Toponymy
Tasmania is named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who made the first reported European sighting of the island on 24 November 1642. Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemen's Land after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the Governor of theHistory
Physical history
The island was adjoined to the mainland of Australia until the end of the last glacial period about 11,700 years ago. Much of the island is composed of Jurassic dolerite intrusions (the upwelling of magma) through other rock types, sometimes forming large columnar joints. Tasmania has the world's largest areas of dolerite, with many distinctive mountains and cliffs formed from this rock type. The central plateau and the southeast portions of the island are mostly dolerites.Aboriginal people
Evidence indicates the presence of Aboriginal people in Tasmania about 42,000 years ago. Rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago and by the time of European contact, the Aboriginal people in Tasmania had nine major nations or ethnic groups. At the time of the British occupation and colonisation in 1803, the indigenous population was estimated at between 3,000 and 10,000. Historian Lyndall Ryan's analysis of population studies led her to conclude that there were about 7,000 spread throughout the island's nine nations; Nicholas Clements, citing research by N.J.B. Plomley and Rhys Jones, settled on a figure of 3,000 to 4,000. They engaged inEuropean arrival and governance
The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on 24 November 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who landed at today'sBlack War
Tensions between Tasmania's Aboriginal and white inhabitants rose, partly driven by increasing competition for kangaroo and other game. Explorer and naval officer John Oxley in 1810 noted the "many atrocious cruelties" inflicted on Aboriginal people by convictRemoval of Aboriginal people
After hostilities between settlers and Aboriginal peoples ceased in 1832, almost all of the remnants of the Indigenous population were persuaded or forced by government agent George Augustus Robinson to move to Flinders Island, Tasmania, Flinders Island. Many quickly succumbed to infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, reducing the population further. Of those removed from Tasmania, the last to die was Truganini, in 1876. The near-destruction of Tasmania's Aboriginal population has been described as an act of genocide by historians including Robert Hughes (critic), Robert Hughes, James Boyce (author), James Boyce, Lyndall Ryan and Tom Lawson. However, other historians including Henry Reynolds (historian), Henry Reynolds, Richard Broome and Nicholas Clements do not agree with the genocide thesis, arguing that the colonial authorities did not intend to destroy the Aboriginal population in whole or in part.Clements, Nicholas (2013). pp. 110–12 Boyce has claimed that the April 1828 "Proclamation Separating the Aborigines from the White Inhabitants" sanctioned force against Aboriginal people "for no other reason than that they were Aboriginal". However, as Reynolds, Broome and Clements point out, there was open warfare at the time. Boyce described the decision to remove all Tasmanian Aboriginal people after 1832by which time they had given up their fight against white colonistsas an extreme policy position. He concluded: "The colonial government from 1832 to 1838 Ethnic cleansing, ethnically cleansed the western half of Van Diemen's Land." Nevertheless, Clements and Flood note that there was another wave of violence in north-west Tasmania in 1841, involving attacks on settlers' huts by a band of Aboriginal Tasmanians who had not been removed from the island.Proclamation as a colony
Van Diemen's Landwhich thus far had existed as a territory within the colony of New South Waleswas proclaimed a separate colony, with its own judicial establishment and Legislative Council, on 3 December 1825. Transportation to the island ceased in 1853 and the colony was renamed Tasmania in 1856, partly to differentiate the burgeoning society of free settlers from the island's convict past. The Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which gained Royal Assent in 1855. The Privy Council also approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856 the newly elected bicameral parliament sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a responsible government, self-governing colony of the British Empire. The colony suffered from economic fluctuations, but for the most part was prosperous, experiencing steady growth. With few external threats and strong trade links with the Empire, Tasmania enjoyed many fruitful periods in the late 19th century, becoming a world-centre of shipbuilding. It raised a local defence force that eventually played a Military history of Australia during the Second Boer War, significant role in the Second Boer War in South Africa, and Tasmanian soldiers in that conflict won the first two Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians.Federation
In 1901 the Colony of Tasmania Federation of Australia, united with the five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Tasmanians voted in favour of federation with the largest majority of all the Australian colonies.20th and 21st century
