A Shorten Labor Government will help create up to 3,900 jobs in Tasmania by committing $100 million towards Tranche Three of Tasmania’s Irrigation Scheme.
Labor’s commitment will go towards new irrigation schemes, additional water capacity, increased water delivery efficiency, and more reliability and sustainability of existing schemes in Tasmania.
Labor understands how important agriculture is to the Tasmanian economy – it adds $1.5 billion a year locally, and employs over 7000 Tasmanians.
But you can’t have a strong agriculture sector without having proper and sustainable water supply.
So Labor’s commitment to Tranche Three will help connect potential irrigation schemes in farming districts including Detention, Don, Flowerdale, Harcus, the Tamar Valley, Fingal, the Southern Midlands and Sassafras.
The Tasmanian Irrigation Scheme has been a joint investment from federal and state governments, as well as Tasmania’s farmers.
Tranches One and Two of the scheme have addressed access to reliable irrigation water in many areas of the State. Stage Three was added to Infrastructure Australia’s Priority List in February 2019 and will further expand the program.
Once fully implemented it would return an estimated $114 million each year to the agriculture sector, and Tasmania’s economy more broadly, and add 3,900 direct and indirect jobs, according to Tasmanian Irrigation.
Tranche Three will likely fund 10 schemes, including:
- 78,000 ML of water;
- 479 km of pipelines;
- Seven dams;
- 23 pump stations; and
- Four power stations.
The final make up of Tranche Three will be dependent on the outcomes of the final feasibility study.
Labor has consistently demonstrated a commitment to Tasmania, and has a strong record of investing in irrigation infrastructure in Tasmania. State and Federal Labor Governments invested $220 million into 10 critical schemes including $104m for the Midlands irrigation scheme in 2012, and $15 million to deliver the Southern Highlands Irrigation Scheme in 2013.
Labor can afford these investments because we’ve made the tough decisions to make multinationals pay their fair share and close unfair tax loopholes.
