Invest the billions in Tasmania

MARINUS LINK

THERE are good reasons to resist another cable across Bass Strait. Such a cable, rather than exporting power, would export Tasmanian jobs and money. Why? Because any excess power produced from our renewable hydro, solar or wind resources could be more valuably used to power new industries that would invest in infrastructure here and generate more jobs. If we send the power to the mainland, that’s where the jobs would be created and where the investment would go. The amount of money involved in a cable link would be astronomical and Tasmania would have to pay for it.

Look at Basslink, owned by a Singapore listed company. When it was proposed, the budget was $500 million. At start of construction, the cost was $800 million. By 2031, Tasmania and the Hydro will have paid about $3 billion, about six times the upfront cost. All of this would come from power consumers in Tasmania and the mainland. Marinus link, costing about $3.5 billion to set up, would, in the first 25 years, hit Tasmania for about $20 billion — for infrastructure, interest, facility fees to overseas bodies, insurance and profit margins to companies. Most would probably end up overseas.

Why pay so much on a project that would deny us so many work opportunities? And, further, none of this money would actually produce any extra power. Rather, the product would resemble a monument to inefficiency. Try to imagine how this $20 billion could be invested in Tasmania instead.

Ross Lincolne Cradoc

have lots of cheap electricity again, and the powers that be have decided the smartest thing to do is to build a giant extension cord to Melbourne. The report says the project will create up to 2350 jobs across our state and Victoria (Mercury, July 30). A tenner says that 2300 of them will be in Victoria.

The only matter that stops this madness is a shortage of cash, our fair share (whatever that might be) of $3.5 billion. A tenner says the final bill will be double that. In the meantime, if any dollars can be found for making use of this abundant electricity, why can’t it be used to create more industry and employment in Tasmania? We could start with scouring our wool clip, adding value to a product that we already export.

Kees Wierenga Kingston