Tasmania was the first place in the southern hemisphere to have electric lights, starting with Launceston in 1885 and Zeehan in 1900. The state economy was riding mining prosperity until World War I. In 1901, the state population was 172,475. The 1910 foundation of what would become Hydro Tasmania began to shape urban patterns, as well as future major damming programs. Hydro's influence culminated in the 1970s when the state government announced plans to flood environmentally significant Lake Pedder. As a result of the eventual flooding of Lake Pedder, the world's first green party was established; the United Tasmania Group. National and international attention surrounded the campaign against the Franklin Dam in the early 1980s. In 1943, Enid Lyons was elected the first female member of the Australian House of Representatives, winning the seat of Darwin. After the end of World War II, the state saw major urbanisation, and the growth of towns like Ulverstone, Tasmania, Ulverstone. It gained a reputation as "Sanitorium of the South" and a health-focused tourist boom began to grow. The MS Princess of Tasmania began her maiden voyage in 1959, the first car ferry to Tasmania. As part of the boom, Tasmania allowed the opening of the first casino in Australia in 1968 Queen Elizabeth II visited the state in 1954, and the 50s and 60s were charactered by the opening of major public services, including the Tasmanian Housing Department and Metro Tasmania public bus services. A jail was opened at Risdon in 1960, and the State Library of Tasmania the same year. The University of Tasmania also moved to its present location in 1963. The state was badly affected by the 1967 Tasmanian fires, killing 62 people and destroying over 652,000 acres in five hours. In 1975 the Tasman Bridge disaster, Tasman Bridge collapsed when the bridge was struck by the bulk ore carrier ''SS Lake Illawarra, Lake Illawarra''. It was the only bridge in Hobart, and made crossing the Derwent River (Tasmania), Derwent River by road at the city impossible. The nearest bridge was approximately to the north, at Bridgewater. Throughout the 1980s, strong environmental concerns saw the building of the Australian Antarctic Division headquarters, and the proclamation of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The Franklin Dam was blocked by the federal government in 1983, and CSIRO opened its marine studies center in Hobart. Pope John Paul II would hold mass at Elwick Racecourse in 1986. The 1990s were characterised by the fight for LGBT rights in Tasmania, culminating in the intervention of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1997 and the decriminalization of homosexuality that year. Christine Milne became the first female leader of a Tasmanian political party in 1993, and major council amalgamations reduce the number of councils from 46 to 29. On 28 April 1996, in the Port Arthur massacre (Australia), Port Arthur massacre, lone gunman Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 people (including tourists and residents) and injured 21 others. The use of firearms was immediately reviewed, and new gun ownership laws were adopted nationwide, with Tasmania's law one of the strictest in Australia. In 2000, Queen Elizabeth II once again visited the state. Gunns rose to prominence as a major forestry company during this decade, only to collapse in 2013. In 2004, Premier Jim Bacon (politician), Jim Bacon died in office from lung cancer. In January 2011 philanthropist David Walsh (art collector), David Walsh opened the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart to international acclaim. Within 12 months, MONA became Tasmania's top tourism attraction. The COVID-19 pandemic in Tasmania resulted in at least 230 cases and 13 deaths . In 2020, after the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus pandemic (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2) and its spread to Australia, the Tasmanian Government, Tasmanian government issued a public health emergency on 17 March, the following month receiving the state's most significant outbreak from the North West Tasmania, North-West which required assistance from the Australian Government, Federal government. In late 2021, Tasmania was leading the nationwide vaccination response.Geography
Tasmania, the largest island of Australia, has a landmass of and is located directly in the pathway of the notorious "Roaring Forties" wind that encircles the globe. To its north, it is separated from mainland Australia byClimate
Tasmania has a relatively cool temperate climate compared to the rest of Australia, spared from the hot summers of the mainland and experiencing four distinct seasons. Summer is from December to February when the average maximum sea temperature is and inland areas around Launceston reach . Other inland areas are much cooler, with Liawenee, located on the Central Plateau, one of the coldest places in Australia, ranging between and in February. Autumn is from March to May, with mostly settled weather, as summer patterns gradually take on the shape of winter patterns. The winter months are from June to August, and are generally the wettest and coldest months in the state, with most high lying areas receiving considerable snowfall. Winter maximums are on average along coastal areas and on the central plateau, as a result of a series of cold fronts from the Southern Ocean. Inland areas receive regular freezes throughout the winter months. Spring is from September to November, and is an unsettled season of transition, where winter weather patterns begin to take the shape of summer patterns, although snowfall is still common up until October. Spring is generally the windiest time of the year with afternoon sea breezes starting to take effect on the coast.Biodiversity
Geographically and biological isolated, Tasmania is known for its unique endemic flora and fauna.Flora
Tasmania has biodiversity, extremely diverse vegetation, from the heavily grazed grassland of the dry Midlands to the tall evergreen eucalypt forest, alpine climate, alpine heathlands and large areas of cool temperate rain forest, temperate rainforests and moorlands in the rest of the state. Many species are unique to Tasmania and some are related to species in South America and New Zealand through ancestors which grew on the supercontinent of Gondwana, 50 million years ago. ''Nothofagus gunnii'', commonly known as Australian beech, is Australia's only temperate native deciduous tree and is found exclusively in Tasmania. Distinctive species of plant in Tasmania include: * Eucalyptus regnans, ''Eucalyptus regnans'' (mountain ash) – the List of superlative trees, tallest flowering plant and hardwood in the world, Centurion (tree), reaching 100 m (328 ft). * Nothofagus cunninghamii, ''Nothofagus cunninghamii'' (myrtle beech) – the most abundant temperate rainforest canopy species found in Tasmania. * Nothofagus gunnii, ''Nothofagus gunnii'' (deciduous beech) – Australia's only winter-deciduous tree. * Atherosperma moschatum, ''Atherosperma moschatum'' (blackheart sassafras) – a co-dominant rainforest tree with a nutmeg aroma. * Lagarostrobos franklinii, ''Lagarostrobos franklinii'' (Huon pine) – one of the oldest-lived tree species, and a self-preserving timber. * Phyllocladus aspleniifolius, ''Phyllocladus aspleniifolius'' (celery-top pine) – a celery-leaved conifer found in rainforests. * Athrotaxis, Athrotaxis (Tasmanian cedar/redwood) – a genus comprising three extant species related to Sequoiadendron, sequoia found in Tasmania. * Eucryphia lucida, ''Eucryphia lucida'' (leatherwood) – a prominent floral symbol of Tasmania and a unique monofloral honey species.= Bush tucker
