Project offers little for Tasmanians

THE only cheerleaders for the ‘Marinus Project’ and TasNetworks’ vast new high voltage overhead transmission grid, are either in politics or in the corporate sector.

This is logical, as they are the only ones who stand to benefit – financially, politically or both. Unfortunately, when ordinary communities like ours are bullied by the state-corporate sector to pay the true costs of corruptly planned infrastructure, we, the people, are forced to ask a simple question: ‘what’s in it for us?’.

Sadly, despite the political spin and corporate PR on climate, energy and jobs, we the people find there are no genuine policy settings in place that do anything but serve corporate investors’ interests – and utterly fail on climate, energy and jobs.

If your correspondent, Mervin Reed, a political and corporate insider, ever asks what Tasmanians get from Marinus and TasNet’s new grid, I and a growing number in the North-West will be happy to share a beer with him and explain – Marinus is a con, and Tasmanians are the suckers who pay for it. Ben Marshall Loongana