Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Spirit of Tasmaniaferries are a necessary evil. I have nothing against these ferries; we have to get across Bass Strait. But the Spirit ferries are one of the few options Tasmanians have if they want to leave the state. If you travel on the Spiritsat the right time, your fare can be affordable. Travel at the wrong time, peak season, and the prices can be astronomical. Those prices and what it costs to fly out of state are the reason why a lot of people don't leave Tasmania. Before I turned 18, many moons ago, I had only left the state twice, once to come here to Canberra for a primary school trip and the second time to go to Queensland for a high school trip. Now I get to leave lots and lots to come here, but that is a different matter.

Back to the cost of the ferries: the devil is in the detail. The existing Spirits—Spirit of Tasmania I and Spirit of Tasmania IIhave been around since 2002. They were refurbished in 2015 but, after more than 20 years sailing between Devonport, Port Melbourne and, now, Geelong, they have got a bit tired. TT Line agreed and commissioned a Finnish company to build two new purpose-built ferries—Nos IV and V. They will replace the two ships operating now. TT-Line is a Tasmanian government owned business, so it is the Tasmanian taxpayers who are making the investment in these new ships. But tired ships and higher demand mean two new ferries are a good idea and, like anyone else, I love a good idea. It sounds like commonsense business in theory but, in practice, that is something new altogether. These new ships might be able to carry 40 per cent more freight, passengers and vehicles but they have a mixed history. We haven't even seen the boats yet. They are already overdue. The costs have already blown out by millions of taxpayer dollars and this is passed on to regular Aussies who use the line and even to those who don't use TT-Line.

Last week we found out we will have to wait even longer to see the benefits of these larger ferries. The port at Devonport is not fit for purpose. You see, the Finnish shipbuilder commissioned to build the new Spirits almost went under late last year, so the Tasmanian government made a deal with the Finnish company at a cost of an extra, you know, $81 million—just say it quick. They kept this deal secret because they wanted to make sure the Finns didn't pull out of the deal and the Spirits actually arrived in Tasmania. It is interesting that this mess of money comes after the German company, which was one of the original frontrunners in the mix to build the Spirits, went under in 2020.

So the ships are costing millions more than budgeted and now the port at Devonport is costing more than planned too. Spirits IV and V are bigger than the ships usually berthed at Devonport, so the port needs to be upgraded. These upgrades were valued at $90 million in 2020 but, in December last year, TT-Line said the amount had blown out by a massive amount, a whopping $375 million, due to rising civil construction costs, project staging and TasPorts delaying access to the site. The money needed to prop up the Finnish shipbuilder so we can get our ferries and cover the extra costs for the port meant that the Tasmanian government had to extend TT-Line's borrowing capacity with TASCORP, the Tasmanian finance corporation. What a mess and what a huge pile of money!

Don't get me wrong; this is not a speech about Spirits being bad. They are an important link between Tasmania and mainland Australia, not just for travel and vehicle movement between the states but also for freight and for Tassie people to get to the mainland. Tasmanian farmers and businesses rely on the Spirits as one of the freight options to get their fresh produce to the mainland so they can get top dollar. There used to be a catamaran passenger service that ran between Tasmania and Melbourne in the 1990s. It was called the Devil Cat, but there were other names like the 'Vomit Cat' or the 'Spew Cat'—I think you get my drift.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No.

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No? Spew Cat—it says it all. Anyway, I don't want to spew on, but the Devil Cat is no longer because it had issues sailing through rough weather. I think you've probably guessed that already, right? We can't do anything about the cost of flights because subsidising flights is a financial commitment beyond what we can afford. So where does all this leave us? We're waiting for two new ferries that won't be able to take their full capacity until sometime in 2026 because of the port issues. That's what we have to do—keep waiting.

The combination of ferries and planes is what works for us. If you have a vehicle and you want to make it to the mainland, the Spirits are your best option.