= Tasmania also has a number of Native species, native edibles, known as bush tucker in Australia. These plants were Foraging, foraged by the Tasmanian Aboriginals and also used for other purposes, such as construction. Unusual trees such as Eucalyptus gunnii, cider gum (''Eucalyptus gunnii'') had their Sap, manna used to make a syrup or an Alcohol (drug), alcohol (cider). Other trees such as Acacia, wattles (acacias) like Acacia melanoxylon, blackwood (''Acacia melanoxylon'') and Acacia dealbata, mimosa (''Acacia dealbata'') could have their Wattleseed, seeds eaten or crushed into a powder. There are also many berries such as Gaultheria hispida, snowberry (''Gaultheria hispida''), fruits such as Aristotelia peduncularis, heartberry (''Aristotelia peduncularis''), and vegetables such as Mentha australis, river mint (''Mentha australis''), though no crops like maize that are used for large production.Fauna
Tasmania has a large percentage of endemism whilst featuring many types of animals found on mainland Australia. Many of these species, such as the platypus are larger than their mainland relatives. The island of Tasmania was home to the thylacine, a marsupial which resembled a Fossa (animal), fossa or some say a wild dog. Known colloquially as the Tasmanian tiger for the distinctive striping across its back, it became extinct in mainland Australia much earlier because of competition by the dingo, introduced in prehistoric times. Owing to persecution by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters and, in the final years, collectors for overseas museums, it appears to have been exterminated in Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil became the Largest mammals#Marsupials (Marsupialia), largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936, and is now found in the wild only in Tasmania. Tasmania was one of the last regions of Australia to be introduced to domesticated dogs. Dogs were brought from Britain in 1803 for hunting kangaroos and emus. This introduction completely transformed Aboriginal society, as it helped them to successfully compete with European hunters, and was more important than the introduction of guns for the Aboriginal people. Tasmania is a hotspot for Island gigantism, giant habitat trees and the large animal species that occupy them, notably the endangered Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax fleayi''), the Tasmanian masked owl, Tasmanian masked owl (''Tyto novaehollandiae castanops''), the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish, Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish (''Astacopsis gouldi''), the Yellow wattlebird, yellow wattlebird (''Anthochaera paradoxa''), the Green rosella, green rosella (''Platycercus caledonicus'') and others. Tasmania is also home to the world's only three migratory parrots, the critically endangered Orange-bellied parrot, Orange-bellied parrot (''Neophema chrysogaster''), the Blue-winged parrot, Blue-winged parrot (''Neophema chrysostoma''), and the fastest parrot in the world, the Swift parrot, swift parrot (''Lathamus discolor''). Tasmania has 12 endemic species of bird in total.Mycology
Tasmania is a hotspot for Fungi, fungal diversity. The importance of fungi in Tasmania's ecology is often overlooked, but nonetheless they play a vital role in the natural vegetation cycle.Conservation
Like the rest of Australia, Tasmania suffers from an endangered species problem. In particular, many important Tasmanian subspecies and world-significant species of animal are classified as at risk in some way. A famous example is the Tasmanian devil, which is endangered due to devil facial tumour disease. Some species have already gone extinct, primarily due to Human impact on the environment, human interference, such as in the case of the thylacine or the Tasmanian emu. In Tasmania, there are about 90 endangered, vulnerable, or threatened vertebrate species classified by the state or Commonwealth governments. Because of a reliance on roads and private vehicle transport, and a high concentration of animal populations divided by this development, Tasmania has the worst (per kilometre) roadkill rate in the world, with 32 animals killed per hour and at least 300,000 per year. Protected areas of Tasmania cover 21% of the island's land area in the form of national parks. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) was inscribed by UNESCO in 1982, where it is globally significant because "most UNESCO World Heritage sites meet only one or two of the ten criteria for that status. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) meets 7 out of 10 criteria. Only one other place on earth—China’s Mount Taishan—meets that many criteria". Controversy surrounds the decision in 2014 by the Abbott Government, Abbott federal Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal government to request the area's delisting and opening for resource exploration (before it was rejected by the UN Committee at Doha), and the current mining and deforestation in the state's Tarkine region, the largest single temperate rainforest in Australia.Demography
