Inspired by The Economist magazine’s latest map of the USA with state names replaced by the equivalent nation based on GDP, I felt inspired to do the same for Australia.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics calculates Gross State Products. I converted each to $US using the average exchange rate of (A$1=US0.88) for the period 2009-10. I then compared them to the latest country GDP calculations from the International Monetary Fund. It throws up some fun replacements:
I draw a number of conclusions from this:
- Victorians should be much more excited by the rarity of our current floods
- The beer in Queensland should be much, much better
- The current economic dramas of New South Wales should be viewed as a likely long-term issue
- Our Olympic sprint coaches should be scouring the Northern Territory
- All future Western Australian tourist campaigns will incorporate Paddington Bear
- We may see South Australia split into two states very soon
- Tasmania is NOT an island, but rather is mountainous (I assume all of Hobart has moved to the top of Mt Wellington) and landlocked…and bordering WA
- Julia Gillard will be delighted that her power has increased, ruling in a Kingdom as she does!
As an aside, I was a little disappointed that, during my stay in the US this year, I’ll be splitting much of my time between Australia and Indonesia!
Update: I have also done this for population now.
International BS Blog 
