King Island farm groups and the peak agricultural body TasFarmers have been calling for drought shipping support from the State Government to de-stock the island and bring in fodder since January.
Stakeholders have asked for weeks why the government-owned vessel John Duigan has been sitting idle and not working at capacity. They are also asking why freight and port charges have not been reduced or put on a temporary hold and why TasPort regulations restrict the times when ships can be in port when it is critical to expedite de-stocking and move inbound fodder in a time of emergency.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff responded late last week and announced that the government will support Bass Island Line to provide extra sailings for King Island as support for drought-impacted residents and farmers of King Island.
“The Tasmanian Government will support Bass Island Line to operate a second sailing a week between Devonport and Grassy, up from once per week. This will commence from March 25 to May 19 with a maximum of eight second sailings to be supported,” Mr Rockliff said.
TasFarmers called on the government to take immediate action to increase shipping services to and from drought-affected King Island.
“The current drought on King Island is the worst the island has seen since the 1970s and without urgent action now to allow producers to de-stock land and bring in supplementary feed, the islands’ producers of livestock are facing a significant animal welfare challenge over the coming months,” a TasFarmers spokesperson said.
The privately owned Eastern Line Shipping has been running two ships a week since mid-February.
“Eastern Line Shipping is committed to the farmers of King Island in this time of drought,” Eastern Line Shipping CEO Warren Dick stated in February.
During a recent visit to King Island, TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman said the difference between producers on King Island and other drought affected regions of Tasmania is that they are hamstrung in taking animals off the island as a result of insufficient shipping services.
“This is not the result of the Bass Island Line vessel operating at capacity, but rather the unwillingness of TasPorts to schedule extra sailings.
“As a taxpayer-funded vessel, we call on the Tasmanian Government to step in and take action now to direct its GBE TasPorts to at least double if not triple the number of sailings currently scheduled.”
TasPorts CEO Anthony Donald told the Courier in a statement at the end of February that: “…over the past six weeks (January-February) BIL added four extra return sailings to accommodate increased bookings of livestock (cattle) exports. This included a dedicated bulk hay and cattle voyage on February 24-25. BIL remains on standby to provide additional shipping assistance and for the month of March, two extra return voyages are already scheduled.”