Labor has criticised the state government for spending $42,000 on newspaper advertisements about the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries, describing the content as “propaganda designed to mislead”.
According to Right to Information documents, taxpayers funded the full-page spreads late last year, with News Corp’s Mercury receiving almost $20,000.
ACM’s Examiner and Advocate publications collected a combined $22,682.
Labor believes the ads contained everything from “shameless political spin to outright lies”.
Shadow Finance Minister Luke Edmunds said the “most egregious example” of misleading information was the claim that the new Spirit IV wouldn’t be second-hand if leased to another country before arriving in Tasmania.
“The Liberals also tried to convince people that TT-Line is “fast-tracking” new berthing infrastructure that was supposed to be ready a year ago and still won’t be ready for another two years,” he said.
“They must think Tasmanians are stupid.”
Minister Felix Ellis said Labor doesn’t like the truth.
“Labor have been spreading nonsense and misinformation on this project for months,” he said.
“And it’s quite telling that as soon as the truth gets out they’re opposed to that. It’s important that we keep the community updated.”
The Spirit of Tasmania IV ferry currently remains docked at Scotland’s Port of Leith, with a decision about a potential lease arrangement expected by the end of the month.