Tasmania's population is more homogeneous than that of other states of Australia, with many of Irish people, Irish and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British descent. Approximately 65% of its residents are descendants of an estimated 10,000 "founding families" from the mid-19th century. Until 2012, Tasmania was the only state in Australia with an above-replacement total fertility rate; Tasmanian women had an average of 2.24 children each. By 2012 the birth rate had slipped to 2.1 children per woman, bringing the state to the replacement threshold, but it continues to have the second-highest birth rate of any state or territory (behind the Northern Territory). Major population centres includeAncestry and immigration
At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: 19.3% of the population was born overseas at the 2016 census. The five largest groups of overseas-born were from England (3.7%), New Zealand (1%), Mainland China (0.6%), Scotland (0.4%) and the Netherlands (0.4%). 4.6% of the population, or 23,572 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.Language
At the , 86.1% of inhabitants spoke only English at home, with the next most common languages being Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin (1.5%), Nepali language, Nepali (1.3%), Punjabi language, Punjabi (0.5%) and Spanish (0.3%).Religion
According to the 2021 Census, 50.0% of the Tasmanian population identified as having no religious affiliation. Christianity is followed by 38.4% of the population. About 4.5% of people in Tasmania follows non-Christian religion mainly Hinduism (1.7%), Buddhism (1.0%) and Islam (0.9%). At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated religions were Anglican Church of Australia, Anglicanism (20.4%) and Roman Catholic, Catholicism (15.6%), while 37.8% of the population cited irreligion, no religion.Government
The form of the government of Tasmania is prescribed in its constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. Since 1901, Tasmania has been a state of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australian Constitution regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth and prescribes which powers each level of government is allowed. Tasmania is represented in theElections
At the 2002 Tasmanian state election, 2002 state election, the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party won 14 of the 25 House seats. The people decreased their vote for the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party; representation in the Parliament fell to seven seats. The Tasmanian Greens, Greens won four seats, with over 18% of the popular vote, the highest proportion of any Green party in any parliament in the world at that time. On 23 February 2004 the Premier Jim Bacon (politician), Jim Bacon announced his retirement, after being diagnosed with lung cancer. In his last months he opened a vigorous anti-smoking campaign which included many restrictions on where individuals could smoke, such as pubs. He died four months later. Bacon was succeeded by Paul Lennon, who, after leading the state for two years, went on to win the 2006 Tasmanian state election, 2006 state election in his own right. Lennon resigned in 2008 and was succeeded by David Bartlett, who formed a coalition government with the Greens after the 2010 Tasmanian state election, 2010 state election resulted in a hung parliament. Bartlett resigned as Premier in January 2011 and was replaced by Lara Giddings, who became Tasmania's first female Premier. In March 2014 Will Hodgman's Liberal Party won government, ending sixteen years of Labor governance, and ending an eight-year period for Hodgman himself as Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania), Leader of the Opposition. Hodgman then won a second term of government in the 2018 Tasmanian state election, 2018 state election, but resigned mid-term in January 2020 and was replaced by Peter Gutwein. In May 2021, the 2021 Tasmanian state election, Tasmanian state election was held after being called Snap election, early by the incumbent Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division), Liberal Party, resulting in their return to government and establishment of a one-seat majority. It was also the first time that the Liberal Party had been elected three-times in a row. In April 2022, former deputy premier Jeremy Rockliff became Premier after Gutwein announced his retirement from politics.Politics
Tasmania has a number of undeveloped regions. Proposals for local economic development have been faced with requirements for environmental sensitivity, or opposition. In particular, proposals for hydroelectric power generation were debated in the late 20th century. In the 1970s, opposition to the construction of the Lake Pedder reservoir impoundment led to the formation of the world's first Green party, the United Tasmania Group. In the early 1980s the state debated the proposed Franklin Dam, Franklin River Dam. The anti-dam sentiment was shared by many Australians outside Tasmania and proved a factor in the election of the Bob Hawke, Hawke Australian Labor Party, Labor government in 1983, which halted construction of the dam. Since the 1980s the environmental focus has shifted to old growth logging and mining in the Tarkine region, which have both proved divisive. The Tasmania Together process recommended an end to clear felling in high conservation old growth forests by January 2003, but was unsuccessful. In 1996 Tasmanian state election, 1996, the House of Assembly consisted of 35 seats with 7 seats per each of the five electorates. By the 1998 Tasmanian state election, 1998 election, the number of seats had been reduced down to 25, or 5 per each electorate. This resulted in the reduction of the Greens' number of seats from 4 to 1, and increased the proportion of seats held by both the Labor and Liberal parties. This was despite growth in population (five-fold since responsible government) and an increase in the voting percentage required for a majority government. There was also no public consultation, and inquiries at the time had recommended the opposite. The House of Assembly Select Committee in 2020 recommended in its report that the number should be increased again from 25 to 35, arguing that such a small representation would undermine democracy and limit the capabilities of the government. In 2010, the major party leadership had even endorsed reinstating the 35 seat number, but Liberal and Labor support was withdrawn the following year, with only the Greens keeping their commitment.Local government
