Minister for Infrastructure Michael Ferguson can try all he likes to avoid responsibility for the Spirits of Tasmania saga, but there is now a real cloud over his position.
Given this project is worth hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds, and is so critical for our economy, you’d think Minister Ferguson would have given it his full focus. But from the evidence that’s been gradually extracted from the government, it’s obvious the Minister has failed in his critical job of overseeing this project. Clearly the Premier agrees, which is why he’s now appointed external experts to do that job.
This isn’t just about the huge cost overruns or lengthy delays to the project. It’s also about the way the government has handled this matter.
Michael Ferguson kept information about both the cost overruns for the new Spirits and the delays to the wharf upgrades secret from the public for months, and seemingly had no plans to come clean. That behaviour doesn’t meet the standard Tasmanians expect from a Minister.
It’s important to remember we would still have no idea about any of these major problems if the Opposition hadn’t pursued the issue in Parliament for weeks on end. For that they deserve credit – but it’s not something they should have been forced to do. A full account of the whole sorry state of affairs should have been provided up front by the government.
Tasmanians – especially tourism businesses and the north-west coast community – deserve more answers about this situation, and how Minister Ferguson allowed it to come about. Try as he might to shift the blame, responsibility ultimately rests with the Minister.
We hope to hear the perspectives of both current and former TT Line representatives on this matter soon. In the meantime, Premier Jeremy Rockliff should be thinking long and hard about how he’s going to deal with a Minister who has so clearly failed to do his job properly.
