Tasmania transformed or transportation revisited? immigration to Tasmania, 1945-1955

The first decade after World War II saw Tasmania embark upon a quarter of a century of change and development, a period which would witness a transformation in the state's economy and social character. In the immediate postwar period Tasmania was experiencing an economic slump, with the winding down of war manufacturing, a decreased demand for goods, and severe shortage of materials. The light on the horizon was Tasmania's potential industrial revolution, an expansion of secondary industry, the key to which would be the exploitation of Tasmania's abundant water supply. Tasmania's industrial boom would be led by a relatively small number of firms, such as the Electrolytic Zinc Company and Associated Pulp and Paper Mills, supplied with cheap, bulk power through the state's hydro-electric scheme.