Tasmania has 29 Local government areas of Tasmania, local government areas. Local councils are responsible for functions delegated by the Tasmanian parliament, such as urban planning, road infrastructure and waste management. Council revenue comes mostly from property taxes and government grants. As with the House of Assembly, Tasmania's local government elections use a system of multi-seat proportional representation known as Single transferable vote, Hare–Clark. Local government elections take place every four years and are conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission by full postal ballot. The next local government elections will be held during September and October 2022.Economy
Traditionally, Tasmania's main industries have been mining (including copper, zinc, tin, and iron), agriculture, forestry, and Tourism in Tasmania, tourism. Tasmania is on Electricity sector in Australia, Australia's electrical grid and in the 1940s and 1950s, a hydro-industrialisation initiative was embodied in the state by Hydro Tasmania. These all have had varying fortunes over the last century and more, involved in ebbs and flows of population moving in and away dependent upon the specific requirements of the dominant industries of the time. The state also has a large number of food exporting sectors, including but not limited to seafood (such as salmon, abalone and crayfish). In the 1960s and 1970s there was a decline in traditional crops such as apples and pears, with other crops and industries eventually rising in their place. During the 15 years until 2010, new agricultural products such as wine, saffron, pyrethrum and cherry, cherries have been fostered by the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research. Favourable economic conditions throughout Australia, cheaper air fares, and two new ''Spirit of Tasmania'' ferries have all contributed to what is now a rising tourism industry. About 1.7% of the Tasmanian population are employed by local government. Other major employers include Nyrstar, Norske Skog, Grange Resources, Rio Tinto Group, Rio Tinto, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart, and Federal Group. Small business is a large part of the community life, including Incat, Moorilla Estate and Tassal. In the late 1990s, a number of national companies based their call centres in the state after obtaining cheap access to broad-band fibre optic connections. 34% of Tasmanians are reliant on welfare payments as their primary source of income. This number is in part due to the large number of older residents and retirees in Tasmania receiving Age Pensions. Due to its natural environment and clean air, Tasmania is a common retirement selection for Australians.Science and technology
The modern Science, scientific sector in Tasmania benefits from around $500 million in annual investment. Tasmania has a long history of scientific and Technology, technological innovation. The first scientific-style observations were conducted by the Aboriginal Tasmanians, First Nation Tasmanians, primarily through the Amateur astronomy, watching and mythologising of the night sky. In a story explaining the Lunar phase, phases of the moon and sun, it shows that it "is one of the rare accounts that explicitly acknowledges that the light of the Moon is a reflection of the Sun's light". The French Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, D'Entrecasteaux Expedition of 1792–93 had anchored twice during its search of the missing Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, La Pérouse in the Recherche Bay, Baie de la Recherche (Recherche Bay) in far-south Tasmania. During their stay, the crew took Botany, botanical, Astronomy, astronomical, and Earth's magnetic field, geomagnetic observations which were the first of their kind performed on Australian soil. As well as this, they engaged in amicable relations with the locals and environment, gifting the area a "French garden", in which "the relatively extensive, well-documented (both pictorially and written) encounters [...] between [them] provided a very early opportunity for meetings and mutual observation". The longest-running branch of the Royal Society outside of the United Kingdom is the Royal Society of Tasmania which was summoned in 1843. The Tasmanian Society of Natural History had been formed previously in 1838 before its merger with the Royal Society in 1849. It had been served by early Botany, botanists working in Tasmania such as Ronald Campbell Gunn, Ronald Gunn and his correspondences. Although Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth in New South Wales is often credited as being the first place in Australia with Electricity, electric street lighting in 1888, Waratah, Tasmania, Waratah in North West Tasmania was actually the first place to do so in Australia in 1886, although at a smaller scale.Culture
Literature
Notable titles by Tasmanian authors include ''The Museum of Modern Love'' by Heather Rose, ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' by Richard Flanagan, ''The Alphabet of Light and Dark'' by Danielle Wood (writer), Danielle Wood, ''The Roving Party'' by Rohan Wilson and ''The Year of Living Dangerously (novel), The Year of Living Dangerously'' by Christopher Koch, ''The Rain Queen'' by Katherine Scholes, ''Bridget Crack'' by Rachel Leary, and ''The Blue Day Book'' by Bradley Trevor Greive. A small part of Helen Garner's ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'' is set in Hobart as the main characters take a sojourn there. Children's books include ''They Found a Cave'' by Nan Chauncy, ''The Museum of Thieves'' by Lian Tanner, ''Finding Serendipity'', ''A Week Without Tuesday'' and ''Blueberry Pancakes Forever'' by Angelica Banks, ''Tiger Tale'' by Marion and Steve Isham. Tasmania is home to the eminent literary magazine that was formed in 1979, Island magazine, and the biennial Tasmanian Writers and Readers Festival, now renamed the Hobart Writers Festival. Tasmanian Gothic is a literary genre which expresses the island state's "peculiar 'otherness' in relation to the mainland, as a remote, mysterious and self-enclosed place." Marcus Clarke's novel ''For the Term of his Natural Life'', written in the 1870s and set in convict era Tasmania, is a seminal example. This distinctive Gothic fiction, Gothic is not just restricted to literature, but can be represented through all the arts, such as in painting, music, or architecture.Visual arts
