Ms BADGER (Lyons) – Honourable Speaker, this report is a decade late and it is an absolute shame on this government to let it get so far and to then have the audacity to rise today and talk about the steady improvements over a decade. This report clearly shows how absolutely terrible Tasmania’s environment is actually doing. As much as this report articulates the terrible state of numerous ecosystems, it also has some absolutely tremendous recommendations – recommendations that have been called for, for many years. It is like a blueprint straight out of the Greens’ policy handbook. These are things that environmentalists have been calling for.
Recommendation 4 is particularly important in relation to Tasmania playing its global role in mitigating climate change. I spoke about this last night on the Adjournment. I might have accidentally said recommendation 14 because I was doing it off the top of my head. If I did do that, I apologise; it is recommendation 4, which is to update Tasmania’s Resource Management and Planning System (RMPS) objectives to reflect those of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) agreements. These are based on biodiversity principles, that is, incorporating the importance of intact, functioning ecosystems and rich biodiversity into all the decisions that we are currently making. It is looking at land use strategies.
I am so glad Mr Ellis has an interest in the Pedder debate. That is 57 megawatts for 242 square kilometres of otherwise carbon‑sequestering endemic peat soil. Is that the best use? There are other ways to mitigate climate change. It is not 100 per cent about renewable energy. We also need intact, functioning ecosystems. That is the balance that we need. That is what some of these recommendations are helping us to achieve.
Recommendation 10, increasing terrestrial protected areas. That is the role that Tasmania needs to be playing on the global front. We have, right here in this state, some of the most magnificent, ancient, carbon‑sequestering forests in the takayna that should be protected as part of the World Heritage area. Leaving them unprotected is neglecting the role that Tasmania has to be playing. We cannot point the fingers elsewhere if we cannot even do what we are supposed to be doing right here in Tasmania. That also includes areas like the Spero‑Wanderer Wilderness, which has so much that has been left untouched due to its wild nature. These are intact ecosystems that we do not have much of elsewhere on the island, and they need protecting.
We need to do an incredible amount of work on invasive species. I am looking forward to Budget Estimates to drill down into exactly what this government is investing. Recommendation 13 of this report is to remove protections on fallow deer. It is so obvious. You can pour all the money that you want at it, but if we cannot do the basic fundamentals like remove those ridiculous protections, we are not going to get progress at the speed that we actually need.
Recommendation 8 is also really important, and that is to improve native vegetation mapping. We currently have massive holes in some of the areas, including our wetlands, which are absolutely critical in terms of helping naturally mitigate things like the increasing rising tides and flooding that we are going to be seeing under climate change. We have to be monitoring these ecosystems so that we know what the baseline is, and so that, moving forward, we have goals and ambitions to protect and maintain them in their natural functioning system.
All of these recommendations are really good, and it is in this government’s best interest to ensure that they recommend them, implement them in full and fully resource them. That is the duty that we have, not only to future Tasmanians, but also to all future generations on this planet.
