What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

Develop and implement strategies to make Tasmania a magnet for young, innovative and creative people, to grow our population and productivity, and help secure our social, economic and cultural future.

The exodus of young people from Tasmania is a major threat to the State’s economic, social and culture future.

That Tasmania’s demographic is ageing faster than any other Australian State or Territory is well known.

Strategies are needed to prepare for the many challenges this poses.

A key failure of the Lennon and Bartlett Labor Governments has been countering the loss of young people from Tasmania that is exacerbating this demographic shift and putting us on a worrying economic footing for the longer-term.

In 2004/05 people aged 65 and over accounted for 43% of Tasmania’s net gain in interstate migrants – although this age group accounted for less than 4% of all interstate movements nationally that year.

Even in the year there was a net gain of 2500 interstate migrants, there was a net loss in the 15-29 year age group.

And as soon as 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) predicts that deaths will start exceeding births in this State, further compounding the problem.

Some of the key areas of policy the Tasmanian Liberals is focusing on to make Tasmania a magnet for young people are:

Educational excellence and partnering

• It is critical that we educate young Tasmanians better and make Tasmania a truly intelligent island where smart people want to live and work.
• We should actively explore with the University of Tasmania the vast potential of partnering with overseas universities to create more diverse and exciting learning opportunities which will attract intelligent and imaginative people to our state.
Creating more international education presence will extend our horizons and our outcomes. Tasmania can lead the world in education and skills training through more effective relations between business and industry, all tiers of government, the University of Tasmania, TAFE, and other tertiary and educational institutions.

Aiming High

• Tasmania ought to be more aggressively pursuing ‘high end industries’, such as information and communications technology, agribusiness, research and development and taking advantage of its natural advantages that spawn industries such as aquaculture and viticulture.
• Tasmania is well-placed to become a world-leader in jobs associated with the research and mitigation of climate change. A Centre of Excellence involving the combined expertise of organisations such as the Australian Antarctic Division, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the CSIRO, the University of Tasmania, the Hydro, and others, should be pursued.
• We need to make Tasmania the most competitive place to do business.

Migration

• There is great potential to make Tasmania a destination of choice for skilled and business migrants.
• Tasmania must pursue a greater share of migrants and more effective processes to enable them to move here, whilst ensuring we also have the appropriate support structures in place so they stay. State Government human and financial resources need to be extended to achieve that.

Perceptions of Tasmania

• Young people often leave Tasmania or decide not to live here because of perceptions.  We need extensive and incisive research to find out exactly why this happens, and an effective campaign to find ways to bring our young people back and also to lure others here from interstate and overseas.
• We need a more vibrant community that offers young people the opportunities and interests they presently believe can only be found elsewhere and that meets their lifestyle aspirations and needs. International students can be ambassadors for our State during and after their studies here. They are also potential permanent residents and can be future citizens applying the skills they’ve gained here in our community. We must work with the university and the international student fraternity to highlight the opportunities of life in Tasmania.

Lifestyle – Tasmania has an inimitable lifestyle that should be irresistible 

Other key areas of policy that should be addressed to harness our potential include:

• Addressing the shortage and cost of child-care to make Tasmania more attractive to younger working families and as a place for having and raising children;
• More aggressively promoting the development of tourism initiatives such as adventure-tourism, ecotourism and the high-end health and well-being market;
• Creating a more vibrant cultural, social and entertainment environment for younger people. The redevelopment of the Hobart waterfront precinct is an opportunity to better provide for more diverse and appealing attractions for the young people who live here, and those who visit the city;
• Securing a more diverse range of major sporting and  recreational events;
• Tourism has a key role in supporting the State’s economy, and promoting our fantastic lifestyle. We want those who visit to come back again. Not as tourists, but to live here.

Our vision is of a more diverse, vibrant and exciting Tasmania that draws young people from all over the world, like a magnet.