Legislative Council, Tuesday 25 October 2022

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I move -

That the Council be now adjourned for the purpose of discussing a matter of public importance, namely the circumstances surrounding the recent damage to the Cam River Bridge at Somerset and the resultant major delays to traffic as the result of the reduction to one lane of traffic and concerns around the integrity of the bridge and the need for a reliable alternative route.

Mr PRESIDENT - In accordance with standing order 32(3)(d) at least three members should rise in their seats to support the motion.

The member can proceed.

Ms FORREST - Thank you, Mr President. I thank members for their support. In raising this matter of public importance, I wish to acknowledge there are many people around Australia, predominantly in parts of Victoria, New South Wales and here in Tasmania who have been severely impacted by the recent floods. My thoughts are with those who have lost homes, motor vehicles and, sadly, for some their lives have been lost as a result of this tragic and extreme weather event.

This highlights why the bill we will be dealing with later this week is very important but not as important as getting on with addressing the very real threat that climate change is to the future of this planet. I also note the work being done under challenging circumstances by divers in a still swollen river from floodwaters in a strong tidal river mouth working on site, through assessing the bridge damage, framing the formwork and pouring the concrete to shore up the Cam River Bridge.

Also, I acknowledge the work of those traffic controllers controlling traffic in the wind and rain. It is not a pleasant job and none of them deserve to be abused by drivers. I make that point. I have urged people through my social media to be respectful and kind to those doing the best they can in challenging circumstances. I do believe we need more traffic controllers. There are too many intersections that need controlling for the staff available and as I will get to further in my contribution, the whole of Somerset has been gridlocked two mornings in a row, completely gridlocked. The peak times are not just 8 a.m. until 9 a.m. It is from 7 a.m. until 10.30 a.m. every morning on the western side and 2.30 p.m. until 6.30 p.m. on the eastern side in the afternoon.

Before I describe the real challenges we currently face on the north-west coast, I will inform members where the Cam River and the bridge I am referring to are located and then describe why this is such a problem.

The Cam River Estuary is located in Somerset, roughly half way between the townships of Wynyard and Burnie. The northern part of the Cam River forms part of the boundary to the City of Burnie and Waratah/Wynyard local government areas. The Cam River Bridge crosses the mouth of the river and forms a critical link to all communities to the west of Burnie and the rest of Tasmania - or west of the Cam, actually.

The mouth of the Cam River has very strong tidal movements and is in quite a dangerous area. We have, sadly, seen drownings in the past and many people needing to be rescued because it is such a very dynamic river mouth. For many years there have been calls from members of our community and members of local government to build another reliable crossing - a duplication of the existing bridge - to ensure this critical link cannot be disrupted due to the volume of traffic that uses this single bridge daily.

I will specifically speak about the significant impact the damage to the Cam River Bridge is causing the whole north-west coast, particularly west of Penguin. A population of about 4300 people regularly use the bridge, some many times per day, and this does not include all the traffic coming into the region, such as health professionals, teachers, disability workers, essential supplies deliveries, et cetera.

This would not be such a major issue, but for the wait to cross the one lane that currently remains open on the damaged bridge. On the other lane, there is a visible sag in the bridge pavement and the concrete is cracked. The damage is readily observable as you drive past. There have been up to three-hour delays each way, with traffic backed up at the eastern end to McDonalds in Burnie, and about seven-and-a-half kilometres and similar distances to the west. I will come to what happened yesterday and again today.

Clearly, many residents are very concerned about the structural integrity of the bridge, as concrete is not generally a flexible material. The other very significant issue is the availability, or lack thereof, of an alternate route to get around the bridge, noting the trip on the road on the west of the Cam to the road on the east of the Cam is less than five minutes drive. It will take at least one hour and 40 minutes to do this alternate route without any traffic on the road, and this includes going through Hellyer Gorge - not an easy drive, as it is often very slow and winding; there are few, if any, overtaking opportunities; and it is not suitable for large, heavy vehicles.

