Opinions // Tasmania
November 2024
A big day for democracy … in Tasmania
While voters in the United States of America await the results of the 2024 Presidential election race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, researchers from The Australia Institute will appear before a parliamentary committee to recommend improvements to Tasmania’s electoral system.
June 2024
For a robust democracy, we need a working anti-corruption system and truth in political advertising
Transparency, integrity and accountability were buzzwords of the 2024 state election, yet Tasmanians went to the polls without knowing where their politicians get their money, without laws requiring truth in political advertising, and without an anti-corruption body that is fit for purpose.
March 2024
Tasmania’s fear of government debt is hurting the state
Tasmanians have been badly served by its government’s exaggerated fears about the condition of the state budget.
November 2023
What job is worth the extinction of an entire species?
‘Thylacine of the sea’ at risk of extinction this summer if salmon farming doesn’t cease in Macquarie Harbour
August 2023
New political donations laws will help level the playing field and afford fairer elections to all Tasmanians
In June, a joint Parliamentary Committee published recommendations that would significantly reform Australian electoral law.
April 2023
Tide of Public Opinion Backs the Science
Tasmania’s coastal waters are in trouble and Tasmanians know it. Recently published research in the journal Nature, the world’s leading science journal, found that more than 500 common species of marine life have declined around Australia in the past decade. These declines are most marked in the rocky kelp-dominated reefs around Tasmania. We know that
November 2022
A sea of evidence to absorb
Momentum is building to fundamentally improve the way we care for and use our coastal waters, ahead of the Australia Institute’s Tasmanian Ocean Summit today.
It all adds up for pollies, the truth is out there
Tasmanian MPs will continue to debate new political donations disclosure laws, and amendments to the Electoral Act, in Parliament next week. But will our elected representatives grab this opportunity to introduce truth in political advertising laws for Tasmania?
July 2022
A specific Tasmanian-focused state of the environment report is overdue
Following the national state of the environment assessment release, Tasmanians deserve to know when a report on our state will occur, writes Eloise Carr.
May 2022
Anti-protest laws are undemocratic
Proposed laws that impose harsh fines and jail time for a broad range of peaceful protests are unnecessary and an assault on citizens’ fundamental democratic rights, writes Rachel Hay
December 2021
Ban lies from political ads: Fake news erodes trust in politicians and democracy
An astonishing nine out of 10 Tasmanians want truth in political advertising laws and Eloise Carr explains that there is an opportunity now to legislate against all the lying and deception
August 2021
Corruption watchdog kept on a short leash
Almost half of Tasmanians surveyed (48.5%) distrust the Tasmanian Integrity Commission’s ability to uncover and prevent misconduct in public administration, according to Australia Institute research. Only 34% trust the Integrity Commission’s ability to uncover and prevent misconduct. Is it any wonder, given the inability of the Tasmanian Integrity Commission to hold the state government to
May 2018
Time to join the budding revolution in local power schemes
Everyone is saying Tasmania is a becoming a clean energy powerhouse, so how do we make sure ordinary Tasmanians get a piece of the action?
April 2018
#WTF2050: What’s Tasmania’s future? (Scott Rankin)
First published in The Examiner, 15 April 2018 By 2050, everyone everywhere will have the right to thrive. (Yep, utopia). All communities are changing all the time. The future of our Tasmanian community is not like a book that has already been written, each chapter is emergent & authorship is our collective responsibility. The narrative
March 2018
#WTF2050 – Big ideas for Tasmania’s future
First published in The Examiner, 28 March 2018 On Tuesday, The Australia Institute Tasmania launched a new initiative cheekily titled #WTF2050 – What’s Tasmania’s Future? The project brings together some of the state’s best thinkers to answer the question – where do you want Tasmania to be in 2050? What’s your big hairy goal and
August 2017
Talking Point: Corruption fight should be carried out in broad daylight
TASMANIA’S Integrity Commission must become more transparent if it is to fulfil its purpose of exposing and tackling corruption. [Full article on The Mercury website]
May 2017
Tasmanian Budget: Smiles all around, but no long-term vision for the future
This week’s budget was full of good news about good economic times. The combination of favourable economic conditions and some good economic management could have been a once in a generation opportunity to build for the state’s future. Built on the back of our clean and green image, a boom in revenues has been fuelled
June 2013
Tasmanian Forests Agreement: liberal society needs an alternative
Fred Gale’s article, Tasmanian Forests Agreement: deeply flawed, worth backing, provides interesting insights into the views of one segment of the Tasmanian community that supports the Tasmanian Forest Agreement. However, he fails to fully grasp many of the fundamental reasons for continuing opposition to the deal and its associated legislation. Most notably, there is no
May 2013
Can Tassie see the deal for the trees? Peace comes at a cost
Passage of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement Bill in the state’s lower house effectively ended three years of negotiations between the forestry industry and environment groups. The deal is being celebrated by many as a resolution to the 30-year conflict over native forests in Tasmania and a win for the environment and economy. Nothing could be
April 2013
Don’t blame the greenies: the real reason for timber decline
The Australian native forest sector has been in decline for the past two decades and all but fallen off a cliff since the onset of the global financial crisis in late 2008. The forestry lobby has tried to lay the lion’s share of the blame for its predicament at the feet of the environmental movement,
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