Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek look at an image of the RSV Nuyina, which is set to keep its home in the Port of Hobart. Photo: Facebook.
The Federal Government will contribute $188 million over four years to construct a new Macquarie Wharf 6 in the Port of Hobart, securing the Australian Antarctic Program’s (AAP) home in Tasmania.
Recently the Tasmanian Government signed an agreement with the Commonwealth to have this more fit-for-purpose docking site for Australia’s icebreaker – RSV Nuyina. This ship is the main lifeline to the nation’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research stations and a central platform of Australia’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research.
In June the Western Australian Ports Minister David Michael said his government was ready to discuss moving the Australian Antarctic Division’s (AAD) headquarters from Hobart to Fremantle amid its ongoing dispute with TasPorts. Despite the claim, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently announced the island state will remain Australia’s gateway to Antarctica – “as it should be”.
“This is an investment in Hobart, an investment in Tasmania and an investment in the future of Australian science.”
It’s been a turbulent year for the AAD, having endured tough industrial negotiations with port workers and a Senate inquiry tasked with investigating why it considered pursuing $25 million in budget cuts.
However the division can rest easy now with the RSV Nuyina holding priority access to Macquarie Wharf 6 over the next three decades, and continued access to existing portside facilities during construction.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Tasmanian Government would manage the development of Wharf 6 from when it begins next year. He noted that the agreement would also deliver appropriate refuelling infrastructure for the Nuyina and other vessels coming into Hobart.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Antarctic sector drew $180 million into Tasmania each year, which was “why Western Australia has been trying to pinch it from us”. Photo: Facebook.
Alongside the Commonwealth agreement, Premier Rockliff launched a new ‘Antarctic Gateway Campaign’, with Tasmanian representatives taking part in the Council of Operators and Managers of National Antarctic Programs conference and Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research Open Science Conference.
It aims to identify growth areas in the Tasmanian Antarctic sector, while targeting education, science, research, logistics supply, maritime services, tourism and hospitality opportunities, as well as explore the connections of a century of Antarctic learnings and provisions to the evolving international space sector.
Premier Rockliff said the campaign included opportunities to promote the Antarctic Gateway to global audiences, as well as build relationships, partnerships, trade and investment opportunities with countries aligned to the Antarctic Treaty.
“While in Seattle, I strongly advocated for the US icebreaker, Polar Star and other US vessels, to visit Tasmania more frequently, and our government will continue to target more international opportunities to grow this sector as part of the Antarctic Gateway Campaign.”
Federal Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek welcomed the new agreement with Tasmania’s government, which she called “absolutely fantastic” for the AAD.
“I know how important being Australia’s gateway to Antarctica is to Tasmania,” said Ms Plibersek.
“The Antarctic and Southern Ocean sector employs nearly 1000 people in Tasmania and contributes more than $183 million each year to the Tasmanian economy.”
It was Ms Plibersek who prompted the WA Ports Minister’s comments in June, after a letter to Premier Rockliff was leaked raising significant concerns about the ongoing commercial dispute between the AAD and TasPorts.
Ms Plibersek also warned the Premier in this letter that the “exorbitant” cost of redeveloping aging facilities at Macquarie Wharf 6, which TasPorts estimated to cost $515 million over three decades, was putting the program’s base in Hobart at risk.
The ABC also reported that Commonwealth funding for the promised $240 million redevelopment of the Macquarie Point precinct rests upon the completion of these upgrades.
