The decision to sink an ex-navy ship off Queensland’s coast instead of Tasmania’s Skeleton Bay has been welcomed by some East Coast residents.
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St Helens local Rob Mcintyre voiced his concerns about the proposal to scuttle HMAS Tobruk off the East Coast for a number of years.
Since the announcement of Tasmania’s failed bid for the ship earlier this month, he said the community continued to celebrate the news.
“Within our community there was a lot of angst over the proposal which was only going to benefit particular people,” Mr Mcintyre said.
As an ex-fisheries inspector and having dived in Tasmania since he was a teenager, Mr Mcintyre said the environmental impacts from the wreck would outweigh any potential benefit.
“We need to be pretty careful about what we chuck in our ocean,” he said.
“Tasmania is the state that has this clean, green image …old boats rust, there’s the potential devastation when it breaks up in the water.”
Fellow East Coast resident and North East Bioregional Network president Todd Dudley said visitors came to Tasmania to explore its natural assets, rather than “attractions”.
"The East Coast doesn't need attractions we just need to look after what we have already got," he said.
“There’s talk about wanting a point of difference, but Tasmania’s main point of difference should be that it looks after its natural environment.”
Tobruk 4 Tassie project manager Peter Paulsen, who fought to bring the ship to the state, said despite some opinions against the proposal he stood by his views.
Mr Paulsen operates a small diving business and said suggestions he would benefit more than the community were unsubstantiated.
“The dive operators would get the minimum amount of money … the people who would come to dive the wreck would eat, sleep, drink, engage in the local community,” he said.
“The accommodation, meals, souvenirs… that spending goes into the community.”
Mr Paulsen said since the news broke of the federal government’s plan for the ship, he had been inundated with messages of support.
“The comments from people sharing their disappointment with me have been overwhelming actually.”
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Melissa Mobbs
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
A journalist with more than a decade of experience, Melissa Mobbs currently works as the Deputy Editor for The Examiner Newspaper in Launceston, and has a strong background in reporting on crime and the justice system. Send tips to Melissa.Mobbs@examiner.com.au or on Twitter via @melissamobbs.
