La ciudad y la Iglesia

I think the north is actually a better place than the south. The south is... where the major government agencies are, the resources, the decision-makers. We literally commonly heard the phrase 'home-ground advantage rules', which is there is a southern-centrism or Hobart-

centrism to a lot of the vantage in the state because that is where people live. (participant 7, focus group II)281 Since its founding, Tasmanian society has experienced division, conflict and rivalry between the north and the south of the state, based on geology, geography and the resulting economic, demographic and political developments (Hollingsworth 2006). For instance, in the north of the state, a distinct aboriginal group established around the Tamar River suffered enormous economic and environmental impact with the development of Bell Bay (Johnson 2011, p. 15).282 Furthermore, Launceston and Hobart were first settled in the early 1800s under different

279 _{Establishing a fund of $5,000,000, Tasmania, under Premier Lennon, became the first state in Australia to}

compensate members of the ‘stolen generation’, the Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families (Herr, 2007a, p. 324). In addition, Premier Lennon delivered as promised by late Premier Bacon the return of two Bass Strait islands to Aboriginal ownership: Cape Barren and Clarke Islands (Herr 2005b).

280 _{‘Small islands are special because their “geographical precision” facilitates a (unique) sense of place’ (Baldacchino,}

2005, p. 35 in Stratford 2008, p. 161). Stratford adds that ‘in an age of hyper-mobility, islands provide spatial and temporal limits, and foster strong sense of identity’ (2008, p. 162).

281 _{‘They [North and South] have incredibly diverse problems. The north is political; in the south is really hard to}

divide Hobart from everything else’ (participant 6, focus group III)

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administrations. The political division started as each colony was separately administered and independent, reporting directly to the Governor based in Sydney (Hollingsworth 2006).283 When the two administrations amalgamated in 1812, Launceston lost out to Hobart as administrative capital and seat of government, and the British government devoted greater funds to the development of the capital, Hobart, generating concerns of Northern Tasmanians resulting in rivalry (Alexander & Petrow 2006; Hollingsworth 2016).284 _{Consequently, the north’s} developmental economic model relied mostly on private enterprise funding, whilst the south developed as an administrative hub for the state (Hollingsworth 2006) as illustrated by participants’ accounts:285

[…] people in the north are less likely to want to get grant funding, feel less entitled and are less aware of what money government has and how they distribute it. You just kind of float along in your own kind of environment, thinking I just need to earn my own money, you don’t realise that there’s money out there (participant 21, in-depth interview).286

Since the 1970s, however, governments have tried to address the Hobart-centric perception and issues of north-south divide by providing sporting, transport and university facilities in the North.287 Furthermore, the Tasmanian Government has recently engaged in a ‘Northern Cities Major Development Initiative’, and committed $90 million Australian dollars to revitalise northern Tasmania through major interventions in its main northern cities of Launceston, Burnie and Devonport (Tasmanian Government 2016).288

283 _{The two territories were divided by the 42}nd _{parallel by the English government, to protect them from a potential}

French invasion (Hollingsworth 2006).

284 _{Since then, the city of Launceston struggled to come to terms with the amalgamation and tried to establish itself as}

the island’s northern hub, thus trying to develop ties up north, around Bass Strait.

285 _{This rivalry can be further explained by the different developments of northern and southern economies during the}

1870s’ mining boom, when the north and north-west benefited from extractions of gold, tin and other metals, that resulted in the expansion of the northern cities of Burnie (nowadays a freight port) and Devonport (Spirit of Tasmania

ferry terminal. Therefore, the balance of power and population changed and the northern population requested accessibility of facilities outside the capital (Hobart), thus creating tensions between organisations with branches in both halves enterprise (Hollingsworth 2006). On 1 July 1985, TT-Line began operating passenger and vehicle transport across Bass Strait on the Abel Tasman ship. In 1993, the vessel was replaced by the much larger “original” Spirit of Tasmania. The same year, TT-Line separated from the Department of Transport and became a corporation wholly owned by the Tasmanian Government. TT-Line operated at one point three ferries, including one Sydney-Devonport service. The Spirit of Tasmania III, servicing Sydney incurred in major government losses that threatened the solvency of TT-Line, and resulted in the sale of the vessel and closure of the service (Herr 2006b, p.678). Currently the iconic red-and-white Spirit of Tasmania I and II continue to transport passengers, passenger vehicles and freight between Melbourne and Tasmania. For more information, visit <https://www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/media/ 714352/final- media-kit-february-2016.pdf>.

