Matthew Groom: Demolition Starts at Brooke Street Pier

The Liberal Government is committed to building on our competitive strengths to create jobs, growth and opportunity.

Tourism is one of Tasmania’s key industries and by supporting the ferry and local cruise market, we will help grow visitor numbers as part of our vision for the future of Tasmania.

It’s pleasing to see the redevelopment of the Brooke Street Pier take an important step forward with major demolition work starting today.

Each year, the MONA ferry alone carries 150,000 passengers per year, with a total of 300,000 visitors using the facility annually.

The current pier does not address the needs of growing visitor numbers, with issues around the lack of general facilities and an all-weather waiting area.

The new floating pier, currently under construction at Prince of Wales Bay, will add to the capacity of Sullivans Cove and support strong growth in tourism numbers when it opens in December 2014.

This floating pier is an innovative development for Tasmania and is at the forefront of construction techniques for this type of project.

The $13 million redevelopment is being funded through $5 million from the Federal Government and an $8 million joint investment from ferry operators Navigators and Peppermint Bay.

Tasmanians companies are also benefiting from this redevelopment with Hazell Brothers undertaking the demolition work and Fairbrothers contracted for remediation work and building the new facility.

This new pier supports the Liberal Government’s vision to grow tourism numbers to 1.5 million visitors by the year 2020, which the industry tells us will create 8,000 new jobs.
Matthew Groom, Minister for State Growth