At night, there is a large amount of wildlife on the road and thus travel speed is reduced significantly. Last time I drove through in the night, I could not go any faster than 50 kilometres per hour at most. To give members some context, I have provided you all with some comparable examples, if major infrastructure damage occurred in major centres and required a similar diversion. I have provided examples around Hobart and Launceston. They are the distances and types of road, perhaps not as windy in some cases, that people in your areas would have to drive to do the same sort of detour.

You will note that; from Hobart, you would have to drive up over the Bridgewater Bridge, up to Melton Mowbray, across and come down the road down through Mudwalls, and cross the Tasman Bridge. If you were going down toward Franklin, you would see the route there that has been mapped out. I thank my constituent, who proactively did this. I was thinking, 'I must do this for myself' - and suddenly, there it was, my constituent sent it to me.

Around Launceston, you would have to go out through Invermay, up through Lilydale, Lebrina, out to Scottsdale, and then back down through Springfield, Patersonia, and Nunamara. The member for McIntyre knows exactly how far that is and how long it takes.

Ms Rattray - A long time.

Ms FORREST - Launceston, down to Campbell Town, and then back inland through Cressy. That is the sort of bypass we are talking about, because there is no other bridge. Some of the heavy vehicles, including milk tankers, cannot safely use the alternate route, particularly as it has also suffered flood damage. There is a big washout on the road on Hellyer Gorge that I drove past on the weekend before last, just after that rain had occurred. That washout is as you are heading north down to the river, on the left-hand side of the road as you are going down. You cannot see it when you are coming down, so any vehicles coming down, that is a very patchy bit of road that has been undermined. It has been marked out with witches hats, but again, it reduces the area of that road to one lane.

Mr President, this has been a crisis for my community. They have needed regular, accurate, and timely updates on the reality of the situation, as many people have been held up in queues for over two hours, initially with no detail available. That is improving now, and I thank all the people have been providing accurate information. I have been seeking to ensure the communication was contemporary and responsive to questions being asked, respectful of people's ideas and solutions in a similar way that was required during the COVID-19 outbreak in north-west Tasmania. That is the level of activity this crisis has created in the north-west for people.

Many locals have been feeling vulnerable and uncertain: women who are pregnant and are due to give birth who live on the west side of the Cam River; those needing daily cancer treatment who live on the west side of the Cam River; those relying on disability support where their care providers live on the opposite of the river - whichever side that is; those health professionals whose workplace is the opposite side of the river; those with perishable goods from west of the river, such as milk. The total reliance on this bridge to get thousands of dollars worth of produce out of Circular Head and Waratah/Wynyard regions provide food and other products such as wood to end users and other external markets. These people are all very concerned. All needed much more and much clearer information and advice than was being initially provided.

Many businesses along the river have also been significantly impacted. Those who have driven along here might know of Young's Vegie Shed on the highway, on the eastern side of the bridge. It is always busy. I shop a lot there myself. The owner rang me yesterday to say they are probably going to throw out a whole heap of fresh produce as it is going to be wasted because people are not stopping. People do not want to get out of the queue because, sadly, people are not letting others back into the queue very readily.

He is also made the offer of having portaloos in his carpark because there are no toilets on this side of the bridge. On the Somerset side, the Ampol Service Station has offered the use of their toilets for anyone who is held up in the line but that means having to get out of the line to go to it. It is on the opposite side of the road driving in and it is not recommended people either stop in the line or pop over to the service station - you are crossing a major road or if you can pull off to the side, you still have to cross the road to go to the toilet. However, I understand how vital this is for families with children who cannot wait; often older people; and those with other urinary or bowel challenges. This is a very real problem for so many people.

Communication has improved of late, but almost all north-west road users know that the government and the state Government absolutely did not understand or appreciate the actual volume of traffic and traffic tasks this critical link relies on.

The minister was soon to withdraw his position from State Growth - one can only assume Hobart-based people and this is what he told me on Friday when we were planning for the following week, this week:

The maximum wait time of 30 minutes could be expected at peak times on Monday.

I am not sure who told him that or why they would possibly say that when all evidence pointed to a maximum wait time of probably two and a half hours during peak time. That was what the experience was on Friday. I had school bus operators contacting me with that very story - bus loads full of kids, two hours plus, waiting in line to get across the bridge and also normal commuters.

