Jeremy Rockliff and his two right hand men have failed to provide certainty craved by tourism and community leaders about the delivery timeframe of the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels and associated port upgrades in Devonport.

Today in parliament, the Premier didn’t know when the long-promised upgrades to the Devonport Port would be completed.

He didn’t know when the ships would arrive, or whether the ships could enter service before the upgrades to Berth 3 were complete.

And he didn’t know whether or not penalty clauses in the contract with RMC that were to be triggered by a late delivery of the vessels had been waived.

Minister for Tourism Eric Abetz then had a turn at being unaware when he revealed he didn’t know if or when work on LNG refuelling infrastructure would start.

The Liberals’ leadership trio then made it three from three, when Minister Ferguson didn’t know about the refuelling either.

With Tasmanian tourism operators facing the toughest winter in a long time, the least the Liberals could do is to be upfront and open about the status of the new Spirits and associated port upgrades.

This is the largest and most significant infrastructure in the state’s history. Do they really not know the answers, or are they trying to hide their incompetence?

Anita Dow MP
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure