Honourable Speaker, this morning in question time, the Premier referred to comments I made regarding planned infrastructure spending in the upcoming state budget. He described me and, through me, the Greens, as being anti-school buildings, anti-roads and anti upgrading hospitals. I want to take this opportunity to correct the record.
Deputy Speaker, I thank the members of the opposition for bringing on this Matter of Public Importance about infrastructure fails. We have heard a litany of examples and the Spirit is writ large, obviously, as an infrastructure fail, but I rise today to talk about the stadium as a monumental fail - in the making, nonetheless.
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.
Can you confirm how TasPorts arrived at a $500 million funding request for the Hobart Wharf upgrades for the Antarctic vessel, Nuyina? Will you release the funding submission as a way to help resolve the obvious stand‑off between state and federal government and, if not, why not? How will you make delivering this important piece of infrastructure - and the Greens are interested in good infrastructure projects - your priority over a $1‑billion stadium?
Infrastructure isn’t just concrete, bricks and mortar. It’s about providing the services communities need to flourish.
The Tasmanian Greens are delighted to hear Glenorchy City Council has voted to put the health and wellbeing of their community first, by voting unanimously to upgrade the Memorial Pool. This is a critical piece of community infrastructure for all, including those of social disadvantage, the migrant community and people with disabilities.
The Greens welcome Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson resigning from his Infrastructure portfolio. He has failed to deliver on-time and on-budget infrastructure projects for Tasmanians, including the Spirit of Tasmania upgrades.
Commuters once again stuck in traffic gridlock today on the Tasman Bridge will be wondering where the Liberal Government’s promised upgrades to this critical transport corridor are.
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.
Deputy Speaker, tonight seems to be a night of neglect and abrogation of responsibility when it comes to the government's commitment to Tasmanian people and the services we need.