I encourage members if they want to look at Google Maps during the peak time. I had a look just before I came in for the debate here now and the congestion has eased, but you can follow that on Google Maps and see how far back the traffic is backed up. This is not just on the Bass Highway, you can see all of the streets in Somerset. That really impacts the residents who live there who do not even want to cross the bridge as they cannot even get out to go the other way easily.

Yesterday, vehicles were backed up to Wynyard on the eastern side during this period with the peak travel time commencing from 7.30 a.m. to 8 o'clock - a much longer peak time than the Government had anticipated. Vehicles, trucks and others were still backed up to the Wynyard turn-off near Doctors Rocks and further back at 10.30 a.m. That is how it was long taking to clear. Still that far back.

Mr Gaffney - Even people who do not want to go across the bridge, they cannot get to where they want on that side because they are blocked.

Ms FORREST - Yes, they are blocked, and we are urging people to keep well to the left so emergency vehicles can get through. That still does not mean that if I wanted to go into Somerset to shop I should just nick through there in case an emergency vehicle is coming the other way. When I crossed this last weekend, on my way here, an emergency vehicle - an ambulance - did come through with lights and sirens. They had priority access as they should, but it just means you cannot have people pulling out to even just turn across.

Mr Gaffney - Even people who have child care services on one side, trying to get your children across to there is not possible.

Ms FORREST - They are working on the other side. I will come to a couple of those, just a brief couple of stories. It is just very disruptive.

As I said, the whole of Summerset became gridlocked this day and again today, this morning. With traffic being diverted off the Murchison highway. The Murchison highway brings traffic down from Yolla, Elliott, down the west side of the Cam River. Depending on which way they are going, whether they are going west into Wynyard or going right east in Burnie, they cross the Cam. All the traffic that was being diverted there, even traffic going west, not wanting to cross the bridge, has been backed up. They diverted them off the Murchison to allow a priority route for buses, and that is an excellent idea. They have diverted them across Back Cam Road, down Bread and Butter Hill, into Falmouth Street, which is where the traffic lights are at the bottom quite close to the bridge, and it was gridlocked all the way back to and including up the Murchison Highway.

That is how far it was backed up. Which meant Pelissier Street coming in from the west, Wragg Street and every other street coming in from there was gridlocked. People sat in the queue for an hour and did not move an inch. Some people told me they moved two car lengths in that time. Some of them were just trying to get to Somerset.

The main reason I can determine this seemed to have failed to alleviate the problem - absolutely essential and bright idea of the Government to create a priority route for buses. The police had to drag the buses through, or make way for the buses to be pulled through from the west to get the schoolkids to school. They took them through a priority route through the town, effectively, through the town of Somerset, and they had to across Falmouth Street, which is gridlocked to the extreme, and they had to turn right into Falmouth, and back into Wragg Street to get out to the Murchison Highway to get priority over the bridge.

The reason it was not working is because we had no people controlling the traffic. At the Falmouth Street intersection with Bass Highway where the traffic lights are, they were initially relying on the traffic lights. That was never going to work. The minister also identified this as a challenge when he was up there on the weekend. However, we also needed traffic control where the buses had to cross Falmouth Street. There was no-one there. I have pictures of all this, my constituents who live in the area were taking photos and sending them to me. It is all an accurate representation. This is not an exaggeration. This is the reality.

I understand there were eight traffic controllers put on into the system there. That is nowhere near enough. They were only intermittently there from time to time. This morning, I was told there was a traffic control on the Falmouth Street and Bass Highway intersection where the traffic lights are, at about seven. They were not there at eight. The traffic cleared a bit while they were there, managing the traffic from Falmouth Street, but why were they not there at eight?

I sent these messages to the minister about this, saying this is actually what is happening. He indicated in his messages to me that they are there. I said well, these people who are reporting this to me are not lying. They are not people exaggerating, they are people who are actually experiencing this. We need more traffic controllers there until this bridge is open on both lanes. Even then, I accept it will be quite slow, but most of us are used to the 'Cooee crawl' as we affectionately call it.

