Mr FERGUSON (Bass) – Prior to the March election the Labor Party promised to provide $6.5 million in funding to deal with what is now a massive silt build-up at Home Reach and in the yacht basin in the Tamar estuary. By June of this year this promise had entirely disappeared. I could say metaphorically disappearing with the falling tide, leaving behind a stinking heap of unmet local need and mudflats of government inaction. The current situation where silt has built up to higher levels not only threatens tourism and looks unsightly but it also exacerbates the risk in the event of a major flood event. To make matters worse, a great number of jobs which directly rely on business access to clear water were quite recently shown to be at serious risk.
Together with my colleague, the member for Lyons, Mr Hidding, and my colleague in Bass, Mr Gutwein, on 13 August I joined a meeting of concerned stakeholders convened by the Opposition, and to which the Government was invited. The meeting showed the following quite concerning news. First of all, the Southern Marine Shiplift – and this will probably come as news to some members – would need to rethink its acceptance of forward contracts to slip large vessels, which come from all around Australia to the Tamar River. This would cost us millions of dollars in lost contracts and a substantial number of jobs. Glasgow Engineering, which is the provider, or at least the lead contractor, of up to about 50 trained staff to the ship refurbishments would face lay-offs and the loss of particular skill sets to competitors in other States. Tamar Marine would close its main commercial slip within weeks. Tamar Cruises, operating two vessels, would have its premium summer season badly affected by not being able to sail, and Launceston’s Seaport would face the removal of most of the vessels from its marina, which would sterilise the nature of the whole precinct. The rowing clubs, which had previously been promised all-year-round dredged access to their clubs, would face ramp closures and safety and health concerns have been raised by Mr Gourlay in the past. The Tamar Yacht Club would also have its main commercial income from their slipyard reduced to zero with loss of access to its major ramp.
The Government has accumulated quite a list of unmet election promises. It looks like the promises were either irresponsible or dishonestly made. Quite galling was the speech by one of the Government’s ministers at a function in Launceston a couple of months ago where that minister said with regard to Tamar River silt, ‘We need to have a mature debate on this issue’. My response is that what is mature is faithfully keeping your promises if and when you win government. I also accept that substantially silt in the Tamar River is a natural phenomena caused by the input of silt from the North Esk and South Esk catchments, together with the flocculation effect which comes from -
Mr McKim – Stopping clear-fell on the upper catchments would be a good start.
Mr SPEAKER – Order.
Mr FERGUSON – I do not think time would permit, but I would invite you to take that matter up within NRM North and you might find some contrary information.
Mr Booth – It is 38 per cent
Mr FERGUSON – The flocculating effect, which is quite important in explaining why the silt is even there, is a result of the saline gradient in a very long inland estuary. A mature debate should decide the level of equilibrium we could accept as a community. The level of silt currently sitting if the Tamar yacht basin is totally unacceptable and I am wondering aloud why the Greens members in this place seem to have a difficulty with the Opposition raising the matter.
Mr Booth – Because every time we have tried to do something about it your mob have voted it down.
Mr SPEAKER – Order.
Mr FERGUSON – This is astonishing, Mr Speaker.
Ms O’Connor – You’re misrepresenting the facts.
Mr FERGUSON – Well, you can get up after me and explain what you think has been misrepresented. Thankfully we have seen the Government finally hear the message that the community has been shouting – that we do not want another study and we do want action in the river. I welcome the Premier’s recent weekend announcement of $1 million for short-term dredging works. What that will do is salvage the matter in the short term and I believe that will help to secure the jobs and ramps I have just spoken about. I
ask the Minister for Environment, ‘What then?’. It may well be that we settle on a point where a degree of silt is considered acceptable but that should only be based on knowledge of pre-European levels, a knowledge of annual build-up, and community views. We should not throw good money after bad by going to ridiculous dredging levels, and I am not advocating that, only to have the silt return to the same place, as recent studies have demonstrated it would. What we need is a rational, commonsense approach that recognises that the visual amenity of the river is important to northern Tasmanians and that there are many jobs which absolutely depend on maintenance dredging. There are opportunities for us as a State for economic prosperity in improving the river and the riverbank as a place for people. It has been the State Opposition that has caused the Government to act. Now I call on the Government to deliver all of the funds and the political willpower to ensure that the funds and the environmental regulations allow us to have the river we can be proud of.
Time expired.
[6.34 p.m.]
Mr O’HALLORAN (Braddon) – I have heard Mr Hidding and now Mr Ferguson talk about the siltation issue for the last four or five weeks. It amazes me that the river exists at all. It has been there for millions of years, flowing away happily without any silt build-up -
Opposition members interjecting.
Mr O’HALLORAN – You guys are just amazing. It is quite a simple equation if you apply a bit of science to it. Being a former science teacher, Mr Ferguson, I would expect you to know that silt builds up for two reasons: either there is too much going in, or what is going in is not being flushed out. It is simple. We have caused an increase in siltation through human activity and 38 per cent of it, if you have read the NRM report, which I assume you have, is caused by forestry in the upper catchments. We have also reduced the flow, particularly through Lake Trevallyn. So we have done two things: we have increased the siltation and we have decreased the flushing. It is inevitable that the river will silt up and that is what is happening. What we have called for now for a long time is a single catchment authority to control the silt because it is across a few jurisdictions, so I would ask you to support our push for a single catchment authority on this issue.
The House adjourned at 6.36 p.m.
