Ms BURNET (Clark) – Deputy Speaker, I rise today to talk about Collins Street in Hobart. Collins Street is a secondary road, running east to west. It is a popular walking and riding route. It has businesses, a cinema and book shops, and it is mooted as a bike lane trial project. The Hobart City Council website suggests that there have been 15 years of urban design planning for Hobart that have culminated in the proposal for the Collins Street bike trial and amenity upgrades. Much of this journey has been in conjunction with State Growth.
There was an announcement on 15 July of last year by the Transport minister, Mr Abetz, that the government, as part of the Better Active Transport in Greater Hobart, Round 2 of grants, would be funding three projects in Hobart: the Castray Esplanade, Augusta Road, and a bike trial worth $170,000 for a trial of bike lanes and upgrades to the amenity of Collins Street. This was the second stage of funding. An amount of $30,000 had already been submitted and accepted as a grant by the City of Hobart to have the preliminary works done.
That was on 15 July 2024. Two days later – and this is through a Right to Information request that I put through – the Department of Premier and Cabinet received a letter from a partner of Font PR. This is Wednesday 7 July at 12.04 p.m. The subject is ‘Questions for Minister Abetz re Collins Street Bike Lanes’. I paraphrase:
Hi,
I saw late last week that Eric announced $170,000 in state government funding for this project, which seemed odd given his accompanying comments which hardly sounded supportive of the project. So, my questions are:
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Did the minister personally approve this grant?
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If so, why, given the clear controversy around the project?
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What was the assessment process for the grant, that is, who assessed and what, if any consultation, did they undertake with potentially affected bodies such as Collins Street traders?
It then goes on to say:
No rush. Deadline 5.00 p.m. Friday, please.
That is two days later.
Sometime after the receipt of this email, a unilateral announcement by the Minister for Transport was made that the government would walk away from the promised funding of $170,000. Well done, lobby group Font PR. If that is how you get the minister to jump, well done. However, this unilateral decision was against the government’s and the department’s own advice, and this is over many years. I quote from advice from the department:
This project has been around for a while and identified in the Hobart City Deal plus in the Greater Hobart Cycling Plan. It is also well established in Tasmanian government endorsed plans, and this shows that Collins Street is part of Greater Hobart’s principal cycling network.
It goes on to say:
The Inner Hobart Transport Network Operations Plan, page 12, shows this strategic road‑user hierarchy for cycling.
And it goes on. Clearly, the Collins Street Bike Lane Trial was an important part of expanding the bike network.
At 5.30 p.m. on 18 March, there will be a public meeting hosted by the City of Hobart at City Hall. It is about a possible elector poll in relation to this. It is really important for anybody who has concerns about how things are done by ministers, how decisions are made and how urban upgrades can occur. It is really important that people attend. The minister should not have made this unilateral decision and it should not have jumped to Font PR’s demands.
Time expired.
