Spot the difference?

Why this Election Still Ignores Tasmania’s Real Crisis

Let me save you a scroll through two party platforms and 83 campaign flyers.

Labor says it’ll cap power prices and build a hospital.
Liberals say they’re cutting the deficit and building… a stadium.

Both say they care.

Neither is being honest about what matters most.

Because while they spruik the same old policies with slightly different fonts, Tasmania’s four deep structural failures go untouched.

Again.

1. We have the worst health outcomes in the country

This is not up for debate — it’s what the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare tells us:

“Tasmania continues to have the lowest average health outcomes of any state or territory.”
— AIHW Report on Tasmania, 2022

We’re older, we’re sicker, and we wait longer. Mental health services are stretched. Elective surgery lists blow out. Emergency departments hit ‘Code Yellow‘ so many times, it no longer makes headlines.

But instead of a bold reimagining of what statewide health services should look like, particularly in our regions, we get more “business as usual.”

Labor is promising a new $160 million elective surgery hospital in New Town.

Great.

But we’ve heard “more beds” before, and we’re still standing in line.

2. Our population is ageing — and shrinking where it hurts

Tasmania has the highest median age in Australia. And it’s rising:

“The median age of Tasmanians is 42.6 — the oldest of all states. Meanwhile, younger cohorts are leaving.”
— ABS, Regional Population Statistics, 2023

We’re ageing fast, and we’re not keeping our young people. They leave for education, jobs, and opportunity. And who could blame them?

Neither major party has put forward a credible plan to reverse this. A stadium in Hobart isn’t going to stop Launceston teens from jumping ship.

And for those left behind. Where is the planning for dementia or palliative care services? I’ll save you the search, there isn’t.

3. Tasmania has the poorest education outcomes

According to the Productivity Commission:

“Tasmania has the lowest NAPLAN scores and the highest Year 9 dropout rate nationally.”
— Productivity Commission Report on Government Services 2024

We’re not failing because of bad kids or lazy teachers. We’re failing because the system is broken, particularly in rural and regional areas. Underfunded schools. Underpaid staff. A lack of vision for future skills.

And yet, where’s the bold promise for universal early learning, teaching incentives, or serious school infrastructure reform?

All we get is the occasional press conference in a school gym.

Meanwhile, pre-school entry to education such as Family Day Care is being sorely neglected.

4. We’re the poorest state (and have been for years)

There’s positive talk about full employment here. However, behind the headlines, the economic indicators don’t paint such a positive picture.

“Tasmania ranks last in GDP per capita, wages, and productivity.”
— CommSec State of the States, April 2025

We are the least economically productive state, and the only one that consistently punches below its weight. Our small business ecosystem is fragile. Wages are lower. Public sector spending props up whole regions.

And there’s no long-term plan to diversify.

Instead, we get sugar hits: a housing promise here, a tourism ad there, and the billion-dollar stadium, with a tag-line of “build it and they will come”.

Not so much Field of Dreams. More field of nightmares if this project goes ahead as planned.

So…spot the difference?

Labor and Liberal both want a majority.
Neither wants to talk coalitions.
Both back the stadium, despite costs ballooning from $715 million to over $1.1 billion:

— The Mercury: Rebekah Pentland Slams Stadium

Both want you to believe they’re the better bet.

But neither has a real plan to tackle the four big problems of health, ageing, education and the economy.

Until someone fronts up with a plan that treats these not as isolated issues, but as a system-wide failure of leadership, ambition, and courage, we’re stuck.

Tasmania is the only state where talking about what’s so sounds radical.

Let’s change that.