Out of all the mess and panic of state government reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, a glimmer of sense is at least emerging in Tasmania.
Like New Zealand, a sparsely-populated, remote island lacking substantial public transport networks, Tasmania is well-placed to avoid the worst effects of the pandemic. Nonetheless, despite rigorous border closure, sadly typical mismanagement saw one significant cluster push up our case numbers early.
Unlike certain other states, though, the government got its act together and to date, there is only one active case – a person who was already in quarantine on entering the state.
Now the government is trying (still-closed borders notwithstanding) to get its economic act together and chart at least one course out of this mess.
The State Government has ditched plans to build the replacement Spirit of Tasmania ships overseas, in favour of finding a local builder.
Premier Peter Gutwein today said[…]”On one hand we have a decision whereby we could see more than $850 million invested in a European country, supporting European jobs, providing what would without doubt be an excellent product,” he said.
“However on the other hand we had the opportunity to explore how much of that investment could occur within the state or within our country.”
Tasmania’s economy faces many difficulties. A relative lack of resources, isolation, and a disproportionately aged (and therefore state-dependent) population makes Tasmania’s economic situation dicey at the best of times. Relentless campaigns by (often Mainland-based) environmental activists have succeeded in shutting down just about any industries that threaten to turn a profit (the booming aquaculture industry is the latest in their sights).
COVID-19 is yet another log on the camel’s back.
Tasmania’s unemployment rate is predicted to hit 8.6 per cent by 2021 as the economic downturn caused by coronavirus continues.
The “youth drain” has also long been a sap on Tasmania’s economic vitality, as younger Tasmanians shift to the Mainland for better jobs.
This isn’t helped by employers who seem too often to be unwilling to invest in local school leavers and young workers. Businesses complain about a skills shortage – and take the easy remedy of importing cheap labour from overseas.
Building the ferries in Tasmania, where facilities already exist at Incat in Hobart, should be an opportunity to invest in building a skills base in Tasmania.
Mr Gutwein said he had discussed the change with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was “supportive” of the idea.
“What we need to do is take every opportunity to consider how much investment we can deliver in Tasmania out of such a significant purchase, and how many jobs we can underpin in this state as we begin our rebuild,” he said.
The taskforce, which will be headed up by Treasury with members from State Growth, TT-Line and the Federal Government, will spend the next three to six months looking into Australian options.
Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson said at a time when the economy was struggling it made sense to look inwards.
“The appetite from Tasmanian and Australian industries should be and is going to be greater than it has been in past months and years when we’ve looked to other international options,” he said.
“The greatest opportunity for us is to maximise Tasmanian jobs, Australian jobs.”
Nonetheless, there are significant challenges. The Bass Strait route is one of the most notorious in the world.
TT-Line chairman Mike Grainger said[…]”The vessels are complex by their very nature. They’re a high-speed operation and they carry a lot of freight and they carry a lot of passengers,” Mr Grainger said.
“So it would need to be determined that there is the capability in this country to actually do those.
“It’s one of the harshest routes in the world and we need to make sure the ships are fit for purpose.”
Mr Gutwein said Tasmania did not have the capability to build steel hulls of the size needed[…]
But he said they were “not going to leave any rock unturned”.
“My job is to take into account both the best interests economically but also the best interests socially of our state. Right now, every dollar that we spend as a Government, I want to understand whether that dollar can be spent here.
If the state government has the ambition and courage to seize this opportunity, the potential dividends for Tasmania and Tasmanians are huge.
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