Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – Listen to this, then, Mr Behrakis.
Honourable Speaker, I rise tonight to again talk about Kunanyi/Mount Wellington, this time in celebration of the vote of the Hobart City Council and its rejection of a private commercial zip line proposal from The Springs to Strickland Falls. Last week on Adjournment I spoke of my disappointment at the recommendation of the planning officer that the development be approved. This was despite non-compliant reports and the proposal being passed off as a transport depot, not the adventure tourism development it clearly is as described in the very first line of the development application.
I also spoke about my frustration, verging on anger, at another private commercial development detested by Aboriginal people and on an acknowledged Aboriginal cultural landscape of immense spiritual value that was assessed against the flawed Aboriginal Heritage Act.
Over three and a half years ago the government came into this place and acknowledged that the act does not work. Here we are again, another destructive development recommended to be waved through against an ineffective act. To add insult to injury, the Aboriginal Heritage Assessment Report did not even comply with the government’s own guidelines for the surveys, consultation and authoring of such a report. This is a deep shame on you on the government benches. I heard the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs update the House on progress on a new act in her state of the state speech. Aboriginal heritage needs action, not words. With the Development Assessment Panel, State Coastal Policy, and Stony Rise bills, you have demonstrated that you can act when it is in the interests of developers. Get on with it for Aboriginal people.
I congratulate the community for again standing up to defend Kunanyi: 828 representations were received with them, in the words of the planner’s report, almost exclusively opposed to the proposal. A small group of community members banded together some time ago to meet to discuss the proposal and coordinate the response. They established the alliance, Friends of the Mountain, and engaged strongly in the council process.
Sadly, I missed their deputations to the Hobart City Council Planning Committee last night, but I understand they were deep, passionate, compelling and clearly influential. I will not name names and identify groups, but I acknowledge here and now the incredible efforts of individuals and organisations in analysing the development application, interpreting it against the management plan and planning scheme, engaging and mobilising people, and ultimately convincing councillors to vote the way they did.
Congratulations and thank you. Kunanyi is lucky to have such a dedicated, passionate cohort of lovers willing to drop everything and stand up to advocate for the values of the mountain. Hobartians are truly blessed to have Kunanyi as a backdrop to our city, for the beauty, the amenity, the economic drive, and the natural and cultural heritage values. Kunanyi is connected to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area by protected lands. What we see from Nipaluna is the spectacular and accessible eastern face of a conservation landscape that stretches from Fern Tree to the very far south‑west coast. Kunanyi is lucky to have this cohort.
The anti-environmentalists in the Liberal Party are coming, with Mr Abetz’s so-called ‘strategic review’ that will look at the tenure and governance of the mountain. It is transparently clear, likely reinforced by this latest decision, that the strategy of the review is to loosen their protections, clear the path and pave the way for private commercial development on Kunanyi. This government has form in changing long‑standing rules in the way parks and reserves are managed to allow for private commercial developments that cut across both credible values management and community sentiment. We will need you to again stand up to Mr Abetz and those keen to capitalise on undeveloped public land for their own personal, commercial gain.
For now, thank you. I acknowledge and thank those councillors who voted following deep thought and their own analysis with conscience and in line with community expectations. This decision is a win for community and a planning process that allows for proper community engagement, community representations and a decision in the community interest. It was a decision that went against the incorrect advice of the council’s planners. It also highlights the importance of merit‑based appeal. The proponent has recourse. He has the right to appeal ‑ a right unsuccessfully exercised by the Mount Wellington Cableway Company when it too was rejected by councillors, this time in line with planners’ advice.
This council decision is a good decision made in the face of a deficient application and bad planning advice. It was made by councillors but it was driven by people. To you all, congratulations, well done and thank you.
