Govt’s Own Report Damns Premier’s Loop Road

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today called on Premier David Bartlett to abandon his divisive plan for a Tarkine Loop Road after it was revealed, by his own government’s referral documents for Commonwealth assessment, that the proposal will place five animal and six plant species at risk, including the endangered Tasmanian Devil.

Greens Environment spokesperson Cassy O’Connor MP said the referral documents lodged with the Commonwealth by the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources clearly reveal that David Bartlett’s Loop Road plan risks spreading the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease into the state’s last major disease-free area, south of the Arthur River, and that this risk alone provides the basis for almost certain rejection under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC ACT).

“Premier David Bartlett must admit that his divisive Tarkine Loop road proposal will increase the risks faced by the endangered Tasmanian Devil, and will therefore almost certainly be rejected under the EPBC Act,” said Ms O’Connor.

“Why is the Bartlett Government persevering with this divisive, destructive, unpopular and expensive project when its own report reveals that the Loop Road will threaten Tasmania’s last major disease-free population of Tasmanian Devils?”

“What kind of a government places its own electoral fortunes ahead of the future viability of the endangered Tasmanian Devil?”

“Premier David Bartlett must admit that his own government report shows that his divisive Tarkine Loop Road proposal is a significant threat to the last disease-free population of Tasmanian Devils. He should abandon the Loop Road proposal, and re-allocate its $25 million cost towards a variety of other regional tourism projects around the Tarkine, as suggested by the Greens in their Diverse Economic Vision for the Tarkine Region,” said Ms O’Connor.

Reference: “A Diverse Economic Vision for the Tarkine Region: The Tasmanian Greens’ Alternative $23M Tarkine National Park Funding Package,” released by Nick McKim MP and Cassy O’Connor MP, March 2009,

http://mps.tas.greens.org.au/publications/reports/Diverse%20economic%20vision.pdf
Cassy O’Connor MP Greens Environment Spokesperson