Lake Malbena appeal is still live & we’re still kicking

The Wilderness Society Tasmania today made clear that reports that the Lake Malbena proposal can now proceed are jumping the gun. 

“The appeal remains live before the Tribunal and there are 14 days for the Council to file draft conditions for the proposal and 14 days for the parties to respond.  There are appeal rights from a Tribunal decision, which we are currently considering” said Tom Allen for the Wilderness Society.

“We won on the government’s jurisdictional gambit and are pleased that the Tribunal has made clear that the Land Use and Planning Act does apply to reserve land. The Tribunal took a narrow view in interpreting planning law, rather than assessing the proposal in terms of the impacts it would have on wilderness. 

“We have a case before the Federal Court and we’re waiting for the decision, so we’re yet to see whether this project needs approval under the EPBC Act.  

“We wholeheartedly support ‘nature tourism’ but we just want prospective tourism operators to buy their own land, not to pinch the public’s for private profit, secretly sign lease and licence agreements with the government and exclude everyone else from places they’ve been visiting - which Tasmania’s tourism EOI process in a nutshell.

“Lake Malbena represents a land-grab for private profit that tourism operators are greedily snapping up, against the public interest, across the country, which is one of the reasons the Lake Malbena case is so important. 

“The other critical reason is because the Lake Malbena case could be the last time the public gets to consider a development proposal in a national park. Under the government’s final state-wide planning scheme, developments in parks and reserves will bypass local councils and the communities they represent, which is as scary as it is undemocratic,” said Mr Allen. 

“Lake Malbena: What happened? Why? And what’s next?” - There will be a public information session at Wild Island on Wednesday, October 30, at 6pm.