Premier Jeremy Rockliff has refused to confirm whether the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries will be parked in Singapore while upgrades are completed at their home port of Devonport.
Labor leader Dean Winter raised the issue at a budget hearing on Monday, questioning whether Singapore was being considered as a temporary berthing location.
He claimed senior staff at one of the government’s business enterprises had indicated that Singapore was being considered as a cost-saving measure.
“Jeremy Rockliff doesn’t want to deal with the shame of the Spirits sitting in Tasmania,” Winter said.
“He would rather have the Spirits stored 6,500 kilometres away to avoid the daily embarrassment of being responsible for the biggest infrastructure stuff up in Tasmanian history.”
Rockliff declined to rule out any berthing options, stating that infrastructure experts Ben Moloney and Peter Gemmell, appointed last month to oversee the vessel replacement project, were still working on the costings for the necessary port upgrades.
“When we work through the infrastructure and the way forward, they will then make decisions on the ships and where they are berthed in the interim,” he said.
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