Tasmania’s economy has gone drastically backwards in the past six years and will keep doing so because of federal and state governments increasing spending, cutting taxes and making unfunded election promises, a scathing report by economist Saul Eslake has found.

The Apple Isle was Australia’s poorest state by the biggest margin in 32 years, with low productivity, a rising exodus of residents to the mainland and governments seeming to ignore Treasury guidance, all contributing to the problem.