The biennial ''Tasmanian Living Artists' Week'' is a ten-day statewide festival for Tasmania's visual artists. The fourth festival in 2007 involved more than 1000 artists. Tasmania is home to two winners of the prestigious Archibald Prize—Jack Carington Smith in 1963 for a portrait of Professor James McAuley, and Geoffrey Dyer in 2003 for his portrait of Richard Flanagan. Photographers Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis are known for works that became iconic in the Lake Pedder and Franklin Dam conservation movements. English-born painter John Glover (artist), John Glover (1767–1849) is known for his paintings of Tasmanian landscapes, and is the namesake for the annual Glover Prize, which is awarded to the best landscape painting of Tasmania. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) opened in January 2011 at the Moorilla Estate in Berriedale, Tasmania, Berriedale, and is the largest privately owned museum complex in Australia.Music and performing arts
Tasmania has a varied musical scene, ranging from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra whose home is the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart, Federation Concert Hall, to a substantial number of small bands, orchestras, string quintets, saxophone ensembles and individual artists who perform at a variety of venues around the state. Tasmania is also home to a vibrant community of composers including Constantine Koukias, Maria Grenfell and Don Kay (composer), Don Kay. Tasmania is also home to one of Australia's leading new music institutions, IHOS Music Theatre and Opera and gospel choirs, the Southern Gospel Choir. Prominent Australian metal bands Psycroptic and Striborg hail from Tasmania. Noir-rock band The Paradise Motel and 1980s power-pop band The Innocents (Australian band), The Innocents are also citizens. The Mole (Australia season 1), The first season of the television series ''The Mole (Australian TV series), The Mole'' was filmed and based mainly in Tasmania, with the final elimination taking place in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Port Arthur jail. The Tasmanian Aboriginals were known to have sung oral traditions, as Fanny Cochrane Smith (the last fluent speaker of any Tasmanian languages, Tasmanian language) had done so in recordings from 1899 to 1903. Tasmania has been home to some early and prominent List of Australian composers, Australian composers. In piano, Katharine Parker, Kitty Parker from Longford, Tasmania, Longford was described by world-famous Australian composer Percy Grainger as his most gifted student. Peter Sculthorpe was originally from Launceston, Tasmania, Launceston and became well known in Australia for his works which were influenced by his Tasmanian origins, and he is, by coincidence, distantly related to Fanny Cochrane Smith. In 1996, Sculthorpe composed the piece ''Port Arthur: In Memoriam'' for chamber orchestra, which was first performed by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Charles Sandys Packer was an early Tasmanian example of the tradition of Australian classical music, transported for the crime of embezzlement in 1839, and at a similar time Francis Hartwell Henslowe had spent time as a Civil servant, public servant in Tasmania. Amy Sherwin, known as the ''Tasmanian Nightingale'' was a successful soprano, and Eileen Joyce, who came from remote Zeehan, became a world-renowned pianist at the time of her peak.Cinema
Films set in Tasmania include ''Young Einstein'', ''The Tale of Ruby Rose'', ''The Hunter (2011 Australian film), The Hunter'', ''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'', ''Arctic Blast'', ''Manganinnie'' (with music composed by Peter Sculthorpe), ''Van Diemen's Land (film), Van Diemen's Land'', ''Lion (2016 film), Lion'', and ''The Nightingale (2018 film), The Nightingale''. Common within Australian cinema, the Tasmanian landscape is a focal point in most of their feature film productions. ''The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce'' and ''Van Diemen's Land'' are both set during an episode of Tasmania's convict history. Tasmanian film production goes as far back as the silent era, with the epic ''For the Term of His Natural Life (1927 film), For The Term of His Natural Life'' in 1927 being the most expensive feature film made on Australian shores. The Kettering Incident, filmed in and around Kettering, Tasmania, won the 2016 AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Mini Series. The Nature documentary, documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs was partly filmed in Tasmania due to its terrain. The Tasmanian Film Corporation, which financed ''Manganinnie'', was the successor to the Tasmanian Government Department of Film Production, but disappeared after privatisation. Its role is now filled by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Screen Tasmania, and private ventures such as Blue Rocket Productions.Media
Tasmania has five broadcast television stations which produce local content including ABC Tasmania, TNT (Australian TV station), Seven Tasmania – an affiliate of the Seven Network, TVT (TV station), WIN Television Tasmania – an affiliate of the Nine Network, TDT (TV station), 10 Tasmania – an affiliate of Network 10 (joint owned by WIN and Southern Cross), and Special Broadcasting Service, SBS.Sport
