Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Planning spokesperson
Tasmanians who care about their democratic rights and protecting this island will be angry, but not surprised, at the Liberals’ plan to rush their divisive Major Projects legislation through Parliament.
The community has always known the Liberals' intent was to steamroll through this planning law workaround so normal approval processes can be dodged for controversial projects.
Shamefully, Planning Minister Roger Jaensch pushed through a shoddy consultation process for this massive planning Bill in the middle of COVID-19 restrictions. That so-called consultation was always just a box to tick in the Liberal Government’s continued drive to undermine our state's planning system in the interests of big corporate developers.
Minister Jaensch is being deceitful when he says Tasmania needs a Major Projects Bill for the COVID-19 recovery. The Premier has already made it clear that we need smaller-scale builds to help the state’s economy recover.
It won’t be Tasmania or its people who benefit from the proposed Major Projects legislation, it will be big businesses. They are baying for government to rush the legislation so they can bypass the proper assessment processes Tasmania has always had to check the costs to community, environment and public resources of all developments.
Our successful recovery from COVID-19 requires we prioritise developments that sustain the community and our environment into the future. Tasmanian communities deserve better than the Major Projects Bill.