Op Ed: Wharf's $188m boost keeps gateway open

Australia is a global leader in ocean protection and science.

We claim 42 per cent of the frozen continent and our work in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean has become part of Hobart’s identity.

For centuries, explorers from Australia and around the world have used Hobart as a base for their Antarctic expeditions.

And for decades the orange hull of the Aurora Australis and now RSV Nuyina on the Derwent has been a familiar sight for many Tasmanians.

More than 1,000 Tasmanians contribute to our Antarctic excellence. They are marine biologists and climate scientists improving our understanding of the Antarctic environment, dating back millions of years. They are logistics experts and mechanics ensuring our voyages leave on time; and of course, they are the wharfies, the plumbers and the medical personnel keeping our Antarctic expeditioners safe.

Most Tasmanians know someone who has been “down south”.

The Antarctic sector drives Tasmania’s economy – generating $183 million for the economy every year.

Hobart rightly calls itself the Antarctic gateway.

And since our election, the Albanese Labor Government has invested an extra half a billion dollars to cement Hobart’s future as the epicentre of global Antarctic activity and Antarctic science.

RSV Nuyina is the main lifeline to Australia’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research stations and the central platform of Australia’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research. It’s essential that it’s able to dock in Hobart.

The existing Wharf 6 is riddled with concrete cancer and is need of a significant redevelopment. The wharf is not able to support critical Antarctic cargo operations and it is not able to supply power to Nuyina while at dock.

The Nuyina is also not currently able to refuel in Hobart. Instead, the Nuyina has had to travel the 660km journey to Burnie to fill up – wasting nearly $900,000 a year and wasting days that could be spent conducting the world-leading science that we commissioned the Nuyina to do.

Today I am announcing that I have come to a deal with the Tasmanian Government to fix this.

The Albanese Labor Government will contribute $188 million alongside the Tasmanian Government to construct a new Wharf 6 in the Port of Hobart.

The new wharf will be designed to be the new home of Nuyina for the next 30 years.

And in return, the Tasmanian Government will give priority access to Macquarie Wharf 6 as the home port for RSV Nuyina for the next 30 years, continued access to existing portside facilities during the construction period, access to shoreside power, and a refuelling solution in the Port of Hobart.

This means that Hobart will remain the gateway to the Antarctic for generations of expeditioners to come.

Published in the Mercury.