The Halls Island deal has been a dud and reeked of secrecy from day dot. The latest lease extension and circumstances it was conducted under is yet another shameful chapter in the saga.
On April 1st, the government told media the Acting Minister for Parks was seeking advice on extending the exclusive lease over Halls Island. But now we know the decision had already been made at that point, with a letter confirming the lease variation clearly and dated March 31st now published on the NRE website.
Why wasn’t the Acting Minister upfront with Tasmanians? Why didn’t she say the lease had been renewed and explain why? It’s a real concern to see the government being dishonest about such basic facts.
Why did the Acting Parks Minister and Minister for the Environment extend an exclusive lease over public protected land when the proponent is in liquidation, has neglected to pay lease fees in the past, has not provided adequate assessment material to get his own proposal off the ground, and has betrayed the family who trusted him to take on the heritage listed halls hut?
The reckless precedent this sets for developers across the state, but particularly in our National Parks and World Heriatge Area, is straight up dangerous.
For 12 years the Lake Malbena proposal has been the thin edge of the wedge for private tourism developments in the Wilderness World Heritage Area – 5000 hectares of wilderness quality landscape would be degraded by the project.
At the core of this issue is the Liberals stealth privatisation of public, protected land. The Minister’s shamefully inappropriate behaviour and decision to extend the lease should sound an alarm to all Tasmanians – indeed all people around the globe, who care about our wild places. The Liberals will let anyone take our public land, at any cost, and the public will be the last to know about it.
This whole saga is beyond a joke. Given the wide concern about this situation from across the political spectrum, the Greens will now be considering our options as to how the matter might be addressed by the Parliament.
