Tasmania’s Premier Rockliff and Energy Minister Barnett have been forced to admit today that Marinus Link is in a financial mess which will drive up Tasmanians’ power bills.
“The Government must come clean on the extent of the mess and to dump this millstone around Tasmania’s neck.,” said Christine Milne, Bob Brown Foundation Patron.
“Tasmanians deserve the truth. Marinus Link is way over budget and way over time. Having admitted it will now not come on stream until 2029, they still refuse to tell Tasmanians exactly what the projected cost of Marinus now is. What figure is the line in the sand? It is no use to TasNetworks/Marinus Pty Ltd getting in expensive consultants to massage figures and invent ‘phases’ and ‘scenarios’. It is all to cover up the truth.”
“These same consultants said that two cables coming on stream in 2027-28 and costing between $3.1 and $3.8b was the optimal scenario and that there was a 90% certainty that these costs would not be overrun. Now it is heading towards double the cost and there is huge supply chain pressure on the cables. There is no good scenario. Project Marinus is doomed. Running to the Federal Government for a rescue package to refinance the project and to order the cables simply means Tasmanians will pay higher power bills and have fewer services as finance is diverted into this black hole,” said Christine Milne.
“Does anyone seriously think the other states won’t scream if the Federal Government rescues Tasmania when all their transmission projects are in a similar mess? After telling Tasmanians it was a fantastic project which would deliver huge economic and employment benefits to Tasmania, the truth is finally coming out. Marinus Link is a boondoggle, an unnecessary, wasteful and fraudulent project designed to invent new business for Hydro Tasmania and TasNetworks neither of which can service their debts and maintain their business without it.”
“Hydro Tas and TasNetworks were never across the technological advances that made their project redundant. Batteries have leapfrogged pumped hydro and wind farms cannot compete with Victorian projects unless the community pays for their access to that market, with new and hugely expensive transmission lines,” concluded Christine Milne.