Further Spirits transparency forced out of the Liberals

Eric Abetz has been ordered by the Parliament to provide further documents relating to the waste associated with the disastrous Spirit of Tasmania replacement project.

The ferries fiasco is the biggest infrastructure stuff-up in Tasmania’s history, and the greatest example of Liberal waste from the past 13 years.

But getting information out of the Liberals about the scale of the disaster has been like getting blood from a stone.

Earlier this month we saw Eric Abetz deny that TT-Line had requested a bailout. A week later, the Treasurer announced the struggling company would receive $506 million in this year’s budget.

The Liberals still won’t be upfront about the company’s solvency, or the fact they were counting engines made in Finland as part of their “local content” requirement.

Labor’s successful motion orders the Treasurer to table the request TT-Line made for the bailout, and all advice received by Government regarding TT-Line’s solvency.

With looming cuts to jobs and services, Tasmanians will be paying the price for the Spirits saga for decades to come – it’s only fair they know what they are on the hook for and why.