Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Senator Kim Carr. I refer the minister to the report released today on the economic impacts of the proposed shipping reform package, prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, which indicates an increase of up to 16 per cent in coastal shipping rates at a cost of $466 million over the next decade. Given the cost impact the government is imposing with the carbon tax and the already parlous state of the manufacturing sector in this country, how can the government justify adding yet another cost to the industry? Has the government estimated how many Tasmanian jobs will be lost and, if so, how many?