Sport is an important pastime in Tasmania, and the state has produced several famous sportsmen and women and also hosted several major sporting events. The Tasmanian Tigers cricket team represents the state successfully (for example the Sheffield Shield in 2007, 2011 and 2013) and plays its home games at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart; which is also the home ground for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. In addition, Bellerive Oval regularly hosts international cricket matches. Famous Tasmanian cricketers include David Boon, former Australian captains Ricky Ponting and Tim Paine. Australian rules football is also popularly followed, with frequent discussion of a proposed Tasmanian AFL Bid, Tasmanian team in the Australian Football League (Australian Football League, AFL). Several AFL games have been played at York Park, Aurora Stadium, Launceston, including the Hawthorn Football Club and , at the Bellerive Oval with the North Melbourne Football Club playing 3 home games there. The stadium was the site of an infamous match between St Kilda Football Club, St Kilda and Fremantle Football Club, Fremantle which was AFL siren controversy, 2006, controversially drawn after the umpires failed to hear the final siren. Local leagues include the North West Football League and Tasmanian State League. Rugby League Football is also played in the area, with the highest level of football played is in the Tasmanian Rugby League competition. The most successful team is the Hobart Football Club, Hobart Tigers, who have won the title three times. Rugby Union is also played in Tasmania and is governed by the Tasmanian Rugby Union. Ten clubs take part in the statewide Tasmanian Rugby Competition. Association Football (soccer) is played throughout the state, including a proposed Tasmania United FC, Tasmanian A-League Club and an existing statewide league called the National Premier Leagues Tasmania, NPL Tasmania. Tasmania hosts the professional Moorilla Hobart International, Moorilla International tennis tournament as part of the lead up to the Australian Open and is played at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, Hobart. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event starting in Sydney, NSW, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. It is widely considered to be one of the most difficult yacht races in the world. In basketball, Tasmania was first represented in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) by the Hobart Devils, although the team folded in 1996. However, a new National Basketball League team based in both Launceston and Hobart, the Tasmania JackJumpers entered the league in the 2021–22 season, reaching the finals in their debut season and finishing runners up.Cuisine
Tasmanian Aboriginals had a diverse diet, including native currants, pigface, and native plums, and a wide range of birds and kangaroos. Seafood has always been a significant part of the Tasmanian diet, including its wide range of shellfish, which are still commercially farmed such as crayfish, orange roughy, salmon (food), salmon and oysters. Seal meat also formed a significant part of the Aboriginal diet. Tasmania's non-Aboriginal cuisine has a unique history to mainland Australia. It has developed through many subsequent waves of immigration. Tasmanian traditional foods include scallop pies – a pie filled with scallops in curry – and curry powder, which was popularised by Keen's, Keen's Curry in the 19th century Tasmania also produces and consumes wasabi, saffron, truffles and leatherwood honey Tasmania now has a wide range of restaurants, in part due to the arrival of immigrants and changing cultural patterns. Scattered across Tasmania are many vineyards, and Tasmanian beer brands such as Boags and Cascade Brewery, Cascade are known and sold in Mainland Australia. King Island (Tasmania), King Island off the northwestern coast of Tasmania has a reputation for boutique cheeses and dairy products. The ''Central Cookery Book'' was written in 1930 by Alice Christina Irvine, A. C. Irvine and is still popular in Australia and even internationally. Tasmanian cuisine is often unique, and has won many awards. One example is the Hartshorn Distillery, which has won prizes in the World Vodka Awards for three years in a row since 2017.Events
To foster tourism, the state government encourages or supports several annual events in and around the island. The best known of these is the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, starting on Boxing Day in Sydney and usually arriving at Constitution Dock in Hobart around three to four days later, during the Taste of Tasmania, an annual food and wine festival. Other events include the rally racing, road rally Targa Tasmania which attracts rally drivers from around the world and is staged all over the state, over five days. Rural or regional events include Agfest, a three-day agricultural show held at Carrick, Tasmania, Carrick (just west of Launceston) in early May and NASA supported TastroFest – Tasmania's Astronomy Festival, held early August in Ulverstone, Tasmania, Ulverstone (North West Tasmania). The Royal Hobart Show and Royal Launceston Show are both held in October annually. Music events held in Tasmania include the Falls Festival at Marion Bay, Tasmania, Marion Bay (a Victoria (Australia), Victorian event now held in both Victoria and Tasmania on New Year's Eve), the Festival of Voices, a national celebration of song held each year in Hobart attracting international and national teachers and choirs in the heart of Winter, MS Fest is a charity music event held in Launceston, to raise money for those with multiple sclerosis. The Cygnet Folk Festival is one Australia's most iconic folk music festivals and is held in Cygnet, Tasmania, Cygnet in the Huon Valley every year in January, the Tasmanian Lute Festival is an early music event held in different locations in Tasmania every two years. Recent additions to the state arts events calendar include the 10 Days on the Island arts festival, MONA FOMA, run by David Walsh (art collector), David Walsh and curated by Brian Ritchie and Dark Mofo also run by David Walsh (art collector), David Walsh and curated by Leigh Carmichael. The Unconformity is a three-day festival held every two years in Queenstown on the West Coast of Tasmania, West Coast. Each February in Evandale, Tasmania, Evandale a penny-farthing championships are held.Perception within Australia
