Legislative Council Tuesday 14 November 2017

Ms FORREST question to LEADER of the GOVERNMENT in the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Mrs HISCUTT

With regard to the new interim vessel TasPorts have put into service under the Bass Island Line, or BIL -

(1)  Does TT-Line have in play any plans, or is it possible that TT-Line will be using this vessel to ship freight? If so, will this influence the choice of which Victorian port the BIL service will use?

ANSWER

Mr President, before I answer this question I would like to explain to honourable members that an unprecedented number of questions without notice has come to my office for this week, so we are wheeling our way through them.  If we do not get to them immediately, hopefully we will get there.

Ms Forrest - I should be very lucky.

Mrs HISCUTT - Yes, you are first off the rank, so well done.

Mr Dean - You have 24 hours to respond?

Mrs HISCUTT - I am going to need more than that, sir, thank you. 

I thank the honourable member for her question.  TT-Line advises that the answer to the question is no.  To expand on that, TasPorts advises that its subsidiary BIL is focused on servicing its King Island freight customers, not the Bass Strait trade between Victoria and mainland Tasmania.