Seated among a packed house at the UTAS Sir Stanley Burbury Theatre last Wednesday night, my partner and I were treated to a dispiriting hour of graphs, charts, comparisons and treasury projections contained within a scathing, no-holds-barred reveal of Tasmania’s financial state by the government’s favoured economic advisor, Saul Eslake.
Under the huge widescreen title TASMANIA’S DEBT DILEMMA, it was clear by the head-turning gasps within the room that the audience was completely and utterly gobsmacked by the parlous level of debt Tasmania has accrued over the past decade under the current government. As though to release the pent-up incredulity of the gathering, the theatre finally erupted in applause to a woman questioning the need for a billion-dollar roofed stadium. A nearby attendee barked, “The Emperor has no clothes!”