Legislative Council, Thursday 27 October 2022

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

With regard to shipping services to and from King Island, noting that the review conducted in 2018-19 saw the continuation of the Bass Island Line and subsequent removal of the direct to Victoria service:

(1) What criteria was used to assess proponents;

(2) Did the review include the possible proponents including a Victorian leg;

(3) Was the appropriateness of the current vessel considered;

(4) Was the appropriateness of other possible proponents' vessels considered;

(5) Why were the key customers and stakeholders - King Island residents, farmers, and business owners - excluded from the process to determine the most suitable service and vessel?

ANSWER

I thank the member for her question.

(1) TasPorts had five key criteria for the BIL service, including:

• ensuring the security and quality of the BIL service over the long term for the King Island community;

• alignment with TasPorts strategy including facilitating growth and trade for the King Island community;

• enhance the BIL service for the King Island community including providing an efficient and cost-effective route to and from market;

• alignment with Tasmanian Government policy objectives to ensure service operations are delivered in accordance with relevant shipping standards and regulations; and

• positive financial outcome for TasPorts, including fair recovery for capital invested and no reliance on TasPorts or government subsidies.

(2) Yes, the review considered all shipping options to support the freight case for King Island.

(3) Yes.

(4) Yes, TasPorts spoke to current and potential Bass Strait market participants to determine their interest in working with TasPorts to deliver the service.

(5) BIL is a commercial shipping line and is required to make its own commercial decisions. The decision followed an extensive evaluation process, after which a panel comprising representatives from TasPorts, BIL, and the Department of State Growth were not able to shortlist any of the market participants.

The decision was taken on the basis that the evaluation panel considered that none of the market participants sufficiently demonstrated that their proposals were able to independently achieve an improved BIL service outcome without substantial ongoing involvement and support from TasPorts. TasPorts notes it met with the chair of the King Island Shipping Group and the King Island Council on Friday 17 May 2019 to explain the processes and overarching probity obligations and provided an update on progress.

Ms Forrest - It is a shame the King Island community itself is not engaged in these sorts of things, because they are the end users.