Coalition ignored experts, waved through Tasmanian development, including helipad
August 2018
The Morrison government waved through approval for a luxury tourist development and helipad in the pristine Tasmanian wilderness despite three official expert bodies lashing the proposal or calling for it to be rejected, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Days after Melissa Price became Environment Minister in August, the government approved the highly contentious proposed luxury camping resort and helicopter landing pad at Halls Island, in Tasmania’s Walls of Jerusalem National Park.
According to the Nine newspapers, the minister’s delegate, senior department official James Barker, determined that the proposal was unlikely to significantly impact a matter of national environmental importance and did not require federal assessment or approval. Ms Price was advised of the ruling.
However documents obtained by the Wilderness Society under freedom of information laws show that decision contradicted the advice of three government-appointed expert bodies.
The Australian Heritage Council, the federal government’s principal adviser on heritage matters, said “the cumulative impact on world heritage and natural heritage values would be considerable”.
The National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council, which provides advice on the Tasmanian world heritage area to the state and federal governments, told the department it “does not support this project”.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council, which advises the state government, said the development should not proceed because it was close to a rare heritage site that was only recently rediscovered.
A 30-year veteran of the mainstream media, Liz was the editor of MWMuntil June 2021. Liz began her career in journalism in 1990 and worked at The Age newspaper for two 10-year stints. She also worked at The Guardian newspaper in London for more than seven years. A former professional tennis player who represented Australia in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Liz has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Letters (Hons).