Labor criticises state government for lack of progress on priority sewerage upgrades

Key upgrades to Tasmania’s ageing sewerage infrastructure are still yet to be completed six years after they were listed as a priority by the nation’s top infrastructure body.

The Opposition has derided the state government for appearing to drag its feet on sewerage upgrades that have been listed as a priority by the nation’s top infrastructure body.

Infrastructure Australia put the upgrades on its priority list in 2016, declaring that the existing “non-compliant and ageing infrastructure is contributing to public health and environmental outcomes that do not meet contemporary standards”.

The government has proposed to consolidate existing sewage treatment plants and upgrade and operate a reduced number of plants in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport, with an aim of providing improved treatment capabilities and minimising breaches of environmental regulations.

Sewerage works at Macquarie Point.

Labor finance spokesman Dean Winter said the level of progress seen to date was unacceptable.

“We’ve had six years of nothing when it comes to our water and sewerage infrastructure from this government,” he said.

“We’ve got a Memorandum of Understanding with TasWater that hasn’t worked, we’ve got TasWater now holding significant amounts of debt that’s increasing its costs for Tasmanian households over the next four years by $450 on average – all while this government decides it wants to build a stadium.”

Speaking at Macquarie Point on Saturday, Mr Winter noted that the sewage treatment plant on the waterfront had spilt 1.2m litres of partially treated effluent into the Derwent River earlier this year.

“We know that Tasmanians love spending their summer on the water [and] in the water and it’s not good enough that because of the government’s lack of investment and lack of interest in water and sewerage that we’re still seeing beaches closed right across Tasmania,” he said.

Dean Winter Labor member for Franklin. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Infrastructure Minister Michael Ferguson said Labor was “all talk on infrastructure” and that the government was “getting on with the job and delivering on our record infrastructure program”.

“TasWater has an ambitious strategy to invest more than $1b between 2021 and 2025 on capital upgrades, supported by $200m of investment by our government,” he said.

The minister said this did not include the work to relocate the Macquarie Point plant, to which the government has committed $100m.

“Major improvements are also planned for Launceston’s sewage and storm water treatment under the Tamar River Health Action Plan,” he said.

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