TASMANIAN independent federal MPs Jacqui Lambie and Andrew Wilkie have joined forces in Canberra, ramping up pressure on the government to solve the Bass Strait transport woes. The pair joined long-term Bass Strait campaigner Peter Brohier this morning, calling on the Abbott Government to address the ''crippling'' cost of moving freight, people and vehicles across the 420 kilometre stretch of water. Mr Wilkie said Bass Strait was the most significant handbrake on the Tasmanian economy and the easiest to fix. ''We need a sensible subsidy for all passengers, vehicles and freight to remove this geographic disadvantage,'' he said. ''Yes, funding to the scheme will need to increase. ''But in the long term, Canberra will save money as Tasmanian businesses are turbo-charged and more people are employed, resulting in less need for federal handouts to Tasmania in other areas.'' Mr Brohier said the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme had fallen far too short. As it stands, the Bass Strait shipping subsidy applies only to freight that ends in Australia. Mr Brohier urged the government to expand the scheme to include all freight across Bass Strait, including goods destined for international markets after brief stopovers in Melbourne. ''It is widely understood that these omissions were the primary cause of Tasmanian dependency on mainland welfare,'' he said. ''Tasmania is being kept isolated by application of schemes that do not deliver the equivalent of even the worst road in Australia. ''In a time of limiting entitlements and budgetary constraints, the linking the National Highway across Bass Strait, as a part of national infrastructure, makes sound economic sense.'' The extension was a key recommendation of a Productivity Commission report into Tasmanian shipping and freight handed down in April. It has the full backing of the peak body representing Tasmania's mining, agricultural, manufacturing and smelting industries. Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss is yet to respond to the report.
TASMANIAN independent federal MPs Jacqui Lambie and Andrew Wilkie have joined forces in Canberra, ramping up pressure on the government to solve the Bass Strait transport woes.
The pair joined long-term Bass Strait campaigner Peter Brohier this morning, calling on the Abbott Government to address the ''crippling'' cost of moving freight, people and vehicles across the 420 kilometre stretch of water.
Mr Wilkie said Bass Strait was the most significant handbrake on the Tasmanian economy and the easiest to fix.
''We need a sensible subsidy for all passengers, vehicles and freight to remove this geographic disadvantage,'' he said.
''Yes, funding to the scheme will need to increase.
''But in the long term, Canberra will save money as Tasmanian businesses are turbo-charged and more people are employed, resulting in less need for federal handouts to Tasmania in other areas.''
Mr Brohier said the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme had fallen far too short.
As it stands, the Bass Strait shipping subsidy applies only to freight that ends in Australia.
Senator Jacqui Lambie
Mr Brohier urged the government to expand the scheme to include all freight across Bass Strait, including goods destined for international markets after brief stopovers in Melbourne.
''It is widely understood that these omissions were the primary cause of Tasmanian dependency on mainland welfare,'' he said.
''Tasmania is being kept isolated by application of schemes that do not deliver the equivalent of even the worst road in Australia.
''In a time of limiting entitlements and budgetary constraints, the linking the National Highway across Bass Strait, as a part of national infrastructure, makes sound economic sense.''
The extension was a key recommendation of a Productivity Commission report into Tasmanian shipping and freight handed down in April.
It has the full backing of the peak body representing Tasmania's mining, agricultural, manufacturing and smelting industries.
Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss is yet to respond to the report.