Mr President, I did contact the minister yesterday and again today to report what my eyes on the ground were telling me - and there were plenty of them - and I understand action was taken to make sure there were traffic controllers put in place but there were just not enough. There are not enough on enough intersections.

I sincerely thank my constituents for being very proactive and trying to find solutions to the problems, real and workable solutions, many of which I have passed along to the minister. I know that they are being considered. Some of them do not work for a variety of other reasons beyond the immediate but we need all heads thinking here.

Another matter that does require local knowledge and intel that I did think would not need to be stated is the understanding of traffic flows at different times of the day. It should come as no surprise to anyone that there is a greater volume of traffic travelling east toward Burnie in the morning and travelling west towards Wynyard in the afternoon. There is going to be traffic going each way, all day every day. Logic would tell you - and anyone who has experienced the Cooee crawl could tell you - that is how it works. It is really slow in the morning going east and very slow in the afternoon and evening going west. The Cooee crawl is a pinch-point in our road there. This happens in normal everyday conditions.

It seems this has not been understood as we have significantly lower traffic build-up on the eastern side of the bridge to the west. There are heaps more, right back to Wynyard, and nowhere near as much on the eastern side of the bridge. The minister suggested to me this has been corrected. It has not. I have had people saying that they are counting the cars that are being let through. You need to let far more cars through in the morning travelling east than you do travelling west to try to ease that congestion and try to free up Somerset a bit, and the opposite way around in the afternoon.

I certainly appreciate the need for accurate and consistent advice, but in the absence of frequent communication from those in charge, rumours abound and fear and uncertainty can be exacerbated. It is really important that we have factual and accurate information going out there. Sadly, sometimes a rumour gets away and it takes a while to damp it down. I was told by many people on Friday that the bridge was going to close at 10 p.m. and that was it. I did contact the minister and say, I am sure this is not right, can you confirm? He did, straight away, which I appreciated. Then I had to check in all the places it had been said, to say no, it is not, you will still be able to get through. This is what happens.

During this time, I have been working very closely with the community, informing the relevant ministers of the reality on the ground. Some of their advice from those I assume outside the region has been fundamentally wrong. I have had to call them again to correct the information they have received and pass on suggestions and the reality of the situation. Just two examples, to see how frustrating this has been. The minister, Mr Ferguson, assured me on Friday that the department had told him that there would be a maximum of a 30-minute wait to cross the bridge at peak times. Peak times being weekdays and one would assume that he was considering that to be about 7.30 a.m. until 9 a.m. with just the workers going to work and the school kids and again at 2.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., predominantly workers, heavy vehicles and school children travelling in opposite directions.

This was so far from the lived experienced of most commuters on Friday and it has been again on Monday and today. It was much more than half an hour for most commuters on Saturday and Sunday. I admit that the Burnie Ten was on Sunday and that would have added to the problem.

Mr Gaffney - It would have been faster to walk.

Ms FORREST - Some people did. Some people ended up leaving their cars in Somerset and running to school across the bridge and to Burnie High and places like that but you cannot do that with primary school kids.

This was so far from the lived experience for most commuters. Very early in the day and quite late at night, wait times are indeed far less, with some people only waiting a matter of a few minutes. However, the suggestion of a 30-minute wait at peak time was far from reality. That has since been revised to 45 minutes. Again, the lived reality is far from that. I had calls from school bus operators sitting in the queues for over 2.5 hours with a bus load of children. I have had many messages across these days, of 2-3 hour waits at peak times. Even on a Saturday, a non-peak day at midday, it took me exactly one hour to get through. Once I joined the queue an hour to get through. For those who know the area, I joined the queue near the Austins Caravans area.

My constituents are regularly updating me with travel times. It is patently clear that the peak times are not limited to a couple of hours in the morning and afternoon/evening. Even at midday, vehicles were still being backed up for kilometres and wait times of over an hour were common through until after 6 p.m. and significantly later. Even with the revised advice stating expected delays of 45 minutes during peak time, that is clearly fundamentally well short of the reality. This is what upsets north-west coasters: advice coming out of Hobart with no actual awareness of the reality.

