Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader and Parks spokesperson
The Greens today proudly tabled a petition signed by nearly 2,000 people to protect Tasmania’s National Parks and Reserves from privatisation and increased commercial developments under the Liberals’ EOI process.
The 1,976 people who signed this petition represent a broad cross-section of Tasmanians who love their wilderness and are opposed to its commercialization. They recognise the EOI process is a gradual privatisation for the wealthy of public protected areas.
The petition points to the development at Halls Island in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park as failed process that shuts out the community, and would degrade wilderness values.
The Lake Malbena proposal is the thin edge of the wedge with approximately 30 other developments in the pipeline under the Liberals’ divisive and unpopular Expressions of Interest process for development in protected public lands.
The Liberals have managed to unite environmentalists, bushwalkers, fly fishers and recreational vehicle users in opposition to their EOI process. Their anger cuts across all political divides.
Tasmanians love their shared wild lands and will fight to defend them. The Liberals underestimate the determination of opponents of the EOI process, and they do so at their political peril.