Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia The Australian state of Tasmania is occasionally omitted from maps of Australia. Such omissions often provoke outrage from Tasmanians. During the 1982 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, performers created a map of Australia that omitted Tasmania. Tasmanian poet Andrew Sant wrote "Off the Map" in response: <poem> Identity deleted, Close to the Continent Who wouldn't make a fuss? There have been wars for less... </poem> The Australian swim team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games were issued training swimsuits with a stylised design featuring maps of Australia, along with kangaroos and emus. The animals obscured
Australia (continent) Gondwana until the plate began to drift north about 96 million years ago. For most of the time since then, Australia–New Guinea remained a continuous landmass. When the last glacial period ended in about 10,000 BC, rising sea levels formed Bass Strait, separating Tasmania from the mainland. Then between about 8,000 and 6,500 BC, the lowlands in the north were flooded by the sea, separating New Guinea, the Aru Islands, and the Australian mainland. A northern arc consisting of the New Guinea Highlands, the Raja Ampat Islands, and Halmahera was uplifted by the northward migration of Australia and subduction of