Labor’s plan to clean up the Liberals’ Spirits mess

A Labor Government will pursue a Bass Strait Sea Highway Reform Plan to clean up the Spirits mess, end the TT-Line bailout cycle, and fight for fair funding for Tasmania’s critical economic infrastructure.

The bungled Spirits replacement project will go down in history as the defining feature of the Rockliff Liberal Government.

What should have been an exciting infrastructure project for Tasmania has instead been plagued by more than three quarters of a billion dollars’ worth of blowouts.

Tasmanians will be paying the price for the Liberals mismanagement for generations to come, and so far, the only answer Premier Rockliff has is to throw endless money at his problem.

Under Labor’s plan, TT-Line will focus on what it should be doing: running safe, reliable ferry services across Bass Strait.

TasPorts will cease to exist as a Government Business Enterprise and be reclassified as a dedicated transport infrastructure entity within the State Government.

TT-Line’s vessels, associated assets and debt will be transferred to the new entity, allowing TT-Line to emerge debt-free as a lean, profitable, operating company.

The new transport entity will own and manage the vessels, berths, and terminals as critical transport infrastructure, with performance measured on asset condition, reliability, and capacity.

Importantly, Labor will also fight for a long-term Commonwealth Sea Highway Funding Agreement.

Every other state has highways connecting it to the rest of Australia, and those highways receive long-term Commonwealth capital funding.

Bass Straight is Tasmania’s highway – it just happens to have water on it.

It carries our produce, freight, exports, visitors, and economic future. If the mainland benefits from Tasmania’s produce, freight, visitors and economic contribution, Tasmania should not be left to shoulder the infrastructure burden alone.

This is about getting a better deal for Tasmania, and that is something all Tasmanians can get behind.

Labor will clean up the Liberals’ Spirits mess, protect Tasmanian taxpayers from endless bailouts, and fight for the fair funding Tasmania deserves.