The AAD’s icebreaker RSV Nuyina conducts several resupply missions to the ice each summer, but for the rest of the year it remains docked at Hobart’s Macquarie Wharf 6. Photo: Australian Antarctic Division.
The Western Australian Government is ready to discuss moving the Australian Antarctic Division’s (AAD) headquarters from Hobart to Fremantle amid its ongoing dispute with TasPorts.
Ports Minister David Michael said the state had not formally engaged with the Federal Government but they were ready to add the AAD portfolio to the list of responsibilities awaiting Fremantle Port Authority’s new CEO Jodie Ransom.
The minister’s comments were made after Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff met with Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek in Sydney last week. His visit was prompted by a leaked letter to the Premier, which raised significant concerns about the ongoing commercial dispute between the AAD and TasPorts.
Ms Plibersek warns the Premier that the “exorbitant” cost of redeveloping aging facilities at Macquarie Wharf 6, which TasPorts estimates will cost $515 million over three decades, is 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.
Despite the Commonwealth Government also signing a long-term lease to keep the AAD’s current base in Hobart, reactions to the leak were direct.
Tasmanian Opposition Leader Dean Winter said that while Premier Rockliff’s intervention on the TasPorts dispute and trip to Sydney was the right decision, he also owed an update to the island state’s critical Antarctic sector following his talks with Minister Plibersek.
“He’s already broken his promise to deliver an Antarctic precinct and now TasPorts has effectively fired the starter’s gun for a Western Australian campaign to steal our entire Antarctic sector,” said Mr Winter.
“We cannot afford to lose this sector and the jobs that go with it.”
TasPorts CEO Anthony Donald said the leak of the letter was another example of AAD and the Federal department avoiding commercial negotiations on what TasPorts believes to be a simple commercial deal.
“The costs are reflective of the detailed design works, which are specific and a bespoke request by the AAD. The level of investment is reflective of the infrastructure requirements,” he said. “We are not simply talking about reparation of the wharf structure but a bespoke design that is very specific to their needs.
“The real question given AAD’s understanding of the costs of their bespoke design requirements is what has been included in the Federal Budget. This clarity will enable a negotiation to be had in earnest.”
Mr Donald said it was also concerning to TasPorts that there had never been a representative of AAD with the delegation to negotiate, which had resulted in repeated delays.
“The provision of the lay-up wharf at Wharf 6 was in response to AAD’s urgent request for support given their failure to plan ahead,” he said. “They have invested in a new, larger state of the art vessel without planning for where it could be berthed.
“We have been very clear about our concerns for the interim wharf asset, which cannot continue to safely provide an interim solution given its deteriorating condition.
“It is misleading to attempt to compare what AAD pays today for a wharf that is end of life, to the costs of a fit for purpose bespoke design with a dedicated facility. They are two very different propositions.
“It would be a far better outcome for the project if negotiations could continue with accurate reflections of the requirements, knowledge of federal budgetary position and without leaks that contain misleading and inaccurate sums.”
TasPorts’ CEO said they had a dedicated project team in place for two years who were ready to get started as soon as the commercial terms were finalised.
