Problems with shipping to and from Flinders Island need to be resolved quickly.
Flinders Island cannot afford to lose access to shipping services. It’s economy will suffer and the community will suffer.
This is a problem that the Infrastructure Minister, Graeme Sturges, needs to resolve quickly. Regardless of the other problems that Mr Sturges is currently dealing with, he cannot ignore this issue.
Mr Sturges needs to tell the Flinders Island community what he is doing to fix the current problem that has Tasports not allowing Southern Shipping to berth on the Island.
Flinders Island residents and businesses need an explanation about what has occurred to create the situation that exists and importantly they need to know what the future holds.
This hapless Minister must explain how he is he going to solve this impasse and the immediate problem that exists.
Furthermore does Mr Sturges have a contingency plan in case the shipping services that he is responsible for are disrupted a lengthy period of time? If he does, what is it?
At the end of the day, the Minister has to step up, take charge of the situation and sort out yet another infrastructure mess that has occurred on his watch.
Peter Gutwein MP Tasmanian Liberal Member for Bass
