Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

As the deputy chair of this committee, I would also like to concur with Senator Urquhart and some of the other contributions that have been made on this inquiry's findings. It is clear from the evidence that we heard that there is indeed an energy crisis in Tasmania and that we do not have a Tasmanian government fit enough to deal with it. The committee has put forward some very good recommendations and No. 2, recommending an independent inquiry to look into Tasmania's energy crisis—the bungled energy situation that Tasmania finds itself in based on the way in which the state minister has bungled the entire process—needs to be adhered to. Very good recommendations have been put forward and the committee did due diligence.

I would like to draw attention to an article raised by John Martinkus, a journalist in The Saturday Paper, last weekend which went into great detail about the crazy situation in which the Tasmanian government finds itself, in not being able to deal with this issue and not being able to show leadership on this issue. Whilst the Prime Minister might come to Tasmania and say, 'Yes, we'll have a feasibility study into a second Bass link'—and I do not say that that is a bad idea—it is completely separate issue to the current energy crisis facing Tasmania.

If we cannot get our only Bass link cable fixed in a timely manner and if the minister of the day cannot be honest and decent in telling the Tasmanian people what is going on in relation to our energy needs—and will not even let energy supplier Hydro Tasmania, a state government-owned energy business, to appear before our committee—then what faith can the Tasmanian people have?

I thank committee members for their participation in this inquiry. I ask the government to heed the five key recommendations that have been put forward. Let us hope that sooner rather than later this whole fiasco in Tasmania of us having to use diesel energy—with the effect that that is having on our clean energy brand—comes to an end, and we can have a repaired Bass link and some leadership and some investment in our renewable energy industries.

Question agreed to.