THE Tasmanian Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has heard testimony from former TT Line chairman Mike Grainger and soon-to-retire CEO Bernard Dwyer that reveals new depths of friction with the state government and TasPorts.
Mr Grainger yesterday [8 October] told the PAC inquiry into cost overruns and delays with the new Spirit of Tasmania ropaxes and associated infrastructure that even before the latest problems the price of the Finnish-built ferries had escalated by $40 million by the time a taskforce, established by previous premier Peter Gutwein in 2020 to look at home-grown alternatives, reported.
Mr Grainger said he had objected strongly to the government over-ruling the TT Line’s board recommendation to contract builder Rauma Marine Constructions.
“I voiced my serious concerns to the former premier based on my global maritime experience, and suggested the taskforce would not achieve anything over and above what we already knew,” Mr Grainger said. “The taskforce achieved next to nothing, in my opinion, and can only be described as a total waste of time and money.”
With regard to more recent events Mr Grainger said at the time the government in early August directed TT Line and TasPorts to use the existing East Devonport Berth No.1as a temporary terminal for the new vessels, given extensive delays to completion of the new terminal at No.3, TT Line had made clear its “serious safety concerns”.
“It seemed as though TasPorts were not so concerned. Our concerns were relayed to the government in terms of ‘we’ve already had two incidents, serious incidents, why would we put a ship that’s longer, wider and deeper into the same position’.”
The PAC heard Mr Grainger describe TT-Line’s relationship with its fellow GBE as “challenging”.
“TasPorts has some form and we’ve learned the hard way,” he said. “I think we expected the relationship and the project to be far more stable than what it turned out to be.”
Mr Grainger, who had been TT Line chairman since 2013, on 15 August was invited by shareholding ministers Michael Ferguson and Eric Abetz to resign, or be sacked.
Mr Dwyer, who will leave at the end of his current contract next month, told the PAC he could not say when the ships would reach Tasmania as there were still a number of uncertainties, including where the ships would first be located. TT Line was considering Singapore, or “anywhere where it’s cheaper than Hobart”, as TasPorts’ gazetted fees were $8000 a day.
He said his decision to leave was driven by the breakdown in the relationship with the government who still put the blame on the permanent berth delays on TT-Line.
“That sort of made it pretty easy for me to make my decision; devastated to make that decision, of course,” he said.
