Mr BAYLEY question to MINISTER for HOUSING and PLANNING, Mr ELLIS
The State of the Environment report is already a decade overdue. Despite being legally required every five years, your government failed to commission the report on the state’s environmental health until forced to by political and legal pressure. The latest delay, announced yesterday, is a symptom of chronic under‑resourcing by this government and a fundamental disregard of your environmental responsibilities.
The act says that you can hold off public release of this report for 15 sitting days before tabling it. This could mean Tasmanians would not see the report until the end of the year. Given your past form, including the months‑long delay to release the Murrihy report, this is what we fear you will do.
This latest delay comes on top of a decade‑long wait. Will you commit to tabling the State of the Environment Report on the first sitting day after you receive it, and will you commit to adequately funding the management actions that it recommends in this year’s budget?
ANSWER
Honourable Speaker, The Tasmanian government’s 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future outlines our commitment to protecting our state’s much-loved natural environment. The State of the Environment Report is an important means of documenting baseline environmental data, trends and risks across Tasmania.
The Tasmanian government had originally tasked the Tasmanian Planning Commission with producing a new State of the Environment Report by June 2024. The commission, which is independent, has requested an extension of time to undertake quality assurance processes and to finalise the report.
I have issued the Tasmanian Planning Commission with a new direction under section 7 of the Tasmanian Planning Commission Act to produce a new State of the Environment Report by the end of August 2024 – a modest delay. It remains important that the State of the Environment Report be produced by an independent body at arm’s length from government and that pre-eminent independent body is the commission. Ultimately, we will consider their findings and work through any recommendations.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION
Mr BAYLEY – A supplementary question, Speaker.
The SPEAKER – I will hear the supplementary question.
Mr BAYLEY – The minister just told us everything we knew already because it was in his media release. The question was very clearly: do you commit to releasing it on the first sitting day after you receive it so we can see it before the budget?
Madam SPEAKER – You do not need to make the argument for the supplementary. The supplementary holds because it was the original question. I will draw the minister to the actual question.
Mr ELLIS – I am glad that the Greens read my media release, but ultimately, we will consider the findings and then we will release them in due course.
