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'A bridge too far north': Why Launceston feels utterly betrayed

11 0
10.05.2026

It is a familiar scene: a government politician stands in Launceston, speaks to the gathered press pack, and promises a transformative infrastructure project to win votes. Then, the moment the votes are counted and the sleek ministerial cars are allocated, the amnesia sets in.

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The "internal review" of the long-promised second Tamar River bridge is getting sold as a bureaucratic delay. However, many of The Examiner's readers see it as a middle finger to every Launceston resident. For several years, this project has been the carrot dangled in front of Northern voters. Now, Infrastructure Minister Kerry Vincent has said the quiet bit out loud: the bridge is "not an immediate priority."

Many of our readers translate that to: "We've been played."

The government would point to several big-money projects in recent years, most prominent among them the $650 million redevelopment of the LGH, the $130 million upgrade of UTAS Stadium and the $62 million indoor sports facility in Mowbray. But our readers say that is small fry compared to the investment elsewhere.

Our readers' consensus is that this latest development, or lack thereof, is another vague promise, and these planning reports will never see the........

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