Project Marinus is a political sleight of hand with no clear evidence it’s a “Great Deal” win for Tasmanians

The Link reshuffles risks and ownership designed to make it look palatable without addressing its flaws: Sometimes the worst deals come dressed in the language of triumph. This may well be the case with Tasmania’s much-heralded “great deal” with the Federal Government over Project Marinus — a so-called nation-building initiative that’s increasingly looking like a […]

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Post election update 3 – Marinus Whole of State Business Case – what have we learnt

If you’re fossicking through the Marinus Whole of State Business Case (WoSBC) to find a collective tick of approval for the project , don’t bother. It’s not there. Everywhere there are warning signs, interspersed with a few assertions of benefits most of which are hidden by the censor’s black marker pen. Yet the Premier, his […]

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Post Election Update No.2 – Big challenges and big decisions need an honest and transparent approach

Why do the Liberals keep insisting Dean Winter concede the election. Is that so the government may free itself of any obligation to consult with or inform the other 60 per cent of Tasmanians who didn’t give their first preference vote to the Liberals, whilst it continues with day-to-day decision making in the back rooms […]

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Response to Article in Weekend Australian re Marinus

This article in The Weekend Australian is timely and also informative. Sadly during the recent election it seemed the major parties didn’t want to talk about this huge project, Marinus and the North West Transmission Development, and the risks it poses to Tasmanians. I have written a number of pieces during the election period on […]

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Post Election Update No.1 – Letter to fellow Independent Members

As I have been contemplating the election outcome and seeking a new and different way of governing Tasmania, I started writing this update which seemed more appropriate to do I the form of a letter to my Independent colleagues. I sent this ‘letter’ to them yesterday and also noted I would publish it as a […]

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Tassie’s polls a distraction to more pressing issue the huge bills we face on Marinus Link decision

A multibillion-dollar risk to a small state under financial strain has greater benefits for the mainland than Tasmania, writes Ruth Forrest As Tasmanians headed to the polls at the weekend, with many casting early votes, we did so without a clear picture of the single biggest infrastructure decision of our generation. Buried beneath the noise […]

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Election Update No 16: Marinus Decision Time: Tasmania Can’t Afford to Get It Wrong

As Tasmanians head to the polls and many voting early, we do so with strikingly little clarity about the future of our energy system. And nowhere is that more alarming than in the case of Marinus Link, a nation-shaping project with state-shaking consequences. As outlined in a June 2025 Tasmanian Community Update: Marinus Board delivers Final […]

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If you want to get to SurplusTown, would you start from here?

There’s a sliver of hope—just a glimmer—that when the dust settles on this election, the battered survivors might finally face up to the fiscal mess Tasmania is in. But it’s a long shot. Because right now, neither major party seems to grasp the depth of the hole we’re in, let alone how to climb out […]

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