Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader and Member for Clark
The Greens will always support a wild kunanyi. We were proud to table the Cable Car (Kunanyi/Mount Wellington) Facilitation Repeal Bill 2021 and the Land Use Planning and Approvals Amendment (Wellington Park Management Trust Veto) Bill 2021 in Parliament today
Our Cable Car (Kunanyi/Mount Wellington) Facilitation Repeal Bill would prevent the Liberals’ proposed privatisation of the pinnacle and keep kunanyi in public hands.
The Liberals’ Facilitation Act allowed a planning application for a cable car on kunanyi to be lodged and assessed without landowner (Hobart City Council) consent. It also allows the cable car proponent to access areas of the Park for assessment investigations in relation to a planning application, and allows the government to acquire public land for use in a commercial cable car project. It’s a private developer facilitation and privatisation legislation; nothing more, nothing less, really.
Since it was enacted with Labor support, it has been used by the Mount Wellington Cableway Company three times. In February 2019 to access land adjacent to Wellington Park to undertake site investigations, in March 2019 to access Wellington Park to undertake site investigations and in June 2019 to lodge a planning application without landowner consent.
The Land Use Planning and Approvals Amendment (Wellington Park Management Trust Veto) Bill 2021 is simple and elegant. It reinstates the Wellington Park Trust’s veto powers for developments within the Park, removed in 2013 by the Liberals in Opposition and supported by Labor.
Kunanyi is not only a public treasure, it’s a place of deep and timeless cultural significance to the palawa pakana people.
There is no place for this destructive cable car proposal, or the privatisation of the pinnacle, on kunanyi.
The Greens also today submitted their representation on the proposed cable car to Hobart City Council. It can be found here - https://tasmps.greens.org.au/submission/kunanyimount-wellington-cable-car