Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Tasmanian Liberal Member for Bass

Friday 15th January 2010

Sturges should resign over Flinders shipping debacle

Hapless Infrastructure Minister Graeme Sturges should resign over his handling of the Flinders Island shipping debacle.

Not only has he not completed the financial audit of Southern Shipping, which he promised last October, it appears that a Southern Shipping vessel has now sailed whilst out of survey.

The Minister acknowledged in October last year when announcing that he would conduct an audit that “we have been watching compliance with this contract like a hawk for 12 months”.

The Minister is a steward of taxpayers’ funds. Unbelievably, he has continued to underwrite the Southern Shipping service without understanding whether or not they were able to meet their obligations under the contract.

However, instead of doing what he said he would and conducting the financial audit that he announced in October he has been happy to passively watch this situation unfold to a point where both ships belonging to this Government-sponsored service have apparently been out of survey.

The Minister has failed to conduct the financial audit he said he would. Taxpayers’ money has been spent whilst we still don’t know whether Southern Shipping has met the terms of its contract and apparently a ship has sailed without being in survey. This is not good enough. The Minister’s handling of this matter has been atrocious and he should resign.