To combat the depressed atmosphere around this blog today, I though that I would share with you five things gleaned from the latest issue of the Australian Bureau of Statistics excellent little monthly for the statistically inclined, the Tasmanian Statistical News:
The saddest part is that we will not read about these numbers in the local rag (affectionately known as The Mockery), as they portray our state in a positive light, which seems to be against editorial policy, endeavouring to paint as gloomy a picture as possible. Alarming pensioners appears to be their current strategy for preserving readership.
- In 2006, 36% of Tasmanians over the age of 18 had done some kind of volunteering in the previous 12 months.
- In 2005, Tasmania had the lowest level of household crime in Australia, with 4.5% of the population reporting being victims of actual or attempted break ins or motor vehicle theft.
- In 2006-07, first home buyers in Tasmania borrowed an average of $164,400, the lowest average compared to other states or territories.
- In 2004-05, Tasmania had the lowest proportion of people with diabetes (2.8%), and between 2004-2006, the lowest rate of death from stroke (45 per 100,000 population). In 2006, Tasmania also had a lower infant mortality rate (3.9 per 1,000 live births) than the national average (4.7 per 1,000 live births).
- In 2006, in terms of education and literacy, Tasmanian children in Year 5 had the second highest rate of meeting national reading benchmarks at 94%, with only ACT higher at 96%. (Australian average 88%).
The saddest part is that we will not read about these numbers in the local rag (affectionately known as The Mockery), as they portray our state in a positive light, which seems to be against editorial policy, endeavouring to paint as gloomy a picture as possible. Alarming pensioners appears to be their current strategy for preserving readership.
Comments
Lock up your daughters etc...
Babooshka, it’s difficult on an island!
Your EG Tour Guide, cynics generally rule the world.
Boise Diva, you’re right. It’s a shame though, as the negativity feeds off itself as Miles hints at above. It is stupid when you pick up the paper as I did a year or so back and the headline is “Theft from vehicles SKY HIGH!” and the figures say that there is a 2% rise in vehicle thefts, yet on 13 other indicators crime figures have dropped. That one story ignored a 22% drop in violent assaults in favour of the headline. I wrote a letter to the paper, but they chose not to publish it.
I'm voting for Tasmania. Coming from the news world, the "consultants" say you've got to hit the viewer/reader emotions - which is easier to do with negatives than positives, I guess.
KL, well, I’ll have to be honest and admit that on many factors Tasmania is some way behind. I wrote a little bit on it back in June.
Because of that, we are often looked upon (and portrayed) as ‘backward’ or the ‘poor relations’ of Australia. Part of that is obviously due to the fact that we are an island, separated from the mainland. Our history shows that we had a greater concentration of convicts sent here from the mother country (for a longer period), and the ‘convict stain’ is something that we’ve always worn as a state.
That said, I truly believe that we are the best place to live in Australia: temperate climate; safer; cleaner. It is a lovely part of the world.
Only people hitting people at Syrup I've ever seen are bouncers...
Now for my really really disheartening comment: your statistics prove that Tasmania indeed has no indigenous Australiaans.
mm ... mmm Tasmania is an island, separated from the mainland. mm mmm ... the mainland is an island separated from ...
My feeling on bouncers though is that they often seem to recruit from their targeted demographic (blokes with anger management issues).
Julie, I should have said “a greater concentration of convicts in the community; i.e. more convicts ‘per head of population’”.
Now for my surprising stat of the day: on a percentage of total population from the 2006 Census, 3.6 percent of Tasmanians identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander; this is above NSW (2.2), VIC (0.6), SA (1.7) and the ACT (1.2). Moreover, it isn’t far off QLD (3.6) and WA (3.8). The NT is miles ahead with 31.6.
This Tasmanian group are similarly overrepresented when it comes to indicators of 'relative deprivation'.
It’s a common misconception about our state, and leads into the complex and often thorny question of ‘what does it mean to be an indigenous Australian?’ I generally avoid that one though, as it fires people up no end for very little result.
Yes, the definition gets people riled on all sides.