Rod West
The full economic picture is even more startling. Numerous other resource-intensive industries shed hundreds of jobs as they struggled with global competition. In round numbers, employment fell at Comalco by about 700; at EZ by 2000; at ANM 600; Renison 400; Savage River 600; Temco 500; EZ Roseberry 1000; Tioxide 600; King Island Shelite 400; and Mt Llyell 1500. The forest industries cut 5,000 jobs as the focus turned to pulpwood.
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In truth, the pulpmill is a dangerous distraction monopolizing Tasmania’s economic horizon. Industry debate is dominated by it. The government bureaucracy is focused almost exclusively on it. Our Minister for Economic Development, Paul Lennon, is totally mesmerized by it. This myopic vision has distracted our public resources and political attention so fully Tasmania is ignoring industries at the heart of our economic revival.
TWENTY years ago a small island endured a heated debate around a plan for a controversial world-scale chlorine pulpmill. The Premier warned the economy would be ruined without it. Opponents were slammed as anti-development.
The pulpmill didn’t proceed. Yet, ironically, over time unemployment halved and the economy boomed. New vibrant industries created jobs and tourism flourished. The island’s lifestyle became the envy of the nation, community conflict began to heal and the islanders discovered a positive attitude and love of their land.
That island is, of course, Tasmania.
In 1989, when the Wesley Vale pulpmill was stopped, Tasmania’s unemployment was the highest in Australia at almost 10%. Now, 20 years later, unemployment is down to only 5.4%, no longer lagging behind the other states. Participation is strong at over 60%. 35,000 new jobs have been created. Economic growth over 3% is ahead of the national average of 2.8% and in front of NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Our youth no longer leave the state in droves to find jobs and for the first time we have recorded positive net interstate migration figures.
If the pulpmill proponents had been correct, Tasmania’s economy should be in tatters rather than the nation’s success story.
The full economic picture is even more startling. Numerous other resource-intensive industries shed hundreds of jobs as they struggled with global competition. In round numbers, employment fell at Comalco by about 700; at EZ by 2000; at ANM 600; Renison 400; Savage River 600; Temco 500; EZ Roseberry 1000; Tioxide 600; King Island Shelite 400; and Mt Llyell 1500. The forest industries cut 5,000 jobs as the focus turned to pulpwood.
This story of economic disaster and employment melt down allowed Tasmania to undergo no less than an economic revolution. Employment creation has boomed as new clean green and clever industries have not only replaced the thousands of jobs lost in the resource industries, but have created enough new jobs — some 50,000 — to halve unemployment. Growth in these emerging industries has resulted in more state income to fund health, education, social services and subsidise forestry. The multiplier effect has been enormous. There is no longer just a dim light at the end of the tunnel, Tasmania has entered sustained economic sunshine.
What led to this clean, green and clever economic resurgence? The answer lies in the seismic events of Tasmania’s last 20 years centered on environmental protection and social progress.
No issue has featured more prominently in Tasmania than forestry. The debate has been ferocious. Time and time again the forest industry has claimed protecting wild areas will turn Tasmania into a basket case, but the evidence is very different. Every time a National Park has been created or an old growth forest protected, unemployment has fallen as new economic activity is generated.
With twenty five percent of Tasmania now protected as National Parks and World Heritage Areas, unemployment keeps falling. The forestry industry has been wrong. Protecting our wild country creates jobs. Hard working Tasmanians previously employed in the resource industries are finding secure work in the new industries. The few ideological extremists who still claim protecting the environment costs jobs, are now little more than a well funded vocal minority.
Tourism has become Tasmania’s economic powerhouse. The turning point was saving the Franklin River. Since then the number of tourism visitors have tripled to over 800,000 and the amount they are spending has doubled to nearly $1.2 billion every year (coincidentally roughly the same as the total cost of the pulpmill). Even Forestry Tasmania has had to move into this growth sector to offset their losses. Employment has risen by over twenty five percent. Tourism is now our number one employer and twice the size of any other industry.
Many of Tasmania’s emerging industries rely on our new ‘clean green’ brand. The image of a verdant, wild island where innovation flourishes, underpins our fine food, wine, agricultural, marine farming, organic and fishing industries.
The clean green brand could not have been created when resource businesses dominated Tasmania. In fact it was the collapse of the old industries which allowed the new sectors to take root.
The revolution in Tasmania’s social policy has also been instrumental in our new economic revival. Our parliament has passed some of the nation’s must progressive laws. Gays and lesbians are no longer criminals and discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is outlawed; we have the toughest gun control; we’re the first state to apologise to and compensate the stolen generation; we have handed land back to the traditional owners, stopped using 1080 in state forests and banned industrial dumping at sea.
Each time Tasmania has acted to protect the environment and create a more caring, progressive and inclusive community, unemployment has fallen and economic activity has increased.
Together, the social and environmental reforms have created fertile ground for our new economy based on creativity and a wild pristine environment. The variety of innovative industries is staggering – from computer technology, organic cosmetics, software to map the oceans, intricate fine furniture and elaborately transformed manufactures.
The new ‘Tasmania’ has become a magnet for what Saul Eastlake calls the ‘creative classes’. The success or failure of regional economies is now dependent on attracting and keeping these innovators and some are already saying they will leave Tasmania if the pulp mill proceeds.
This economic transformation didn’t come about by accident. At first the Greens promoted the new economic strategy. Later Liberal Premier Rundle embarked on a brave industrial plan to support and foster emerging clean green industries. Labor Premier Bacon continued the work. Until Paul Lennon, Tasmania’s successful industrial strategy was backed by all political parties.
Leading industry strategists like Professor Porter support the strategy, “The conflict between environmental protection and economic competitiveness is a false dichotomy.” Kenichi Ohmae agrees, “We have to accept the fact that natural resources are no longer the key to wealth.”
In truth, the pulpmill is a dangerous distraction monopolizing Tasmania’s economic horizon. Industry debate is dominated by it. The government bureaucracy is focused almost exclusively on it. Our Minister for Economic Development, Paul Lennon, is totally mesmerized by it. This myopic vision has distracted our public resources and political attention so fully Tasmania is ignoring industries at the heart of our economic revival.
Equally worrying Tasmania is failing to explore emerging opportunities. The world’s economies are about to undergo an industrial revolution the likes of which we have never seen before. The climate change challenge will create more business opportunities than the agricultural, information and biotechnology revolutions combined. What is our government doing? We don’t have a single officer in Economic Development dedicated to it and Paul Lennon was the only Premier who didn’t attend Kevin Rudd’s summit.
The pulpmill would employ about 250 but it will undermine the basis of our new economy. Already the controversy is doing damage to our brand as mainlanders learn Tasmania may soon be home to one of the world’s biggest industrial polluters. A decision to go ahead with a resource development of this immense scale will signal a ‘U turn’. It would take Tasmania back to our failed resource-intensive development strategy.
Paul Lennon says building the pulpmill will hang an ‘open-for-business’ sign on Tasmania. Open to fast-tracked, polluting, resource-extractive industries maybe, but firmly ‘closed’ to the new clean green and clever industries responsible for Tasmania’s economic renewal.
Turning back to focusing on the industries of the past will cast a heavy shadow over Tasmania’s future and our island’s new-found economic sunshine.
Rod West is currently undertaking a $12 million tourism development on the Tasman Peninsula. He has established Tasmanian businesses focused on gourmet food, fine furniture, organics and learning and discovery. He was Chief of Staff for the Tasmanian Greens during the Liberal Minority Government and previously a branch Vice-President of the ALP in the ACT.
