Tasmania finds itself in a farcical position where the brand-new Spirit of Tasmania ferries it purchased may end up being hand-me-downs by the time they reach the state’s shores.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff is quick to say he’s “pissed off” about the situation, but the business community — normally strong backers of the Liberal government — might be even more angry.
For more than seven years, the state government has been on a mission to replace the existing Spirit of Tasmania ships with two new ones, and build a berth for them to dock in Tasmania.
The whole way through, the only thing Tasmanians have been able to trust with the project is that whatever can go wrong, will.
New Spirit of Tasmania IV ferry will soon be ready for delivery. (Supplied)
Some of it is due to factors beyond the government’s control, or that of the state-owned port manager and ferry operator, such as the collapse of German shipbuilder FSG.
But the task of ensuring a place for the ships to berth at is built in advance of their completion seems like a pretty basic ask.
And because of a series of failures, work on building that berth hadn’t even started when it was supposed to be finished in August this year.
Jeremy Rockliff says he’s “pissed off” about the situation. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
Instead, the government has released a new “realistic” time frame of February 2027, exactly two and a half years after that expected completion date.
The prospect of leasing out your new $850 million ships to a private operator because you don’t have anywhere for them to safely let off passengers sounds like a skit from ABC comedy series Utopia.
But in Tasmania, it’s an increasingly grim reality.
A permanent berth for the new Spirit of Tasmania vessels would only be ready by early 2027. (ABC News: Jordan Young)
The ships that were supposed to “supercharge” Tasmania’s tourism industry might first traverse another body of water for a couple of years.
Shipping industry sources say it’s most likely that will be in the southern hemisphere, but there’s plenty of water to go under the bridge before a deal is signed.
The saga’s cost a series of jobs — TT-Line’s chief executive and chairman; the chair of TasPorts; and former infrastructure minister, treasurer and deputy premier Michael Ferguson.
It’s also cost the Liberal government the support of one of its biggest backers, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The new Spirit ferries are without a home while work continues on their permanent home at 3 East Berth. (ABC News: Magie Khameneh)
In a searing press release, TCCI chief executive Michael Bailey called it a “dark day for Tasmania”.
“This is even worse than we first thought. The economic costs will be felt by businesses and taxpayers for years to come. Our brand has been damaged and it has impacted on business confidence,” he said.
“Worst of all, it will be very difficult to trust this government again because of this. It will certainly be difficult to trust them on the timelines they have set out today, but we hope that they will prove us wrong.”
The statement illustrates how angry businesses — some who extended or upgraded preparing for the new Spirits to start sailing later this year — are about the debacle.
And it will ring alarm bells within the Liberal Party that one of their core supporters is speaking out of turn.
Getting them back on board, and the project back on track, will be a key priority.
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Questions still unanswered
The report from independent infrastructure experts Peter Gemmell and Ben Maloney answers a lot of questions about why the government isn’t temporarily upgrading the berth used by the existing Spirits.
Upgrading that berth without moving private operator SeaRoad from the berth next door was found to be unsafe.
The other option — moving SeaRoad — would cost $60 million, and the shallowness of the berth means that it wouldn’t actually result in the new ships being able to carry any more passengers and freight than the existing Spirits.
But there’s still some big questions that weren’t answered.
The new ferries are too large to dock next to the Searoad port at Devonport on the Mersey River. (ABC News: Sandy Powell)
Like, if it’s going to take two and a half years after works started for the permanent berth to be built, why on earth didn’t construction start ages ago?
And why did the government, TT-Line and TasPorts keep saying things were fine when there was no way the berth could be built in time?
Then there’s other questions it’s too early to know the answers to:
- How likely is it that TT-Line can find someone to lease the ships?
- How much money would that save the government?
- If they can’t be leased, where do they get stored for the next couple of years? We know that Tasmania, Scotland and Malaysia are all going to be considered, but which one is the best option? And how much will it cost?
- Will the local fit out, where the Spirits are loaded up with Tasmanian wood, carpets and mattresses, still happen in all of those scenarios?
It’s a gigantic mess.
One so big that the normally upbeat premier has said he’s “pissed off” at multiple press conferences.
But to get the tourism and business industry’s back on side, the premier and his new cabinet have to roll up their sleeves and finally do what no-one has been able to do with this project.
Get something built as promised, on time and on budget.
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