Parties clash over Marinus Link, industry leaders say it must pull through

On Sunday Labor announced if elected, they would pull Tasmania out of the Marinus Link project - a move state Treasurer Michael Ferguson said would mean the end of the project.

"This will destroy jobs in Tasmania, it will destroy our capability of bringing down power bills in the future," Mr Ferguson said.

"It will destroy jobs in the Battery of the Nation project and it will drive away external third party private investment."

But Labor energy spokesperson Dean Winter held firm to their promise, and said the Australian government should pay for it.

"We believe we can execute this deal which will save Tasmanians over half a billion dollars," Mr Winter said.

"We can redirect that money to what we think Tasmania really needs which is more generation."

Under the current arrangement, the federal government has a 49 per cent share in the project, the Victorian government a 33.3 per cent share and Tasmania a 17.7 per cent share.

Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) chief executive Michael Bailey said Marinus Link must go ahead.

"Given how important this project is and the benefits it will help deliver, we also need to ensure that Tasmania would have a seat at the table," Mr Bailey said.

"You can't expect to have any input if you don't have skin in the game."

He said the TCCI supported the next Tasmanian government investing in renewable energy projects.

Marinus Link will set Tasmania up for the next 100 years. It's a transformative, once-in-a-generation project and it shouldn't become just another political football," he said.

Clean Energy Tasmania (CET) chair Ian Jones said a $20 billion worth of clean energy investment in Tasmania was underpinned by Marinus Link.

"While we accept that both major parties support Marinus Link, their policies are very different," Mr Jones said.

"The projects that are currently being considered would provide thousands of jobs, boost the economy and help drive down power prices ... we also need the extra generation to help cope with rising demand."

He said on Sunday he called for an energy policy debate between the Labor and Liberals, hosted by CET.

"After today's announcement it's now even more important that we have an opportunity to hear directly from the parties about where they stand and what they will do in Government."