Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Liberal Member for Bass

Wednesday 6th January 2010

Has Sturges dropped the ball on Flinders Island shipping…again?

On 27 October 2009, the Infrastructure Minister, Graeme Sturges, told Parliament that an audit of Southern Shipping’s finances was imminent.

He said: “…we have currently appointed an accountancy consultancy firm of auditors to inspect the books again and that letter was written some days ago demanding access to the books. That will happen.”

Today’s reports that Southern Shipping may not be paying bills on time again raise serious questions about Minister Sturges’ handling of the situation.

What did the audit of Southern Shipping’s finances show? Did it highlight that Southern Shipping may not be able to meet its financial commitments on time? Did it provide any evidence that yesterday’s apparent lock-out by TasPorts resulting from allegedly unpaid bills would occur?

Surely the audit would have provided the Minister with a clear snapshot of Southern Shipping’s finances and would have enabled him to work on an action plan to address the issues, or at the very least a contingency plan to ensure the Flinders Island community receives the frequency and certainty of services that it deserves.

The fact that the Minister hasn’t done anything as a result of the audit of Southern Shipping’s finances is a grave concern.