The new $20 million Risdon Prison kitchen has now been closed for eight-weeks, just three months after opening. 

Six-weeks ago, Deputy Premier Guy Barnett said the repairs to the floor would take three to four weeks. 

Today, the Deputy Premier admitted he has no idea when it will reopen and no idea how much his own department is spending on outsourced catering.

Recently published tenders* reveal Tasmanians have already paid more than $1.1 million to fly in approximately 3,000 meals a day from Victoria while we wait for the repairs to take place. These emergency contracts only run from July 6 to 30 August, and it remains unclear how many more months they’ll need to cover.

In a display of how badly this is being managed, the Deputy Premier couldn’t guarantee that taxpayers wouldn’t be left to pick up the bill for another round of Liberal waste.

We still do not know who signed off on this mess, and why the concerns of the workforce appear to have been ignored.

Following 13 years of Liberal waste like this completely cooking Tasmania’s finances, Premier Rockliff handed Eric Abetz the knife to slash jobs and public services to pay for it.  

*Tasmanian Prison Service Catering, Tasmanian Prison Service Catering, Tasmanian Prison Service Catering