June 2009 Cover Story

Central Coast Business Review (CCBR) has learned that the Adelaide has now been demilitarised by the Defence Materiel Organisation and has been ready to hand over to the State Government for some months. However, now the cost to sink the ship has substantially escalated to $2.9 million over what had been originally estimated by both Governments.

The question is now, who will pay the extra cost? Will the Rudd Government pick up the tab as part of its Nation Building initiatives or will the Adelaide be taken out to sea and scuttled? CCBR has learned that the Federal Government has said no to any extra cost and the NSW Government has no intention of committing any funds, in spite of all the announcements before the last State and Federal Elections.

In March 2007, before tourism operators, sundry dignitaries and the all important media scrum, Member for The Entrance, Grant McBride and Member for Robertson, Jim Lloyd congratulated each other for their efforts in winning the Adelaide for the Central Coast. At that point it appeared that nothing was in the way of an economic dream becoming a reality. It was simply a case of working through the usual red tape associated with such a project and HMAS Adelaide would be sunk off Terrigal in June 2008. However, that date was soon extended to October 2008. Now we have no date!

Meanwhile a number of local dive operators are gearing up for the arrival of the Adelaide and have already spent tens of thousands of dollars to have their businesses ready to receive the expected divers. And it doesn’t stop at the dive operators. Terrigal hotels and motels are also gearing up. In fact, one ice-creamery has already named an ice-cream ‘The Adelaide’.
Dive site would boost tourism

In June 2006, CCBR published a story setting out how the former HMAS Brisbane dive-site at Maloolaba had boosted their economy. Terrigal stands to win an even bigger share of the dive market because it is so close to Sydney and would be a major attraction for international visitors who travel the world diving on wrecks of all descriptions. A dive site off Terrigal would be a huge boost to the region’s tourism industry.

The Central Coast has been bidding for a dive wreck since the Navy started phasing out their ageing guided missile frigates.
In 2006, after much prevaricating by the NSW Government, the Central Coast lost a bid for the HMAS Canberra to be sunk off Terrigal. The Federal Government did a deal with the Victorian Government, funding the cost of the sinking of the Canberra which is reported to have cost over $10 million to sink.

It was the second time that the Central Coast had lost out after the Federal Government in 2002 gifted the HMAS Brisbane to the Queensland Government which had flatly refused to cover the costs of sinking. Of course, in 2009 there are a different set of circumstances. The Federal Government is now in the hands of the ALP whereas previously the Howard Liberal Government was prepared to support regional economic initiatives, even in Labor controlled states.

Right now no-one knows who will pay the extra cost and we are at a critical point where the Navy will scuttle it at sea to get rid of it. Of course, underestimating project costs has been a constant political stunt, if not a measure of this Government’s incompetence, so no-one should be surprised that the tender to prepare HMAS Adelaide for sinking is way over what was estimated.

With rising unemployment on the Central Coast and dive-sites proving to be strong tourism assets that bring considerable economic benefits (and that means employment), it is puzzling that the Rudd Government doesn’t see this project as a Nation Building Project.

Meanwhile, Federal Member for Robertson, Belinda Neal, announced in mid-May that the Federal Government would fund a Central Coast Marine Discovery Centre at Terrigal in a collaboration between the University of Newcastle’s Central Coast Campus and the Community Environment Network.

In an interview with Scott Levi on Local ABC 92.5FM, Associate Professor Bill Gladstone – who heads up the School of Environment and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Information Technology at the Central Coast Campus – said it will be a “field study location for students” and commented that the HMAS Adelaide dive site would be a very valuable part of the Centre’s studies.

Read CCBR's July 2006 article on how the Mooloolaba economy benefited from the HMAS Brisbane dive site here.

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