Andrea Dawkins MP | Greens' Parks spokesperson
While the Greens welcome a belated boost to Tasmania's underfunded Parks, under the Liberals this money is about allowing for the increased commercial exploitation of public protected areas.
State Growth Minister, Matthew Groom, is overseeing the unprecedented opening up of protected areas to private developers.
It is disingenuous in the extreme for him to pretend this funding is about protecting Tasmania's world class reserves when, on his watch, management plans are being rewritten for and on behalf of private developers.
Negotiations with private developers are happening behind closed doors through the Office of the Coordinator General under a secretive EOI process.
The Tasmanian people are the last to know.
It's another form of privatisation. The only way locals will be able to enjoy some of these commercialised places will be by paying through the nose for the privilege.
Wilderness and cultural heritage values are being compromised as a direct result of the Liberals 'open for business' mantra.
The value they see in publicly owned Parks is all about the dollar.
These remarkable places were protected because of the very values the Liberals have set out to exploit and undermine.