The Tasmanian Greens today said that the Liberal Party’s promise to override the community’s wishes regarding development on Mount Wellington was a coldly calculated attempt to stir up community division by an ineffectual Opposition Leader.
Greens Member for Denison Cassy O’Connor MP said that Mr Hodgman’s threat to scrap the Wellington Park Trust and trample over community sentiment about appropriate access to this state icon had nothing to do with promoting tourism.
“Mr Hodgman is insecure about the future of his leadership, and has decided that the best way to win the support he lacks is to find opportunities to antagonise the community and stir up division,” Ms O’Connor said.
“He’s done it on the forestry issue, and now that Tasmanians have stopped listening, he’s trying to revive an imaginary proposal for a cable car on Mount Wellington.”
“If this is Mr Hodgman’s idea of what it means to be a strong and visionary leader, then his days really are numbered.”
“Perennial calls for a cable car to the mountain’s summit are simply economically unfeasible and, despite the decades of divisive debate, the project has never attracted a single genuine proposal or an investor.”
“The Management Plan for the mountain was arrived at after exhaustive community consultation and rigorous scientific analysis of the environmental and safety issues in the sensitive alpine area of Mt Wellington.”
“The community has already spoken about what it wants for the future of the mountain, and there is a further consultation underway, but the Liberals want to blithely disregard proper process and rigorous planning and continue pushing this divisive mirage.”
“There are already a range of sensitive and low impact options contained within the Management Plan but the obsession with the cable car keeps blocking their consideration,” Ms O’Connor said.
