Shouting out for fish amid road closures

ALTHOUGH some say I am disabled, I pride myself on my mobility and independence. I can drive a normal car and with my folding wheelchair I have an additional range of perhaps a kilometre although, like the Daleks, I am defeated by kerbs and steps. With my walker or “turbo Zimmer”, I have a more limited range of about 50 metres but can handle kerbs and one or two steps, but not a flight of stairs. Like many Tasmanians I enjoy a piece of nice fresh fish for dinner.

As I can no longer get into my dinghy I can no longer go and catch a fish. I will not buy the “unfresh” stuff offered by the major supermarkets and on several occasions during the summer when I attempted to go to the fish punts on the wharf the road was closed at the Constitution Dock Bridge. Apparently TasPorts closes the wharf road every time a cruise ship visits: 100 days a year!

There is extremely limited parking in Sullivans Cove, but on the first two occasions, I found a spot and wheelchaired around to the punts. But the steps and ramps meant I could not get into Mako or close to the other punts. I had to have a shouted conversation with the vendors and get spectators to relay my money and the fish. Quite an embarrassing experience. The distance from the carpark to the punts was too far for my turbo Zimmer. I have spoken to a couple of fish punt proprietors and they say their sales plummet whenever a cruise ship visits. Acquaintances with businesses in Hunter St report similar declines. Why is TasPorts discriminating against me and everyone else who enjoys a piece of fresh fish? Why is TasPorts discriminating against the small businesses in Sullivans Cove?