The second example I will give you is when I called the minister, Mr Jaensch. Mr Jaensch had been on the mainland at the environment ministers' meeting, and I knew that. I called him to discuss some matters that were raised relating to access to education, especially for Year 10, 11 and 12 students. Year 10 students at Burnie High are having exams this week and the Year 11 and 12 students going to Hellyer College and Marist College have final preparations for exams this week, a really important period. These are the kids who have been severely impacted by COVID-19 interruptions and the Year 11 and 12 students have exams starting soon. There were also some issues raised that younger children needed to be on buses for up to three hours and not able to get home at a reasonable hour.

Mr Jaensch listened and agreed we need to address this but then he said - this is on Friday last week - 'Well, it hasn't been a problem today. Friday has been a pupil-free day'. I could not believe this was the advice I was getting from him. I assumed it would have had to have come from Hobart and his advisers down here because I informed him that yes, indeed, it might have been a pupil-free day in Hobart after the Hobart Show, it sure as hell was not on the north-west coast. Why am I telling you there are buses full of school kids two hours in the line and it is Friday? This is what upsets the north-west coasters. You can only imagine that my head just about blew off at that point. It certainly was not a pupil-free day on Friday on the north-west coast.

Even with the recent advice, 45 minutes, we need to be realistic about that and tell people the truth. It is likely to take them two hours in peak hour, at least, to get over the bridge and if they want to take the alternate route through Hellyer Gorge, it will take about that time as well, a much harder drive and some of them simply do not have the money for the fuel to pay for it. If you think about how much fuel they will use to go up and down that road every day for a week, some of these people do not have the money to pay for it.

One other thing I will talk about people giving advice from afar, I had a message this morning from a nurse who lives west of the Cam River who works at the North West Regional Hospital and she contacted the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) - I assume they were in Launceston - and she was asking what rights nurses have if they need leave. They suggested that she ask to work at the Mersey Community Hospital instead of the North West Regional Hospital.

Mr Gaffney - Hopeless.

Ms FORREST - Correct.

Ms Webb - That is Launceston.

Ms FORREST - Correct. This is why I bang on about people understanding some of the very real challenges we have in our regions - and I know the member for McIntyre would not disagree with some of this in this absolute separation of reality between our regions, my electorate and Hobart where some of these decisions are made.

In light of these at times unhelpful and inaccurate assessments, I have continually sought to correct misunderstandings and provide accurate updates to my community and to the minister and the Premier and the relevant ministers. We do need to work collaboratively. I have had a proactive working relationship during this time with both the Burnie City Council and the Waratah/Wynyard council, mayors and general managers, even to the point of them having their engineers ring me to update me on matters related to potential alternate routes.

I have been proactive in talking to some of the other landowners whose properties may need to be accessed if the bridge does not survive the repairs. The concrete was poured last night around the pier that was damaged. I do not know if they are going to try to prop up the dip in the bridge. It is visible and obvious when you drive over it, but they have to stress test it and wait. B-doubles go over this, as well as fully loaded milk tankers and busloads of children. We are really hopeful that we do not need to close it, but if we have significant heavy rain, which thankfully has not come yet, that could cause further damage. As I said, it is a very dynamic river mouth, with very strong currents.

As for the works on the new bridge that is there to replace it - I do not want to hear from the Leader about the great work the Government is doing on building a new bridge and we can just get over it. I want to hear about how we are going to look to this in the future as well, if the Leader chooses to speak on this MPI.

I have been talking to some private landowners about where the alternate routes could go that would not take the whole time to get around the Hellyer Gorge, that might be a little bit less challenging and save a bit of fuel, if we have to. We cannot wait until it happens. We have to have a plan in place.

Mr President, the reason I was particularly talking to the Burnie City Council and Waratah-Wynyard Council mayors and GMs over the weekend was to understand the damage of Oonah Road. Oonah Road is another link that is not so far back. It is also a narrow and windy road, and has had significant flood damage too, and significant land slips in the area. I was asking the GMs, can that be promptly repaired? There was so much damage, and with the rain continuing the engineers could not fully get in there. I understand the engineers have now been in. It will take a major rebuild of that section of the road. It is not an option in the short term either, and it is possibly is not suitable for heavy vehicles because it is a winding, country road.

