The state government will place the Elizabeth Street Pier on the market which has drawn criticism from Labor and the Greens due to the lack of community consultation over the move.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The government owns 91 per cent of the asset which was transferred to them from the Hobart Ports Corporation in 2005.
Treasurer Peter Gutwein said the government had no interest in owning a property which included serviced apartments, a conference centre and hospitality venues.
"We sell property that is not fit-for-purpose or that we don't need at the time," he said.
"There are usually hundreds of property sales over the course of a year."
Mr Gutwein would not say what the government hoped to get for the sale other than to achieve its market value.
He said he hoped the sale process would be completed by mid-next year.
Mr Gutwein said sale proceeds would be funneled into its planned rejuvenation of Macquarie Point and the removal of a wastewater treatment plant in conjunction with TasWater.
Labor infrastructure spokesman David O’Byrne said the government had promised it would no privatise public assets during this year's election campaign.
"They've had four-and-a-half years on inaction on Macquarie Point and now they are flogging off public assets to pay for any development," he said.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said there should have been a conversation with the Tasmanian community before the decision to sell was made.
