Fairly linking Bass Strait is critical for Tasmania

The Hon. Julia Gillard MP
Prime Minister of Australia
Parliament House
Canberra

Fairly linking Bass Strait is critical for Tasmania – but not as compensation for Tasmania’s island status

I was Chairman of the former Committee for Bass Strait Transport Equality and the National Sea Highway Committee. These public interest and commercial committees encouraged Prime Minister’s Keating and Howard to try to bring equitable transport for people and vehicles across Bass Strait.

Prime Minister Keating, when rejecting the NSH committee request for the second time, said that Tasmania should use its own “natural and developed strengths” and not ask Canberra for further subsidies. He subsequently offered to fully meet our request for passenger and vehicle transport equality.

Why? Did Prime Minister Keating really discover what the Bass Strait campaign was about?

You see, Prime Minister, our recent requests for further Bass Strait funding are possibly still seen by Canberra and others as further requests for compensation.

Such is not the case. In no way should Bass Strait funding be seen as requests for further compensatory dollars paid to Tasmania. They are instead requests for equal interstate transport links as all other states enjoy. Using ferries operated on highway principles, Tasmania, its people and businesses can build a strong Tasmania.

The Commonwealth, by failing to provide such equal links, denies Tasmania the ability to effectively use or rely on its “natural and developed strengths” while offering other states equal links over mountains and deserts.

Canberra is severely restricting a state capable of making a substantial contribution to the nation. Compensating Tasmania for its island status, through further untargeted Commonwealth payments, leaves the Tasmanian Government and others to choose how that funding is applied. The result – federal compensation for Tasmania per capita is unnecessarily substantially higher than for any other state. It also has resulted in some of the weakest economic figures in the nation.

Failure to provide equal transport links wastes money and skews access, denying a fair level playing field between industries. It fails to deliver the business certainty and access required for the fair movement of people, for fair trade and exports. It adversely impacts on the conduct of all types of commercial and social activity. The consequences leave a struggling state economy, reflected by a lack of investment, population and jobs.

It is critical that Tasmania be encouraged to use its natural and developed strengths and its location, near the largest population corridor in this nation, to advantage. Canberra can start overnight to open access to Tasmania. There is unused infrastructure and very substantial Federal Bass Strait funding available now to turn the Tasmanian economy around, in days.

The original aims and outcome of the BSPVES, when introduced, proved that equal links for passengers and vehicles work. Canada can do it for its island state and for freight, why not Australia?

You have recently said that Prime Ministers need to take the hard decisions.

In this case, will you follow the lead of two Prime Ministers and restore Bass Strait equalisation schemes to deliver “equalisation”, consistent with the federal mandate for transport equality?

Prime Minister’s Keating and Howard both understood the need for Tasmania to have equalised access. They each took every possible step we asked for, to achieve it. Bass Strait access significantly impacts on activities across the whole of South Eastern Australia.

Prime Minister, will you minimise the need for Federal handouts by giving our nation Bass Strait links capable of allowing Tasmania and its people to fully contribute our nation’s wealth? Will you accept such equal transport links as the key to development of Australia’s island state, not just more and more handouts offered under the name of “equalisation”? Will you allow Tasmanians access to, and fairly close the only gap in our national inter-capital, interstate, integrated transport network? Will you prove that our democracy can deliver its mandate for equality?

Prime Minister, will you do what Prime Minister’s Keating and Howard tried so very hard to do, or will your legacy leave our nation divided?

Yours sincerely,

Peter Brohier