286 _{Today, state services are centralised in Hobart, the capital, and the low cost and convenience of travel to Hobart}

from other parts of the state complicates the task of providing government services to all sectors of the population. Hobart is also home of the main campus of the only university in Tasmania. The University of Tasmania, based in Hobart, has two additional campuses in the north of the state, in the cities of Launceston and Burnie.

287 _{Similarly, the Launceston airport has been redeveloped to act as a gateway for the north of the state. Similarly,}

transport developments around the cargo and passenger ferry ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ have led to a revitalisation of services in Devonport, in the north of the state.

288 _{In Australian dollars. In addition, the initiative has resulted in the development of a ‘Northern Regional Futures}

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They [north and south] have incredibly diverse problems. The north is political; the south is really hard to divide Hobart from everything else (participant 6, focus group III).

There is a political crisis there and it has gradually been getting worse and worse because the natural industry changes, manufacturing closing up (participant 17, focus group III).

Some participants observed the divide as an opportunity to differentiate their offerings, a reason to celebrate or highlight a different identity to be sold to both investors and visitors:

[…] now people are coming from the big city down to Hobart for the same reasons they moved to the big city: for live music, for culture, etc. The way that I look at it is that Launceston can have an identity around entrepreneurship, innovation and technology. And that actually it might be the better choice to stay in Launceston and start a company there than it would be to go to Melbourne or go to Sydney. (participant 9, in-depth interview).

The issues around the political divide will be further explored in Chapter Six and Seven, during data analysis and discussion.

6.4 Politics

If you look at regional centres and scaling back to Tasmania, there is a tendency to expect government to fix people's problems.

(participant 20, in-depth interview) Tasmania is part of the constitutional monarchy of the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia comprises six States and two Territories (Australian Government 1997). The state’s current Premier is Will Hodgman, head of the Tasmanian Liberal Party (TLP). Other major political parties represented in the Legislative Council are the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and The Tasmanian Greens Party (Greens).289

Tasmania is divided into twenty-nine local government areas whose revenue is derived from property taxes and state government grants and allocations. Those local governments are typically in charge of urban planning and infrastructure. In a climate of increasing budgetary pressure, efficiency and savings are needed to attend to social issues, bringing about a logical and long debate on local government amalgamation, since twenty-nine councils have a high burden in administrative costs in a population of over half a million, and their particularities in regulation result in added complexities in service provision mechanisms (Alessandrini 2013a, p.

competitive manufacturing and tourism <http://www.northerntasmania.org.au/northern-regional-futures-project> and <http://cg.tas.gov.au/home/major_projects/northern_cities_major_development_initiative>.

289 _{There has been ample debate on the composition of the Tasmanian Parliament and the role of minority parties in}

the composition of governments. The rise of the Greens and their influence on minority governments led to a highly contested parliamentary reform, despite claims by prominent academics that the cuts to parliamentary numbers were unlikely to deliver effective government, or adequate representation or proper parliamentary processes (McCall 1999, p. 293). Electoral quotas were changed in 1998, and led to the reduction in the size of the House of Assembly in 1998, from 12.5% to 16.6% for the twenty-five seat post-1998 Parliament, reducing the Greens representation to a single Member of the House of Assembly (Herr 2003, p. 293).

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317).290 _{In line with issues on the political divide, additional political issues are considered in the} analysis and discussion of findings.

Tasmania’s parliament follows the Australian model of two chambers, but differs in the electoral system. While the (lower) House of Assembly is formed using proportional representation, the (upper) Legislative Council is elected by single member electorates. In addition, elections for the houses are held on separate dates. The House of Assembly has twenty-five members, whereas the Legislative Council consists of fifteen single member electorates, elected for six-year terms.291