Political storm, port delays hit new Bass Strait ships

[Pelican Press 0]

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Political storm, port delays hit new Bass Strait ships

Slow progress on berths for two new Bass Strait ferries has prompted a political war of words, the sacking of a chairman and a potentially pricey stop-gap.

The pair of larger Spirit of Tasmania vessels are expected to be in service by 2025 but a new berth to cater for them in Devonport isn’t slated to be ready until 2026.

It means the ships will need to use an existing berth – but its shallowness means they will only be able to carry the capacity of the existing vessels.

The issue came to a head on Wednesday night, when the Tasmanian government forced the head of state-owned ferry operator TT-Line, Michael Grainger, to resign.

Mr Grainger had hours earlier pledged to “set the record straight” on government blame for delays to the project.

Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson accused TT-Line of blindsiding the government by not saying it had cancelled its preferred tenderer to upgrade the port.

Labor opposition leader Dean Winter has labelled the saga the biggest infrastructure stuff up in the state’s history.

“The tourism and hospitality sectors are experiencing their slowest ******* in years and had been assured … (a) new Spirit would be operating this coming summer,” he said on Thursday.

“The industry has been planning for their arrival for years and there is genuine devastation that they will not be in full service for at least two more summers.”

The government must also upgrade the existing wharf, with Mr Ferguson saying a price tag for the work won’t be known for weeks.

Mr Winter says the cost could be more than $50 million.

Senator Jacqui Lambie, whose party holds three crucial cross-bench seats and props up the Tasmanian ******** ********* government, has called for Mr Ferguson to resign.

“TT-Line said they would tell the truth, which spooked Mr Ferguson, forcing him to resort to grotty tactics to keep the truth cloaked in secrecy,” she said.

Mr Winter called on the three Jacqui Lambie Network MPs to move a no-confidence motion in Mr Ferguson when parliament resumes in September.

“Jacqui Lambie and her candidates promised before the election they would be relentless in holding the Liberals to account,” he said.

“They’ve done the exact opposite since.”

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