Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – I rise tonight to talk about kunanyi, more recently and sometimes known as Mount Wellington. kunanyi is an incredible Aboriginal cultural landscape. It has stories and song lines that have been in existence since time began. Its organ pipes and other rock features are incredible geo-heritage that is officially protected. It has really important European cultural heritage. It has visual amenity values; it has visitor amenity values in walking tracks and mountain bike tracks. It provides incredible habitat for threatened, endangered and much‑loved species, and it protects our water catchments. It is wild and free. It is a wonder that is the backdrop of our city. It is what makes nipaluna/Hobart so special, and it is incredibly accessible.
That is why people love it and that is why people have fought to protect it for so many years, including the volunteers that two members in this House have just celebrated. Volunteers have used their own time to stand up to protect that place from inappropriate development. It is also why people are engaging so strongly in the Wellington Park Trust Statutory Management Plan. The trust is working through a new values statement for the park and also developing a new statutory management plan.
It is also why so many people for so long have opposed a cable car. The cable car that was defeated a couple of years ago was the eighth proposal since 1905. Let me read from the Wellington Park Trust’s historical notes. In 1905 they say –
The first application proposal made for an aerial tramway from Cascades to the summit (in the following 100 years at least seven applications for a similar cable car concept would be made, all strongly protested by citizens of Hobart). As a result, in 1906, much of the eastern face of Mount Wellington was declared a public park by an Act of Parliament invested in the Hobart City Council. A high proportion of timber-getting activities ceased. [TBC]
It is a much‑cherished place and that is why so many people love it. I get to my feet today to talk about today’s announcement from the government, led, I might say, by the Minister for Business, Industry and Resources, not the Minister for Parks, at what looks like a complete stitch‑up to review access to the mountain, to look at the mountain and point towards another cable car proposal as being a solution to all of the problems that face that mountain.
Despite the fact that we have just had two elections, including an upper House election that included some of the areas that are most connected to kunanyi/Mount Wellington – Ferntree and South Hobart, which are communities that have stood strong and opposed the cable car project – this review did not feature in the 2030 Strong Plan. I do not know whether this means that this is now a 2030 extra strong plan, but it is certainly a real problem and there is a lot of scepticism out there in the community.
It is a government‑led review. It is not an independent review. The government itself says that it is going to be led by the Department of State Growth. It does not take much to look at the Department of State Growth website to see that they are champions of a cable car:
A cable car project in kunanyi/Mount Wellington Park has the potential to support significant investment in the state and to create new jobs in both its construction and operation phases.
I can accept that people might have an open mind about this process. I note that the mayor this morning said that she was cautiously optimistic. But over the course of a single day, this announcement has basically turned into a farce – noting that the terms of reference are yet to be released. The answers to my questions this morning from the Premier that a range of people were spoken to; a range of people were consulted, largely tourism industry bodies and tourism representatives, and the Mount Wellington Cableway Company itself.
Attempts were apparently made to talk to Aboriginal groups; attempts were made to talk to other councils. How long has this thought bubble been in place? If we had any doubt that this was going to be a credible and genuine process, I need only quote from a Facebook post from the member for Clark, Mr Behrakis, who says, in a very well‑designed tile:
We know there is a better way to use our mountain
There is a cute little cable car emoji. Then:
Today we are launching a review of Mount Wellington.
This is just an absolute stitch‑up. How did we get here? Like I say, this is the ninth cable car proposal opposed by locals and opposed by the Aboriginal community. The eighth cable car proposal went down in a screaming heap.
It was rejected by the Hobart City Council after years of criticism from the Mount Wellington Cableway Company that it was not getting a fair hearing. It appealed the Hobart City Council’s decision. It immediately downsized the proposal and went to the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal. I spent three weeks of my life watching those hearings. I will not get those three weeks back, but I do not regret them because what I saw was a systematic demolition of the cable car company’s arguments as to why this cable car should go ahead. Ultimately it was rejected comprehensively on 18 grounds, and I quote from the decision –
The proposal failed to meet standards in the scheme or the management plan in respect to noise, emissions, visual impact, effects on elements of geo-heritage and effects on biodiversity. The proposed Pinnacle Centre, the cable way and the tower on the escarpment above the organ pipes would adversely impact visual values and visual character. As a result, the decision of the council to refuse a permit was affirmed.
It reminds me of the Premier’s quote from his State of the State address that he would seek to support the development of a cable car on kunanyi, and it is very clear to us that this process is exactly that support. What is at risk here? Not only the values of the mountain are at risk, but another 10 wasted years of genuine solutions to the challenges that are facing the mountain and a waste of the state service’s resources. As part of the terms of reference, I call on the government to unequivocally rule out a cable car on the mountain.
I call on the government to unequivocally rule out a cable car on the mountain.
