The Tasmanian Greens today stressed the need for an immediate plan of action for the West Coast Wilderness Railway, to provide certainty to the business community and to ensure vital staff and expertise is not lost.
Greens Acting Leader and Tourism Spokesperson Tim Morris MP was today attending the community meeting at Queenstown, organised after Federal Group announced its decision to abandon the venture.
“I will use the meeting to push for the immediate establishment of a taskforce bringing on board all three tiers of government, along with representatives from the tourism industry and heritage rail,” Mr Morris said.
“The purpose of the taskforce would be to examine the options and to propose a viable way forward for keeping the railway operating.”
“We must act now, because if we wait until Federal Group has closed the operation then we are going to lose those valuable skilled staff members.”
“The railway doesn’t only benefit the tourism industry on Tasmania’s west coast, it’s also used by other businesses like honey producers who use it to access leatherwood.”
“The Greens are calling on the Infrastructure Minister David O’Byrne to release the details of the existing lease arrangements with Federal Group, to shed light on what went wrong and what can be done from here.”
“The fact that Federal Group was asking the State Government to review the situation has been known since the Department of Energy Infrastructure and Resources released its 2011/2012 Annual Report last year.” [1]
“The closure of this vital tourism asset would be a serious blow to the business communities of Queenstown and Strahan, and it demands an immediate and determined response,” Mr Morris said.
[1] Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources 2011/12 Annual Report: http://www.dier.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/81951/dier_annual_report_2012.pdf
Tim Morris MP Greens Acting Leader & Tourism Spokesperson Thursday, February 07, 2013
