I am honoured today to officially launch the new Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) vessel, named Yula, which is the Tasmanian Aboriginal word for shearwater, or moonbird, a well-known bird in our State.
The Yula is an eight metre catamaran with the ability to operate in adverse weather conditions within Macquarie Harbour and on the Gordon River on the West Coast. It will replace the current Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) vessel, Shearwater.
The Yula will allow PWS staff to perform essential maintenance at key visitor sites within the harbour and within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area - some of which are only accessible by boat including Heritage Landing, Sir John Falls and Sarah Island.
The Yula, funded through park entry fees, will provide additional reliability and safety for PWS staff, with improved comfort for longer trips, reducing fatigue of operators and passengers.
Like the Shearwater, the new vessel is expected to support the important work of researchers, scientists and Wildcare volunteer programs, and will be available to support search and rescue operations as required.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government appreciates that our national parks and reserves support many tourism and other businesses throughout the State, particularly in our regional areas, and assets like the Yula are critical to the work that is done by our dedicated PWS staff.