I have been grateful for the local government representatives in communicating very freely with that. I asked the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport if money could be made available from the state to assist, so that the road could be repaired in a fairly timely manner. I understand that has been committed, if it is possible. That is a really positive thing, too. I appreciate that. That is what we have a Treasurer’s Reserve for, after all.

Mr Gaffney - Is there any federal funding? It would get federal funding for -

Ms FORREST - Not for the Oonah Road and repairing Oonah Road more quickly. That is a local government road. The federal funding is part of the Bass Highway, absolutely.

Mr Gaffney - Do you know if they have been helpful?

Ms FORREST - It was the Premier who told me there had been discussions with federal ministers and also with the Prime Minister, because he was in the state last week.

I am very grateful for the information that has been provided by them. It has been more difficult to get a truly proactive response without state government representatives questioning everything I am saying. It seems that I am saying, ‘this is what is actually happening on the ground’, and they are saying ‘well no, that is not right, because we have said people are there’. I had a much better approach from the previous premier during COVID-19. He was very respectful and listened, and responded, and not disbelieving what was being told to him. We need that approach now - to believe what people are being told, and look for real solutions to try to free up the traffic issue here.

The member for Mersey has alluded to some of the specific challenges being experienced. I will relate a small number of personal challenges that people are facing, so those listening and the other members can appreciate the real challenges facing the roughly 43 000 people who live in this area.

I had a phone call from a grandmother who is a carer for her brother. She lives in Ocean Vista on the eastern side of the bridge. Her daughter lives in Wynyard, with her children and family. Her daughter works at Toyota in Burnie, or in Cooee, which is just over the bridge. She has to start work at eight. She takes her children to her mother’s place in Ocean Vista so she can be at work at eight, because there is nobody else to look after the children in Wynyard. The children, naturally, go to Wynyard, because they live in Wynyard. The grandmother of the children then has carers come in the morning to look after her brother while she takes the children to school. One of those carers comes from Wynyard. So, the grandmother has to take the children to school, then come back home so then she can take over the care of her brother so that the carer can go home again. The same thing happens in the afternoon. Try to think about the logistics of that.

Another person has contacted me, saying: [tbc]

I'm losing work hours for next week as a casual disability worker, as I cannot get from one client in Somerset at 9 a.m. to Burnie to start with another at 9:30 a.m. I am just one person; imagine how many people are losing wages in the next week while this gets sorted? Also, think about the people who are not getting the disability care they need because their carer lives on the other side of the bridge.

Another one, from people living in Circular Head:

My son is one of many people from the north-west who need to travel to Burnie for an important medical appointment. He had been meant to have this appointment earlier, but unfortunately, his original appointment fell on the National Day of Mourning for the Queen. The thought of a trip now, that normally takes one hour taking up to at least three, with a child who is already so exhausted because of his medical issues may not seem like a big problem to some, but it will be one more issue and another delay that impacts on those already struggling.

We have already had an 18-months battle with our medical system trying to get him help. We are now looking at another six months at least before we can get an appointment to see the paediatric neurologist in Hobart, unless we can convince people to send referrals to Melbourne as well. The waiting times are so ridiculous here in Tasmania at the moment, and it is most certainly not an easy wait when you see your child continue to deteriorate.

Obviously, you can never predict these kinds of things happening, Mother Nature is powerful, but the response from the Government so far has been a little bit of a disappointment. I just hope we can begin to see the importance of a functioning second bridge.

Mr President, there were many accounts like that. I wanted to read a couple to give you a taste of what people are experiencing. People seeking medical treatment that is scheduled in the morning are trying to get accommodation in Burnie the night before, and that means even more out-of-pocket expenses for them. They do not qualify for PTAS, they do not live far enough away.

People from Burnie and surrounds need accommodation in Wynyard to avoid missing flights from the Burnie Wynyard Airport. It obviously depends on what time it is, but you might need to leave a day before, to get to the flight. A student coming back to school to Hellyer College from King Island arrives on a Sharp flight, peak time, and has to be picked up by a staff member from Hellyer College to be brought to school. The people on King Island are being affected.

