Under questioning from the Greens in Estimates, Tasmanian Irrigation has confirmed five breaches of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act linked to the Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme.
The committee heard the breaches occurred because the contractor repeatedly worked outside the approved permit corridor set out in the EPBC authorisation. Tasmanian Irrigation stated that the permit conditions for this project were extremely strict, which makes it even more concerning that five breaches were allowed to occur.
Tasmania Irrigation also admitted there was poor communication with the contractor when it came to the breaches. This raises serious questions about the management of Tasmanian Irrigation’s projects.
These breaches were buried in a footnote in Tasmanian Irrigation’s Annual Report, despite relating to serious threats to endangered native wildlife, including Tasmanian Devils and Spotted-tailed Quolls. It begs the question why the public was not actively told about these breaches rather than this being buried in a report.
Tasmanian Irrigation’s response to these breaches has also been hidden from clear view, placed on the Tasmania Irrigation website under a title so vague that most people could never find it. These breaches raise serious concerns about the Liberal Government’s environmental oversight of its GBEs.
These breaches are particularly troubling given Tasmanian Irrigation are about to embark on their biggest and most environmentally sensitive project yet, the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme. How can the Tasmanian community trust Tasmania Irrigation to comply with environmental conditions on their largest project when five breaches occurred on a far smaller one?
Tasmanian Irrigation must ensure compliance with environment laws and no future damage to the Tasmanian environment occurs on their projects.
