nick mckim's tasmania speech

8/12/2019 Nick McKim's Tasmania speech

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Who knows, perhaps there are now students at our Art School whobelieve, thanks to David's lesson, that they could be as good as anyartist in the world.

Perhaps there are other tourism entrepreneurs who now believe thatthey could do something perhaps not as big, but just as remarkable.

Or perhaps there is a single mum somewhere in Moonah, or Moriarty,or Melton Mowbray, who reads books to her children every nightbecause she knows that one day they could also achieve great things.

Perhaps that would be David's greatest gift to Tasmania.

Not his museum, not the countless jobs for everyone from artists tobuilders to taxi drivers to boatbuilders to waiters to graphic designers,but his lesson that if we have confidence in how world class we canbe, we can do great things.

All around Tasmania, people are taking business risks, acting on theirbelief in their own judgement.

Whether it's Hagley hazelnut farmer George French, or orchardistTim Reid down at Geeveston, or the Hammond family doing thosespectacular musters of wagyu cattle across the sands to RobbinsIsland.

Whether its Bob Clifford at Incat, or Rob Pennicott off thespectacular south coast of Bruny Island, people who had a dream and

believed in themselves are creating Tasmania's future.

Tasmanian innovators are even realising that climate change willbring opportunities along with challenges.

Tasmanian winemakers like Frogmore Creek have begunexperimenting with Mediterranean varieties like shiraz.


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The ideas that will create our future won't come from government, orpoliticians, or overseas corporations or mainland blow-ins.

The ideas that will form our future will come from us, the Tasmanianpeople.

And they will come.

Because Tasmania punches above its weight.

Weveproduced award winning scientists, mathematicians, architects,actors, dancers, musicians, Commonwealth Book Prize winning

writers, Archibald Prize winnerseven Nobel Prize winners.

We lead the world in Antarctic and marine science. We have morescientists per capita than any other state.

We have world class medical and scientific research facilities. Wehave a first class university ranked in the top 2% of universities in theworld.

We are building a new future right now. All around us, it's happening.

The Tasmanian economy has been undergoing a quiet transformationfor a decade, moving out of an over reliance on resource basedindustries into a more diversified and more resilient economy.

This transformation started later than it should have, and because of

that has been harder for some Tasmanians than it needed to be. Andits not finished yet.

But look at us now.

We're selling cherries to Japan, truffles to France and tulips toAmsterdam.


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Jobs are being created in viticulture, in acquaculture, cut flowers,honey, small fruits, boutique beer and cider to broad acre farming.

Jobs are being created in the digital economy, in the creativeeconomy, in the knowledge economy and, of course, in tourism.

Weve always known our tourism potential.We now have over amillion tourists arriving here every twelve monthsand they arestaying longer, and spending more money.

They're not coming here because we're the same as anywhere else;they come here because weredifferent. They come here because

we're unique as a people and unique as a place.

And there it is. The real drivers of our future prosperity are thosethings that make us different to the rest of the country, and unique inthe world.

We shouldntbe trying to compete in global markets by offeringcheaper prices - created by dropping wages or relaxing workplace

safety or environmental standards - because we should have toomuch respect for our people and our place to do that.

Our people, our place.

And we are a small place, with a small population. But being small isone of our greatest assets.

Small means we are nimble and flexible; better able to change inresponse to a changing world, and to change fast. To adapt, evolve,innovate and create.

Because small places know that relationships matter, and that stayingconnected is key. Staying connected with each other and with ourmarkets.


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Fibre optics will support that connection. For Tasmania, fibre opticsmust be the great driver and enabler of prosperity in this century, asthe big hydro schemes were in the last.

If the Commonwealth won't roll it out to the door, we should do itourselves. We should borrow if we need to, or partner with the privatesector, but however we do it, it must be done.

We need to remind ourselves that we can take these risks and be bold.We need to act with the confidence that we can be the best.

Because the world is changing and Tasmania has got what the

world wantsand what weve got the world is willing topay for.

Why is that? Its simple.

In a world racked by climate change we are on track to be 100%renewable energy by 2020, and we have some of the most carbon richforests in the world.

In a world of poisoned and dying environments we have healthy andclean agricultural land.

In a world harried by scares about food contamination we have highquality, clean, safe food supplies.

In a world of growing tension over water resources we have abundantand clean fresh water.

International students come to Tasmania from countries where thecities are so big they swallow the countryside and where you cant see

the horizon for the smog.

Recently some of them described to us their first experience of seeinga sky clean of pollution. They said that for the first time they had seenthe stars and they had seen a rainbow.


