Recent data releases from both the Australian Bureau of Statistics and private sector surveys seem to suggest that Tasmania may be on the cusp of – or indeed may already have entered – a cycle like the ones we experienced in the 1990s, and again between 2010 and 2015 – in which declining (or […]

Saul’s presentation to the CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia) Annual Economic & Political Outlook conference, Hobart, 29th February 2024

Saul Eslake joined WorkPlace Demographer Lisa Denny and Emeritus Professor Michael Rowan on ABC Radio Hobart’s “Mornings” program hosted by Leon Compton to discuss the findings of the Productivity Commission’s recent Report on Government Services findings with regard to the performance of Tasmania’s education system. and in particular our abysmally low Year 12 retention and attainment rates. All three of them have been long-term advocates for fundamental changes in Tasmania’s senior secondary education system so that Tasmanian students can have access to the same opportunities as their peers in every other state.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), as it’s called, assesses how well 15-year-olds are prepared to use their knowledge and skills in particular areas to meet “real-world challenges and opportunities”. It measures three core domains of reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy. Students completeEvery three years, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development […]

Presentation to the Annual Tasmanian Economic Forum, 2nd November 2023. Despite out-performing the national economy on most metrics in the years leading up to the Covid pandemic, and during the pandemic itself, Tasmania remains the poorest state in Australia, by a wide margin. And now Tasmania’s economy appears to be under-performing the rest of Australia […]

An ‘instant analysis’ of the 2022-23 Tasmanian State Budget presented by new Treasurer Michael Ferguson on 26th May 2022

Saul talks to Tasmania Talks’ Mike O’Loughlin about Tasmania’s economy and the Morrison Government’s “Super for Housing”

Article published by the Tasmanian magazine Forty South about the corruption of the long-standing principles under which revenues from the GST (and before the introduction of the GST in 2000, ‘general purpose grants’ from the Federal Government) are shared among Australia’s states and territories How greed and politics threaten Tasmanian living standards