Devonport’s new berth finally opens, years late and $400 million over budget

Today is a great day for Devonport and the North-West Coast.

The new berth will be the home of the Spirits for decades to come, and I want to thank the workers who built it and the local community who have waited so patiently for this day.

But no amount of ribbon cutting can hide how we got here.

This berth was supposed to cost $90 million. It has ended up costing $493 million, more than five times the original budget.

It was supposed to be ready when the new ships arrived. Instead, it’s opening more than two years late, after the new Spirits sat idle overseas and Tasmanians spent more than a year paying for four ships when only two were in service.

The damage hasn’t stopped at the wharf. Premier Rockliff’s ferries fiasco left TT-Line in such a mess that the Auditor-General reported the company to ASIC as insolvent, and Tasmanians are now paying for a half-a-billion-dollar bailout.

After 13 years of Liberal waste, Premier Rockliff has put Eric Abetz in charge of cutting jobs and services to pay for it.

There’s no greater example of this waste than the Spirits. Devonport deserves to celebrate today, but Tasmanians will be paying for the Liberals’ mistakes long after the ribbon is cut.