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They were stunned by Tasmanias beauty.

We were stunned to think that a life could be lived without havingseen the stars.

We were stunned that what we enjoy so easily is such a rare andtreasured thing.

Clean air, clean water.

And we have even more than that.

In an overcrowded world, where people dont knowtheir neighboursand rarely see green and growing things, where countries are shatteredby division and sectarianism, we have space, we have peace, we havesupportive communities and safe public places.

In Tasmania we can live in a city and at the end of our working daywe can go fishing, or surfing, or for a walk in a forest.

People across the globe have heard about the island that hangs like atear drop on the face of the world and they long for what we have.

When people buy our food, our herbs, our wines, when they come tovisit, they know they are buying a piece of something that is clean andunbroken.

They know they are buying a memory of the world the way it used to

be, when the place that things came from, and the people who madethem, were important.

[pause]

Success will require collaboration. Whether it's a footy club, a farm, afamily or a business, nothing works well unless we work together.


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And were good atit. The way we work together is one of the thingsthat makes Tasmania special.

You can see it in our economy, where interconnectedness of businessis as important as the interconnectedness of our people.

Tourism supports our wine industry, which is underpinned by ournatural environment which in turn supports tourism. Cycles of supportand connection which attract digital innovators and artists to makeTasmania their home.Our economy is like an ecosystem, where each part supports thewhole.

And you can see our interconnectedness in our people.

You know, if you are a Tasmanian, whether you are a sea-changer, amigrant, whether you arrived yesterday, or your people have livedhere for 200 years, or 40 000, if you are a Tasmanian you are part ofsomething unique.

You might have spent your first days here an exile sick with longingfor your old life, but you wouldnt be in Tasmania longbefore youwould have known that here you could build something new.

You would have sensed the strong bonds of friends and families andcommunities that life is built on here.

Its those bonds whichmake Tasmania different. We feel connected

to each other because we are from a small place, an island.

Maybe its because we have always been at the edge of the world, andmaybe thats a good thing.

Being away from the centre of things gives us perspective. Becausethe worlds craziness, the frenzied buying and sellingof stocks, therace to be super rich, doesnt mean much here. In Tasmania we work

hard for things that mean more to us than money.


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Look how we look after each other in crises. Remember Beaconsfield.Remember Dunalley.

There is a small army of Tasmanians working for their communitiesworking for no money - in sport, the arts, heritage projects, welfareservices, schools and emergency services. Our rate of volunteeringsoars above the national averagefar above the rate in the states withthe big paypackets.

And its not just our own people we care for either. We are

supposedly the poorest state in the country, but thats because some

people measure wealth using only money.

Remember, in times of crisis we are the biggest donors per capita tonational appeals for help.

We welcome people who have had the trauma of being a refugee, andTasmanians volunteer in record numbers to help them build new liveshere.

When the Australian Government built a high security detentioncentre at Pontville, Tasmanians broke into it.

Not all of our locals were convinced about asylum seekers, but theycouldnt help themselves because down here we welcome strangersso in the Tasmanians went, carrying gifts of beanies.

We opened our schools to them, and opened our hearts.

This is what we Tasmanians contribute to Australia. We are agenerous, open and welcoming people.

And thats why we should be seeing what is happening on ManusIsland right now and saying, no, demanding, that Pontville bereopened and those poor people whose only crime is seeking a better

life, have their applications for asylum processed here.


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Where we can look after them.

A Tasmanian wrote the Australian ConstitutionAndrew Inglis Clarkhad hopes of an independent republic where the strong helped theweak. I predict that when our Constitution finally gets its preamble aTasmanian will write it.

Because that is what we do. We are nation builders.

And if you want proof that the frantic pursuit of wealth and economicgrowth doesntbuild nations, let us spend a moment with the thoughts

of West Australian Premier Colin Barnett.

Colin Barnett, running a state which in the 1990s was a net recipientof Commonwealth dollars but which has recently been made richthrough geological fluke and the hard work of ordinary miners.

Colin Barnett, who objects to the amount of GST revenue allocated toTasmania, and ridicules us as beggars, who calls us the mendicant

state.

Colin Barnett, who said that if Western Australia had to continue tosubsidise Tasmanians it would go its own way.

Really Colin? Where would you go? Further out into the IndianOcean?

Well, off you go Colin....

Because rather than secede, Tasmania, the second oldest colony, thefirst state to vote overwhelmingly for Federation and the vision ofnation-building that that represented, Tasmania, the state rich innatural beauty, history, stories, culture, produce, arts and architectureTASMANIA IS HERE TO STAY.

