Tasmania deserves a government that will fight for a vibrant IT sector

Tasmanians remain in the dark over whether there is an opportunity of a spur to connect Tasmania to an underwater data cable.

Senator Helen Polley and Member for Denison Madeleine Ogilvie have reiterated calls from Tasmania’s IT sector for the state government to reveal to Tasmanians whether a spur remains an option for Sub Partners and the state government.

It has been over a month since negotiations broke down between the State Government and Sub Partners.

The two Sub Partners cables, totaling almost 10,000 kilometres, will start in Singapore before heading south to Jakarta, Perth and through the Bass Strait to Sydney.

“The continued silence from the state government is a clear demonstration of how inept this government is at backing our IT sector,” Senator Polley said.

“The Hodgman Government needs to explain to Tasmanians why the spur is not being pursued. Negotiations must continue, to bring new data capacity to our state. Keeping industry at arms length from critical infrastructure decisions such as this is not an option,” Ms Ogilvie said.

Tasmania cannot become a digital economy hub if the world does not view Tasmania as having the correct IT infrastructure worthy of investment.

“This data cable or spur would allow for a large scale data centre which is so attractive to the IT sector,” Senator Polley said.

“Labor understands that we must make important public investments to secure future opportunity and prosperity. Build this digital infrastructure and they will come,” Ms Ogilvie said.

This data cable or spur will allow for high quality, reliable and ultra-fast data assisting small business and industry to grow faster.

“The silence from this Hodgman Government must come to an end. The Hodgman Liberal Government must explain to Tasmanian’s why the negotiations are not continuing and why they won’t back a spur,” Senator Polley said.
SENATOR HELEN POLLEY SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE LEADER (TASMANIA) SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR AGEING SENATOR FOR TASMANIA MADELEINE OGILVIE SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS, ENTERPRISE & DIGITAL ECONOMY STATE MEMBER FOR DENISON