Heart beats in wild west
Mayor advocates region as state’s engine room
A POLITICIAN has mounted an impassioned argument for the state’s wild West Coast to be recognised as the true “heart” of the Tasmanian economy.
West Coast Mayor Shane Pitt, who was elected to the position in July this year, said the majority of Tasmania’s exports were produced in the region, with more than 60 per cent of the $4.2bn worth of goods exported from Tasmania in the 12 months to August having come from the West.
“You may not realise it, but the heart of Tasmania’s economy is not in the state’s capital, with its army of public servants and corporate headquarters,” Cr Pitt writes in a Talking Point in Monday’s paper.
“Nor is it in the northern capital of Launceston, which for years has been supported by Tasmania’s rich agricultural potential and small business ethic. No, the heart of Tasmania’s economy lies in the
West Coast of Tasmania.”
Cr Pitt said the wet and rugged region had been “driving Tasmania’s economic fortunes” for more than a century.
“The industries that thrive here are also supporting jobs right around the state – from port operations at Port Latta to salmon hatcheries in the Huon, to mining inspectors in Burnie, hydro engineers in Hobart and boatbuilders in St Helens,” he said.
“The supply chains and labour needed to support industries on the West Coast provide jobs and help support the economies of many communities to our east.”
The secret to the West Coast’s success, according to Cr Pitt, lies in the balance it has managed to strike between its various industries and the broader community.
“Over the last century, the West Coast has been all about maintaining a very fragile balance between nature and development, progress and tradition and isolation and opportunity,” he said.
“In fact, there are plenty of ghost towns dotted up and down the West Coast that failed because they couldn’t find the right balance. Nowadays, we are managing the balance between emerging industries like tourism and aquaculture.”
Cr Pitt said the West Coast
needed the Tasmanian government’s support “so that we can continue to drive the state’s economy for the next 150 years”.