With Jeremy Rockliff's self-imposed deadline for making a decision on leasing Spirit IV up tomorrow, it's time for the Premier to do the right thing, end the farce and bring Spirit IV home.
The Liberals have now been talking about leasing the Spirits since October - if they were going to sign an offer, why not just do it instead of making Tasmanians wait a month at a time for updates?
Jeremy Rockliff has already spent $1.8 million storing Spirit IV in Scotland. This is on top of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of blowouts, not to mention the Tasmanian economy missing out on $500 million worth of economic activity every year the news ships are delayed.
The TCCI has said it will be difficult to ever trust this government again after its handling of the Spirits saga, and each month this saga continues makes the issue worse.
It's beyond time the Premier brought Spirit IV home so she's safe, we can complete the local fit out and get her ready for service.
He also needs to commit to doing the same with Spirit V once she is built, and end his leasing farce once and for all.
Dean Winter MP
Labor Leader
