After America’s People Magazine mistakenly identified Cradle Mountain as being in Tanzania and not Tasmania, more similarities between the two similarly-spelled locations have emerged.
The mix-up with the East African location occurred in an article about Bindi Irwin’s snow visit, featuring photos taken at Cradle Mountain, which the magazine claimed were from Tanzania.
Co-founder of the Care for Africa charity Diana Butler said the mix-up is common and stems from the fact that Tanzania is ‘more well known’.
“Everyone has heard of Tanzania, whereas when you travel internationally, everyone’s heard of Australia,” she told ABC Radio Hobart.
“But dear little Tassie … a lot of people haven’t heard of Tasmania.”
“Both Tasmania and Tanzania can both be forgotten places, whereas Australia and Africa are identified.”
Butler’s humanitarian charity was inspired by a Tanzanian medical scholar she met at Launceston General Hospital.
The organisation focuses on remote Tanzanian communities, particularly in the district of Tarime, which suffer from extreme poverty and lack of basic services through projects that include installing deep-water wells and sanitation facilities, running health clinics and promoting educational programs.
Butler said a former Ambulance Tasmania vehicle operates in Tanzania, with its Tasmanian signage still in-tact to highlight the ‘unique bond’ between the two places.
Speaking about the mistake on Tuesday, Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson said the magazine “might want to run a second column about how good it is here in Tassie”.
“I’m sorry that People Magazine haven’t recently been to Tasmania like the Irwins have,” he said.
People have since silently corrected the misunderstanding in their story.