Ms BURNET (Clark) – Deputy Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to speak on three points about infrastructure failures from this government that we are seeing.
First, it is the excruciating failure, which the member for Braddon spoke about earlier, in the TT‑Line and the failures there. I met with a couple of mayors in the north west late last week, and they were very concerned about the impacts on their communities. Not only with the failure of the delivery of the port at the Port of Devonport for the berthing – the new wharf for the new Spirits – but also the impact on tourism, trade and business in that area. Infrastructure failings have real implications.
We know that the Spirit ferries were promised to be delivered two years early. It has blown out at least $81.5 million and costing the economy hundreds of millions of dollars a year while delayed.
The Devonport Wharf upgrade has almost quadrupled in cost from $90 million to $375 million.
Saul Eslake warned us in 2020 that the ferries could be the most financially ill-advised project in Tasmania since the 1983 Franklin Dam. What a parallel that Saul Eslake said then, and certainly his most recent report has been very damning.
The Macquarie wharf 6 upgrades have stalled and we are jeopardising the Antarctic gateway status with the less-than-satisfactory response this morning, unfortunately, from the Premier. There has also been a huge blowout predicted, despite under-spending on critical projects like the Tasman Bridge upgrade. Every time you delay infrastructure projects the cost goes up and we see an exorbitant cost blowout currently.
The second point I make about this government’s infrastructure failures is that they do not satisfactorily prioritise the things that the Tasmanian people require. We see those important infrastructure projects which are pushed down the line.
As to the $1 billion stadium, it is not going to be $375 million. Nobody is believing it is going to be $375 million of taxpayer’s money, it will be closer to a billion dollars. There is that failure to prioritise those very important things for Tasmanians like schools. We heard from Mr Garland this morning that Montello Primary School, which I have visited as well as part of the Public Works Committee, has the infrastructure there but it is 1950s infrastructure on a sloping block and not fit for purpose. It really needs much more money and it is not the only school that requires much more love and attention.
My third point is that over the last eight years, from 2015 to 2023, there has been infrastructure underspending. It is interesting that there is a budgeted amount, but each time the actual amount spent is well below what was budgeted, apart from 2022 where it was nominally close to what was budgeted. This is a significant lack of delivering on what has been promised. There are significant concerns about how this government prioritises and what the government is delivering. With all the things that have come out of the TT-Line and Devonport wharf debacle, it is a brave Premier who steps up to take the Infrastructure portfolio when there are significant concerns for infrastructure projects to be delivered and delivered on time.
