% of Tasmanians rely on welfare payments as their primary source of income, mainly due to the large number of pensioners (Id, 2006). Today, the main employers in the state are the public sector (Eslake 2015) and private employers in tourism, like the Federal Group (owner of several hotels and casinos), heavy industry, like Bell Bay Aluminium, and fisheries and meat processing businesses.300

The island state faces socioeconomic challenges, such as the lowest population growth in the Australian nation, low education attainment levels, a gloomy future for manufacturing, and the lowest consumer expenditure in Australia (Bolwell et al 2015, p. 660). The issues of education attainment and welfare dependency in particular were reflected in participants’ concerns about the future of Tasmania:

The education system here is limited in resources and education is low and poorly valued in Northern Tasmania. So how can we support that from the arts that actually then builds community. And through the higher levels, how can we support a creative skilled industry that we can then use and not lose people (participant 19, focus group II).

We have a state that’s dependent on money coming in so we’ve had no drive to change and I feel there’s other things people are trying to do about trying to inspire and create change, but we are more often trying to break down barriers and push that as a sentiment rather than leading a charge forward, and that’s a big problem I think the state has (participant 1, in-depth interview).

As can be observed from the above account, Tasmania’s image presents many contradictions. In fact, official data reflects only one side of the complex story of the island’s development. It could be argued that the perceived lack of economic modernity is compensated for by its provision of amenity. One of the socioeconomic advantages of the state of Tasmania is its liveability, in terms of the safety of its society and closeness of its communities. In 2014, Hobart was ranked one of Australia’s top three liveable cities, with ‘[t]he 546 Hobartians polled identified our attractive natural environment and a good range of quality affordable housing as our most positive

299 _{For more information, see http://www.csiro.au and http://www.imas.utas.edu.au/}

300 _{According to Eslake, Tasmania has a large public sector mainly due to the relative importance of its}

government business enterprises (GBEs). Its ‘general government’ sector is also larger relative to elsewhere in Australia. Bolwell et al (2016) note that Tasmania’s state public sector accounted for 15.8% of total employment as of June 2015, compared with a national average of 12.7%. Bolwell et al (ibid) also note that unemployment rates for the state declined by 0.2% to 6.6% in 2016 (compared to 2015).

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attributes, both coming in second place nationally, while safety for people and their properties came in third place’ (Tasmanian Times 2014). In addition, house affordability and relatively low traffic congestion, except for the capital Hobart (Bolwell et al 2016b) are a result of ‘[s]trong positive net migration into Tasmania in recent times, together with an increased birth rate, change in household composition and smaller households all have strengthened the demand for more houses’ (ABS 2008). Launceston was named by a Suncorp poll the most family friendly city in Australia in 2013, with Hobart being the 7th in the country.

Even though Tasmania is an underprivileged society compared to the rest of Australia, still, it is pretty good, and there is a kind of passivity in the culture and the mendicant attitude. There is still this perception of federal government will bail us out. The leadership dialogue is framed in the mainstream, in the figure of the Premier. Of course the Premier is responsible for a lot, but it is just one person. Rather than this idea of people taking responsibility for effecting their own change. So it is a cultural thing. We had 20 something years of unbroken prosperity, and I know it hasn't trickled down to everyone but we really have it pretty good, so I don't necessarily see that changing unless all the money is withdrawn and that would be a big trauma for people (participant 20, in-depth interview).

Despite some areas in need for improvement, analysts maintain that Tasmania is currently going through an economic ‘purple patch’ (Grimmer 2015; Pascoe 2016) assisted by the weaker dollar and vibrant cultural and creative industries (Eslake in Salmon 2016). For instance, Grimmer observes a growth in economic confidence due to cultural tourism leveraging new arts developments (2015). Similarly, in a recent 2015 report commissioned by the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce Eslake highlighted business confidence, despite low economic prospects for the economy:

Tasmania does have considerable potential. As a producer of high-value foods and beverages, as a niche producer of specialised manufactured products, as a tourist destination with particular appeal to visitors in search of unique experiences, as the home of leading-edge research in distinctive fields, as a place where housing is still affordable, as a home to a vibrant and distinctive range of cultural and artistic endeavours, and as a community better-placed than many to deal with the challenges associated with climate change (Eslake 2016b, p. 74).

Eslake’s report also outlined the key strategic areas for the future of Tasmania’s economy, primarily emphasising the importance of high-end produce and tourism, arts and cultural tourism, and a strong focus on food and beverage:

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The eight W’s of Tasmania’s economic future

Wool For >150 years Tasmania has been producing the finest, most expensive wool in Australia

Water Hydro’s renewable energy sold at high prices to mainland wholsesale markets (and

commanding on additional premium when carbon pricing returns) – plus irrigation (an enabler of expansion of the dairy industry) – plus premium water (from Cape Grim) in Qantas First Class and expensive restaurants – and prodcts from water (like salmon, abalone and oysters) – and boat-building, marine engineering, Antractic science, etc.

Wine Tasmania now produces some of Australia’s best, and mos expensive, premium wines

Whisky High-priced distilled spirits branded using some of Tasmania’s most distinctive

characteristics

Wasabi And other horticultural products (cherries, onions, turnips, truffles, etc.) sold to at high prices to sutimers in Northern Hemisphere countries (Japan, Germany, France) who are used to paying high prices in their off seasons

Wagyu High-priced beef (retailing in Japan for >A$80 per kilo)

Walking (and Wilderness). Unique experiences for which tourists will pay premium prices (dhould

include adventure tourism like New Zealand)

Walshy The unique MONA experience (and others like it)

Table 5. The Eight W’s of Tasmania’s Economic Future (adapted from Eslake 2016a). Typically following an economic development logic of place branding, the products and experiences listed above are those upon which the Tasmanian Brand identity would be consequently built. A focus on economics and development has resulted in a clear emphasis on country-of-origin of branding, focusing on increasing high end produce exports, destination branding, or providing high-end tourism experiences in Tasmania. The following second part of the chapter reflects on how actors have sought to brand Tasmania, and the sections detail formal and informal attempts to brand Tasmania.