On Saturday the government announced a taskforce had been established to determine how to solve the poor water quality in the Tamar River.

Labor is standing by its own plan to fix the Launceston’s combined water and sewerage network by offering projects to Australian industry superannuation funds, taking away the capital costs from TasWater.

Launceston’s combined system causes raw sewage overflows into the Tamar River and is responsible for about 30 per cent of the estuary’s pollution. TasWater last year conservatively estimated separation of the combined system could cost between $90 and $110 million.

But Treasurer Peter Gutwein slammed the Opposition’s offering of projects to industry super funds. “Labor seem to think they can mention superannuation funds and this problem magically goes away – that’s not the case,” he said.

The government plans to accelerate upgrades to water treatment plants, and has charged the newly-established Tamar Estuary Management Taskforce with finding a solution to poor water quality within six months.

Premier Will Hodgman said the government’s plan would provide a solution to the longstanding issue.

“It stacks up, it’s achievable and it won’t impact on Tasmanian consumers,” he said. 

Mr Hodgman said Labor’s plan would see costs rise.

“Superannuation businesses aren’t charities – they will expect a rate of return and it will come out of the pockets of Tasmanians,” he said.

Launceston mayor Albert van Zetten said there was a range of issues including water flow and sediment that needed to be fixed.

“If we just sort out the combined system there are still going to be issues and we won’t have the river that we should have,” he said.