Tasmania markets itself as a natural beauty, pitching to people on the mainland that they should “come down for air”, but it’s been a different story in the island state’s frenzied election campaign. Nature was nearly entirely absent from the first month of campaigning ahead of election day on 23 March.
By late last week, the incumbent Liberal party had issued more than 220 press releases since the campaign kicked off on Valentine’s Day. None included an environment policy. Labor, which is attempting to return to power after 10 years in the political wilderness, had sent out 130 press releases without mentioning nature.
