TAS: Tassie celebrates 500,000 population milestone

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2008
TAS: Tassie celebrates 500,000 population milestone

By Paul Carter

HOBART, Dec 9 AAP - Tasmania is celebrating the arrival of its 500,000th person as
statisticians quibble about whether or not they've even been born yet.

New mothers are nominating their babies for the honour of being listed as Tasmania's
500,000th person on Premier David Bartlett's website.

The chosen bub will receive a $5,000 travel voucher.

Meanwhile, the Cascade brewery is making commemorative 500,000th beer cans.

Even the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is somewhat excited.

"Tasmania reaches the population milestone of 500 000!," an ABS statement said on Tuesday.

"Tasmania is the fifth state to reach 500,000 population," it said.

However, the rigours of statistics mean it's not possible to say on exactly which day
the number was reached, or even if it has been yet.

"We are set to reach it between the 8th and the 18th of December," an ABS spokeswoman said.

The ABS said it took Tasmania 36 years to move from 400,000 to 500,000 souls.

Victoria reached 500,000 people in 1859, NSW in 1871, Queensland in 1901, and South
Australia and Western Australia in the 46 years from 1901.

Since 1972, Tasmania's annual population growth has mostly been less than the national rate.

In 2007, the state's annual population growth of 0.7 per cent was just less than half
that of the national rate, the ABS said.

AAP pc/tnf

KEYWORD: POPULATION TAS

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