In Parliament today, Will Hodgman failed to explain how he would fix coastal erosion that could derail the Government's commitment to build the North West Coastal Pathway and potentially undermine the Bass Highway.
Labor Member for Braddon, Anita Dow, said Will Hodgman was looking to siphon money from the entire North West Coastal Pathway project to pay for coastal erosion.
"In 2017 Will Hodgman announced funding for the North West Coastal Pathway between Cooee and Wynyard. Two years later this important community infrastructure project has stalled," Ms Dow said.
"The Government has suggested funding allocated to other segments of the coastal pathway project could be reallocated to addressing the erosion between Cooee and Wynyard. This is not what this funding was for. The North West Coastal Pathway funding must be quarantined from being spent to fix the erosion.
"Coastal erosion has the potential to undermine the North West Coastal Pathway and the Bass Highway.
"While the Government does nothing the Burnie City and Waratah Wynyard councils are facing an $11 million bill to remediate coastal erosion alongside the State Government's disused rail corridor and Bass Highway.
"It's not fair and reasonable that councils should pay the price for the Government's inaction.
"This is yet another display of the Government's budget mismanagement and another delay in the delivery of promised infrastructure projects by the Liberals. Communities in Tasmania's North West deserve serious investment in infrastructure and this project has strong community support.
"The Government must commit to releasing the coastal erosion report, cover the cost of immediate and future erosion and standby its commitment to build the North West Coastal Pathway."
Anita Dow MP
Labor Member for Braddon