In another account, I read about a woman who was working in Burnie; her son left his house in Melbourne for the airport, to catch a plane to Wynyard, at the same time his mum left Burnie. He arrived at their place in Somerset 30 minutes before her. That is the time that it is taking to get across the bridge.

I have raised this matter as a matter of public importance as it affects a significant portion of our population. It directly impacts a region of our state where millions of dollars of economic benefit and growth come from for our state. Much of this relies on timely transport of goods, including perishables, including the milk.

Many who have been providing advice to various ministers, based on the information provided to me by those ministers, show a lack of understanding of the volume of traffic and goods on this previously existing bottleneck. Locals have been asking for action on this for years, stating that without action, we would now see what we are seeing. Yes, I know, as I mentioned earlier, there is a new flood-proof bridge being built alongside this one. Some are concerned that may actually have contributed to the damage because some of the works went into the pier of the existing bridge, but that is a matter for another day.

However, any single bridge can be closed for many reasons other than a flood - such as, a major crash, a chemical spill, or other non flood-related damage. This is a critical link for the north-west to the rest of Tasmania. It is the only viable link. We do need to be listened to and we need to continue to fight for critical infrastructure which is what this is, including a second bridge before discretionary infrastructure is considered and funded, such as a multi-million-dollar stadium.

Members may be aware I am sponsoring a petition to parliament on behalf of my community. It states:

The petition calls for the state Government to:

(1) (a) conduct a thorough and open review into all issues surrounding the causes of the damage to the Cam River Bridge related to the heavy rainfalls and the concurrent construction of a replacement bridge;

(b) the subsequent repairs of and temporary closure of one lane of the Cam River Bridge at Somerset since Thursday, 20 October, 2022; and

(c) publicly release the information and findings of the reviews in a timely manner.

(2) retain the current Cam River Bridge until a full and proper analysis is undertaken to identify possible alternative routes across the Cam River to prevent this situation or other events that could result in the closure of all or part of the Cam River Bridge happening again; and

(3) ensure the process utilised to undertake a full and proper analysis to identify possible alternative routes includes direct and inclusive community and stakeholder engagement processes that assesses all options for another viable Cam River crossing, including but not limited to:

(a) the retention of the current Cam River Bridge after the new bridge is constructed;

(b) a second new bridge at the current or at an alternative location; and

(c) upgrades of the current alternative route such at Oonah Road.

I know that the current bridge is past its use-by date and this is why it is being replaced. The option of repairing and restoring is probably not feasible, but we do need to see it replaced not removed and not replaced. This is the crucial point here, or another really functional link that can take all this traffic load across the river.

We get better outcomes for our communities when we work together in times of crisis, as we did during COVID-19 and as such, we must continue to, as we address the current and sadly increasing risk and reality of severe weather event such as floods, bushfires, storms, et cetera. I know that we can do this and I urge the Government to take an inclusive approach one that engages other community leaders, the local councils, community service groups and organisations, and business groups, as well as non-party-elected members. We all care deeply about our communities and the welfare of our people who we represent.

I was disappointed I had to request, more than once, to be updated at least as often as the media on important developments in this matter. I was being informed by newspaper articles and not proactively from the minister or the Government. That is disrespectful in the extreme.

It was very frustrating to have to wait for a media announcement to see if the matters that I had sought information about had been actioned and what decisions had been made on behalf of my community. It is entirely disrespectful in a community where we should be working together.

The lines of communication have improved since then, thankfully, and I thank the minister for being much more responsive and ensuring I was getting information at the same time as the media, at least.

The conversation to follow this event is just as important as the emergency actions being taken now. I, and my community, need a commitment from the Government to futureproof our critical infrastructure. The new bridge on its own will not achieve this. We need a dual carriageway plus two bridges or four lanes available over the Cam River. This is a critical link for the north-west of Tasmania to the rest of the state and as we can see, if disrupted, causes traffic chaos well beyond what we have seen in other parts of the state. It is a major freight route. It is a vital link to health services, to education and to workplaces.

Mr President, I will work with the government of whatever colour to see this matter progressed effectively for the community and the economic welfare of the whole state.

 

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