Tasmania is perceived within Australia and internationally as an island with pristine wildlife, water and air. It is known for its ecotourism for these reasons, and is considered an idyllic location for Australians considering a "tree-" or "sea-change", or are seeking retirement because of Tasmania's Temperate climate, temperate environment and friendly locals. In other parts of the world, Tasmania is considered as the opposite side of the planet to most places, and supposedly home to mythically exotic animals, such as the Tasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes), Tasmanian Devil as popularised by Warner Brothers.Stereotypes
Tasmania has a reputation within Australia that is often at odds with the reality of the state, or may have only been true during colonial times and has only persevered on the Australian mainland as a myth. Because of these stereotypes, Tasmania is often referred to as the primary target (i.e., "butt") of mainland Australian jokes. In more recent times, references to insults against Tasmania are more Sarcasm, sarcastic and jovial, but angst against the island still exists. The most commonly cited sarcastic comment is on the supposedly 'Polycephaly, two-headed' Tasmanians, which originated due to some colonists developing goitres from the low amount of iodine in the island's soil. But as Tasmania receives higher volumes of inter-state tourists, the perceptions are in the process of changing, due to a higher awareness of the state's unique beauty, and an acknowledgement of the similarities and 'mateship' that hold Australia together. The most prominent example of negative stereotype is of inbreeding due to the relatively small size of Tasmania compared to the rest of Australia (though Tasmania is nearly as large as Ireland in area, and more populous than Iceland). This is untrue of course, and if it had once been the case, it would have existed in the rest of colonial Australia as well, though Tasmania's penal establishments were some of the harshest in the entire colony and home to infamous bushrangers. This is a part of the also-receding global stereotype that all Australians are or were derived from criminals, even as most convicts were transported for petty crimes. During this period of European settlement, Tasmania was the second centre of power (and a significant port of the British Empire) on the continent after New South Wales, before being surpassed in the latter half of the 19th-century by Victoria (Australia), Victoria and regions sustained by Australian gold rushes, mining booms following the cessation of transportation in 1853. A mentality developed in certain corners of Australia, and led to a general dislike of Tasmania amongst these people, even if the opinion-holder had never properly visited. It can rise to such an extent as to argue for the secession of Tasmania from the rest of Australia, in an effort to 'recover' Australia's reputation from Tasmania.Transport
Air
Tasmania's main air carriers are Jetstar and Virgin Australia; Qantas, QantasLink and Rex Airlines. These airlines fly direct routes to Brisbane Airport, Brisbane, Gold Coast Airport, Gold Coast, Melbourne Airport, Melbourne and Sydney Airport, Sydney. Major airports include Hobart Airport and Launceston Airport; the smaller airports, Burnie Airport, Burnie (Wynyard) and King Island Airport, King Island, serviced by Rex Airlines; and Devonport Airport, Devonport, serviced by QantasLink; have services to Melbourne. Intra-Tasmanian air services are offered by Airlines of Tasmania. Until 2001 Ansett Australia operated majorly out of Tasmania to 12 destinations nationwide. Tourism-related air travel is also represented in Tasmania, such as in the Airlines of Tasmania, Par Avion route between Cambridge Aerodrome near Hobart to Melaleuca, Tasmania, Melaleuca in Southwest National Park.Antarctica base
Tasmania – Hobart in particular – serves as Australia's chief sea link to Antarctica, with the Australian Antarctic Division located in Kingston, Tasmania, Kingston. Hobart is also the home port of the French ship ''l'Astrolabe'', which makes regular supply runs to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, French Southern Territories near and in Antarctica.Road
Within the state, the primary form of transport is by road. Since the 1980s, many of the List of highways in Tasmania, state's highways have undergone regular upgrades. These include the Hobart Southern Outlet, Hobart, Southern Outlet, Launceston Southern Outlet, Bass Highway (Tasmania), Bass Highway reconstruction, and the Huon Highway. Public transport is provided by Metro Tasmania bus services, regular taxis and Hobart only UBER ride-share services within urban areas, with Redline Coaches, Tassielink Transit and Callows Coaches providing bus service between population centres.Rail
Rail transport in Tasmania consists of narrow-gauge lines to all four major population centres and to mining and forestry operations on the west coast and in the northwest. Services are operated by TasRail (2009), TasRail. Regular passenger train services in the state ceased in 1977; the only scheduled trains are for freight, but there are tourist trains in specific areas, for example the West Coast Wilderness Railway. There is an Riverline, ongoing proposal to reinstate commuter trains to Hobart. This idea however lacks political motivation.Shipping
The port of Hobart is the second deepest natural port in the world, second to only Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. There is a substantial amount of commercial and recreational shipping within the harbour, and the port hosts approximately 120 cruise ships during the warmer half of the year, and there are occasional visits from military vessels. Burnie and Devonport on the northwest coast host ports and several other coastal towns host either small fishing ports or substantial marinas. The domestic sea route between Tasmania and the mainland is serviced byGallery
See also
* Index of Australia-related articles * List of amphibians of Tasmania * List of schools in Tasmania * Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia * Outline of Australia * Regions of TasmaniaNotes
References
Further reading
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