Tasmania to proceed with Marinus Link decision, with Labor given a day to agree after 'sham' briefings
But with the government in caretaker mode, the decision requires consultation with the Labor opposition, with Premier Jeremy Rockliff giving Mr Winter until 9am tomorrow morning to give his support.
The Commonwealth, however, has extended its deadline for a decision until August 2.
Mr Winter and crossbenchers were given a briefing on Tuesday, where they were taken through a presentation on the project and were first able to see thousands of hard-copy pages of information.
They were required to keep information confidential and were told the government intended to proceed with its final investment decision for Marinus Link.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff described the process as "a sham", independent candidate Peter George said it did not show "respect" to crossbenchers, and independent Kristie Johnston called it a "document dump".
Mr Winter said they had not been "properly consulted", and that the public should be able to see details in Treasury's whole-of-state business case, which the government received in May.
That business case has not been publicly released.
Mr Rockliff then sent Mr Winter a letter on Wednesday with an ultimatum for his support.
"Pending your agreement, the Tasmanian government intends to make a positive Marinus FID [final investment decision] on the basis of the Australian government's new and current offer of amendments to the Shareholder Agreement," the letter reads.
"As you are aware, not taking a positive FID at this stage will be equivalent to taking a negative FID.
The final details of Tasmania's stake in the estimated $5 billion project — designed to give the mainland increased access to Tasmania's renewable energy resources — are still not publicly known.
In 2023, the Tasmanian government negotiated its stake down from 20 per cent to 17.7 per cent, bringing it to an estimated $117 million.
The project was also reduced from two cables to one, bringing its capacity down from 1.5 gigawatts to 750 megawatts.
It also involved transmission line projects in Tasmania's north-west that have attracted community opposition due to significant clearing of native vegetation.
Labor, the Greens and independents have also questioned whether the project would result in higher power prices for residential and industrial users in Tasmania.
The government promised to release the whole-of-state business case by the end of June, for an investment decision by the end of July.
Incoming Liberal MP Bridget Archer said it was not released due to the ongoing negotiations with the Commonwealth, that it contained third-party information, and that the government had secured "a better position" since the business case was completed.
When asked if the business case should be released publicly before the investment decision was made, she said, "yes, hopefully".
Last week, Mr Rockliff said that releasing the business case publicly before the decision "would be my expectation, absolutely".
Energy Minister Nick Duigan said Labor, the Greens and independents now had access to all documentation.
Mr Winter replied to Mr Rockliff by letter to say that he would be unable to meet the Wednesday morning deadline.
Mr Winter said it was an unreasonable expectation.
"This morning, I received a letter from Jeremy Rockliff demanding that I give full endorsement to more than 1,000 pages of material and years of work within 24 hours," he said.
"Let me be clear: I won't be bullied into making a decision like that quickly.
Mr Winter said Labor supported Marinus Link in principle, but needed more time to assess information that was first presented on Tuesday.
Ms Archer said the consultation was in line with caretaker conventions, while Mr Duigan said the "new deal that has been struck with the Commonwealth" was beneficial for Tasmania.
"Our commitment to Tasmanians is Marinus will protect power prices without any additional cost to our state, and that's what we are delivering," he said.
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