An economist's report which questioned the state government's handling of the project to build two new Bass Strait ferries has been derided as being "based on assumption and rumour".
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In a report commissioned by the Labor opposition and published on Sunday, economist Saul Eslake said the Liberals could be about to make a "most financially ill-advised" decision.
Mr Eslake was assessing the possibility of a "local" build of the new Spirit of Tasmania ferries.
In July, the state government overrode TT-Line's preference to source the new ferries from Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions, after a contract with an ailing German company was cancelled.
"Following (it would seem) intervention from the Commonwealth government, the Tasmanian government... established a 'task force' to 'explore opportunities to have the ships built in Australia'," Mr Eslake said.
He said "in Australia", likely meant the contract would be awarded to Western Australian company Austal, which would outsource much of the construction to Asia and Europe.
"The only work actually done 'in Australia' would likely be the fit-out of passenger cabins, restaurants, and other public areas," he said.
"If this company, or any other Australian company or consortium were to be awarded this work, there would appear to be a high probability that the ships would cost more, take longer to build, and/or would prove less capable and reliable than the ones which TT-Line had intended to have built in Europe."
After its publication, government infrastructure minister Michael Ferguson lashed out at the contents of the report and Labor for having it commissioned.
Mr Ferguson repeated the government's previous line that the $850 million investment had the potential to create 1500 Australian jobs.
It is a cruel hoax to be talking about Tasmanian jobs in a project that has been pushed out until 2028.
- Shane Broad
"When faced with a choice to invest around $850 million overseas, the Tasmanian Government decided to take one final opportunity to explore all our options in maximising the benefits for Tasmanian businesses and the people they employ and the families they support.
"It would be negligent of the government to not explore every opportunity for at least some of those jobs to go to Tasmanians."
Mr Ferguson said assertions made in Mr Eslake's report about the federal government forcing Premier Peter Gutwein to create the task force were "baseless", and that no decision had been made to contract Austal.
"The Eslake report is out of date already, and based on assumption and rumour."
Mr Ferguson said the government had paused the ship procurement process for six months for the task force to complete its work, which it began in August.
Labor's infrastructure spokesperson Shane Broad, however, said it was a "cruel hoax" to say there were Tasmanian jobs in a project that was delayed to 2028.
Mr Ferguson said the current ships can operate until 2028, but that the government remained committed to replacing them earlier.
"We support maximising Tasmanian content in the build of the new Spirits of Tasmania," Dr Broad said.
"We have said that all along and indeed that was what the state government promised leading into the election in 2017, and we agree with that.
"It is a cruel hoax to be talking about Tasmanian jobs in a project that has been pushed out until 2028."
In his report, Mr Eslake noted that in 2017 the government of the day concluded that "there are no Australian shipyards with the capacity to build new Spirits".
"It is not at all obvious that anything has changed in that regard over the intervening three years," Mr Eslake said.
Dr Broad said that if the government had pursued plans to build with Rauma from July, Tasmanian companies could be involved with the project as early as next year.
"We could have Tasmanian businesses fitting out a brand new ship.
"We could have AH Beard making mattresses, we could have Britton Brothers making special species veneer panels, we could have Taylor Brothers getting ready to fit out cabins.
"And we could have a tourism industry looking forward to an extra $350 million spent in the state."
The government's decision, Mr Eslake said, to explore having the Spirits built in Australia equates to $350 million that could be lost to the state each peak season.
"Each year's delay in the delivery of the replacements for the Spirits of Tasmania, compared with TT-Line's original intentions, means up to 184,200 fewer visitors to Tasmania," he said.
Mr Eslake said the decision to replace the existing Spirits was of "critical importance" to the Tasmanian economy and was arguably the largest infrastructure project in the state in nearly three decades.