[PAUSE]


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The mainland states and the rest of the world can watch us with envy,and we are happy to welcome their people, who come here fleeingdrought, and violence, and overcrowding, and excessive heat, anddisillusionment with their big city lives.

[pause]

And when our economy has completed its transition, when it is theenvy of Australia, we will not treat your state, Mr Barnett, they wayyou have tried to treat us.

We will be generous, not selfish, with our wealth.

[pause]

We know building a new economy is not going to be easy. Our pridein this place doesnt blind us to our challenges. Tasmania has beenaffected by rising exchange rates and shifting global markets, andchange is never easy.

There are still people, entire workplaces, who have lost their jobs andmany who are finding it hard to get work. We have people whose jobsare too uncertainand this is a tragedy.

Because we know what unemployment does to families andcommunities.

And our fear of unemployment has made us desperate and vulnerableto gold-toothed salesmen offering short-term solutions and mega-projects as the answer to all our problems.

We know our economy is at a cross-road, but we are going to stay thecourse because we are determined to build a prosperous, cooperativefuture. We can build a new economy.


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We can meet the challenges that face us. We can.

We can use our size to our advantage.

We know that a small society in conflict with itself cant succeed. We

know that the conflict in one sector affects the whole economy.

But if we work together we can create jobs in new industries and wecan utilise new technologies.

We can build more housing that our people can afford and we caninvest more in public transport so communities are healthy and

settled.

We can support our young people into higher levels of training andeducation and we can offer them a better future.

We can build strong communities with good infrastructure that enjoybeautiful common space, good schools and good will. We can create anew civic life.

[Pause]

Our detractors say were too insular. They say were too small, toounderdeveloped, too poor, too lacking in insight, in innovation, ineducation.

They say were not capableof looking after ourselves and that we

need to become part of Victoria.

Weve been toldall that before. Weveeven been told that we willhave to learn to accept a lower standard of living than other parts ofAustralia.

Do they think that they could threaten us with that?


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Do they think we dont know about lower standards of living? Dontthey know that there have been times when we have learned morethan we ever needed to know about poverty?

Do they think we dont know how toendure tough times? Do theythink we don't know about triumph over adversity here in Tasmania?

In their arrogance, do they think that we live here because were

second rate, and that they can bully us into being the same as them?

DONT THEY KNOW THAT WE WOULD RATHER LIVE HERE

THAN LIVEANYWHERE ELSE?

They cant scare us.Weve lived through depressions and recessions,weve lived through redundancies and factory closuresand we notonly survived, we never forgot who we are and what we have hereand we never stopped being proud of Tasmania.

We have fought for this place and we will never abandon ourstewardship of it.

That is the story on which we base our hopes for Tasmania, it is thestory of our place and our people.

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Where should I end this story?

I am going to end it where Tasmaniasstory began and where aspeech like this would normally begin.

I am going to end it by paying my respect to the palawa people, theoriginal custodians of this land - lutruwita, Tasmania.

Right here, on the land under our feet, is the place where the firststarved, exiled white people watched and copied the ways of the


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Aboriginal peoplewatched how they found food, how they lived inthis place, how they survived.

Because this is a place where there is a spirit of more than survival there is a spirit of ingenuity, creativity, resilience, independence and

triumph over adversity.

That spirit is more valuable than any amount of minerals under theground. And it is this spirit that will help us to do the unpredictable.

.

There are howling gusts of change blowing all around the world. Butwe live in the roaring 40s.

We can respond to that change and build a culture that helps us livethe right way. We can build something new; create lives of work,connection and prosperity, while we nurture this place that we love.

We took Aboriginal land and paid for it with brutality. The palawa

survived and have reclaimed their identity. We should forge a treatywith our first people, because justice has not yet been done.

We've lived through dark periods of corrupted relationships betweengovernment and business and it nearly tore us apart. We can leave thatbehind.

Weve lived throughbitterness and conflict. We can leave that

behind.

Weve lived through the pain of massive and disruptive shiftsin oureconomy. Were leavingthat behind.

Weve been lectured on our limitations, but now we can tell a newstory about what Tasmania is and who we are.

There is great change upon us. But this time its our change.


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Because were moving beyond survival now.

The Tasmanians who live on this island, and the Tasmanians of thediaspora, stand on the cusp of something truly remarkable.

We are creating a new way of life, and a new economy that buildsjobs and nurtures our island.

We are.

And well doit together, the people of this great state, nurtured by the

spirit of this beautiful island, lutruwita, Tasmania.

nick mckim's tasmania speech

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