Tasmania Appreciate – A Look At The Big Picture
Tasmanians are a wily bunch. Through our colourful history we have been at the forefront of many innovations and have punched well above our weight in many areas.
Our ancestors were not short on vision. Major schemes providing plentiful, cheap energy as well as ready access to water developed such as those developed through Hydro have had intergenerational positive impacts on our State. Along with an attitude of getting the job done, Tasmania had a history of attracting major sustainable industries offering a safe, stable and competitive place to do business.
Nyrstar (or the Zinc Works to many that still refer to its previous name), Norke Skog (or Boyer Paper Mill for many), Bell Bay Aluminium (or Comalco) and many others have employed thousands of Tasmanians for decades.
To this day they continue to innovate and make the raw materials for some of the world’s most exciting products. As Tasmanians have also all benefited from their work through the millions of dollars of wages, goods and services that are bought locally every day of the year.
Tasmania is a State that relies heavily on all aspects of its economy functioning well. Sustainable industries play a key role in ensuring the economic wheel keeps turning, in fact it is essential they thrive to allow us the flexibility to grow other industries. It is something as society we easily forget, but we should not take for granted.
Our sustainable industries are businesses that operate globally being exposed to currency markets and commodity prices. Without our ongoing support their ability to continue to invest, grow and further support every one of us is challenged.
We should not forget that approximately half of Tasmania’s exports by value come from just four companies. They alone inject over $300m in wages into our pockets every year, not a bad contribution.
The Big Picture campaign is a really positive approach designed to remind all of us of the ongoing contribution our States historic and proud sustainable industries make to our ongoing health and vibrancy.
A future Tasmania must continue to support, grow and attract sustainable industries while nurturing our other sectors that also have great long term appeal.
