Toothless tiger

Chris Harries

Essentially, the truth is that environment has never been a priority for any Tasmanian government. Except for a very short period in the 1970s when Tasmania got its first Environment Department – it had 11 staff back then – environment has ever since been mangled and scattered and shattered and all the discreet little bits shoved into various other agencies. Every tortuous step in that direction meant an erosion and subordination of environment to other (more important) government priorities.
The much touted Environment Protection Authority (EPA) was set up recognising that Tasmania, unlike other states had no independent statutory body to develop environment protection policy and enforce it without fear or favour.

Well, we always believed this initiative was a sop, to placate concerns over effective environmental monitoring of the Gunns pulpmill, and now its on the record. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/25/2285393.htm A toothless one-man show.

To have an enforcement agency having only one staff member is ludicrous and an embarrassment. In effect this just adds another layer of confusion to a grossly confusing environmental administrative system that has been built up in Tasmania over time by adding layers and offshoots, almost to make sure that the whole mess cannot function in an integrated fashion.

Whether it be planning permission, pollution control, fisheries protection, soil erosion, national parks, contaminated land….. an interested or affected person has to go through hoops to find out where in the pickle one goes to fix things, or where find out about them. And there is no overall policy focus because there are too many overlapping and conflicting players in the system.

Essentially, the truth is that environment has never been a priority for any Tasmanian government. Except for a very short period in the 1970s when Tasmania got its first Environment Department – it had 11 staff back then – environment has ever since been mangled and scattered and shattered and all the discreet little bits shoved into various other agencies. Every tortuous step in that direction meant an erosion and subordination of environment to other (more important) government priorities.

The very idea of creating a proper Environmental Protection Authority was to try to restore focus, cohesion and accountability into environmental protection and to give it back some teeth.

Hopefully the new micro-EPA (having been established for only one purpose – to placate those concerned about effective monitoring of the pulpmill) will in time expand and pull in many of the disparate functions that are overseen by other departments and agencies. One has to remain forever hopeful, but I am not counting on it.