Labor says $6m local spend on ferries is not enough
Up to $100m on local content has been promised on the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries, however Labor claims the government is lagging behind that mark after an RTI reveals costings.
Tasmania
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Tasmanian businesses have so far received just $6m for providing local content to the new billion-dollar TT-Line ferries build, Labor says.
Opposition leader Dean Winter said it was a far cry from the $100m in local content the government claimed to have secured.
The government has accused Labor of misleading Tasmanians because the boats aren’t finished and the pledge was for “up to” $100m in local content.
An opposition Right to Information request has revealed a detailed breakdown of onshore spending on the new ferries.
In March 2021, then Premier Peter Gutwein and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael Ferguson said the government was “targeting Tasmanian local content of between $50m and $100m across both vessels” with delivery to be in late 2023 and late 2024.
The government says TT-Line’s definition of “local content” includes interstate providers.
“Like so much of the Spirits of Tasmania project, the Liberals have failed to deliver on their $100m promise for local content going on our new ships,” Mr Winter said.
“For years now, the Liberals have been telling Tasmanians that as part of these new ships, there will be $100m worth of local content going into them.
“RTI documents uncovered by Labor show that TT-Line has only spent around $6m and so much of their claimed so called local content has actually been companies from Finland or international companies, rather than Tasmanian firms.
“It’s pretty clear they’re not going to get to their $20m target and the RMC component, the $80m, they’re trying to include things like the engines that were manufactured in Finland.
“Clearly, they haven’t met their promise, and I don’t think they were ever going to make their promise.”
Minister for Transport Eric Abetz said he was confident the targets would be met.
“It’s no surprise Labor would seek to talk down the local content investment and mislead Tasmanians,” he said.
“This is just another political attack from Labor attempting to undermine the project.
“Dozens of Tasmanian businesses have been awarded contracts to provide goods, services and content for the new vessels, and we expect TT-Line to meet its $20m target.
“If Labor did a simple online search they would see the up to $100m of local content in the new Spirits of Tasmania was to be comprised of Tasmanian and Australian content.
“RMC has until the end of the warranty period of Spirit V to satisfy the local content provisions of its contract with TT-Line, then an assessment will be undertaken by TT-Line to validate these purchases for contractual compliance, with penalty provisions in place if requirements are not met.”
Mr Abetz highlighted a number of Tasmanian businesses which had benefited including
Seamaster, Hobart’s Tas Isle Trading and Devonport-based Rapid Supply.
Labor’s RTI list includes equipment including a breathalyser, a holding cell intercom, TVs for the teen gaming lounge and $5,000 worth of hand and body wash.
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Originally published as Labor says $6m local spend on ferries is not enough
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