paul mallett advocates for accelerating the growth of a wellbeing economy that places people and place at the centre of decision-making. A wellbeing economy grows by strengthening the foundations of daily life: safe homes, steady incomes, healthy streets, quality education, meaningful work, and opportunities to participate in community. It is an economy that values what genuinely matters.

Imagine a city where budgets are guided by wellbeing indicators that track how families are doing, not just how markets are moving. Measures like local trust, access to green space, active transport rates, childhood development, housing stability, mental health, creative participation, and small business confidence. Picture these indicators reported each quarter so everyone can see how the city is tracking, where gaps are opening, and where attention is needed.

Accelerating a wellbeing economy means backing local businesses, community organisations, and neighbourhood services. It means treating liveability as economic strategy, not decoration. It means investing in prevention because upstream spending keeps people healthier, reduces avoidable costs, and strengthens the resilience of the whole community. It means listening to residents through civic panels and using evidence, citizen science, and lived experience to guide each decision.

This approach helps Launceston grow in a way that is fair, sustainable, and future-focused. It values the long game. It anchors the economy in the wellbeing of its people.

The aim is simple: a city where prosperity is shared, wellbeing is measurable, and progress is visible to all.

Let’s accelerate the shift to a wellbeing economy, including

1. Hemp Farming Cooperative

Establish a large-scale, regionally governed hemp farming cooperative.
• Produce fibre, bio-plastics, food oils, animal bedding, and hempcrete construction materials for domestic and export markets.
• Reduce reliance on imported fibres and fossil-fuel plastics by building a local, circular supply chain.
• Improve soil health through regenerative rotations and carbon-positive farming practices.
• Support primary producers with cooperative purchasing, shared machinery, and coordinated market access.

2. Cricket Protein and Alternative Protein Industry

Develop urban and peri-urban vertical farms to produce insect protein for food, agriculture, and industrial feedstocks.
• Create high-protein, low-emissions nutrition streams that supplement traditional protein sources.
• Supply local schools, aged-care homes, hospital kitchens, and local food manufacturers.
• Improve resilience against global protein supply shocks and price volatility.
• Support research partnerships with TAFE and UTAS to grow a specialist workforce.

3. Care Pathways and Workforce Development

Build structured, paid progression pathways within the care economy.
• Fund scaffolded training, supervised placements, and credentialled step-ups from entry-level roles into specialist positions.
• Improve workforce stability, lift wages, and enable long-term career mobility for carers.
• Reduce downstream pressure on health and disability services through early, skilled, community-based support.
• Strengthen recruitment and retention by making care work a respected, secure, and professionalised sector.

4. Clean Energy and Thermal Storage

Accelerate clean-energy adoption across industry and agriculture through generation and storage upgrades.
• Deploy multi-use solar installations — including floating solar — for farms, processing facilities, and community energy users.
• Develop electrified thermal-storage “bricks” in partnership with Bell Bay industries to provide firm, affordable clean power.
• Cut emissions, stabilise energy bills, and enable diversification into advanced manufacturing and hydrogen production.
• Support grid resilience and local energy independence through distributed storage.

5. Anchor Civic Investments

Deliver catalytic civic projects that strengthen economic activity and community identity.
• Advance the Tamar Lake weir, a second Tamar crossing, and the Statue of Equity as major long-term public investments.
• Multiply local job creation through construction, design, engineering, and tourism flows.
• Use procurement and training contracts to develop local skills pipelines, apprenticeships, and school-to-work pathways.
• Reinforce civic pride, belonging, and cultural identity through ambitious, nation-leading public infrastructure.