One of Tasmania’s biggest exporters has warned a decrease in Bass Strait shipping subsidies could affect future investment in the state.
Paper giant Norske Skog has given evidence at a Productivity Commission inquiry into Tasmanian shipping and freight.
The commission has released a draft report, recommending an overhaul of Tasmania’s Freight Equalisation Scheme, a federal subsidy which helps cover the costs of freight transport across Bass Strait.
Norske Skog’s general manager Rod Bender has told the inquiry that the draft report indicates businesses are over-compensated by 33 per cent as a result of the scheme.
But he says Norske Skog is, in fact, under-compensated by 27 per cent.
Mr Bender says the scheme has allowed significant investment in Norske Skog’s Boyer mill near New Norfolk.
He has questioned whether that could continue without it and whether doing business in Tasmania would be less viable.
Click here to listen to Rod Bender’s Interview on ABC Rural
