Statements
Funding No Go for the EDO
The Tasmanian government has confirmed that it will in the short term meet the funding shortfall facing all Community Legal Centres in Tasmania except the Environmental Defenders Office.
There is no basis for the EDO to be discriminated against in this way when all other CLCs in Tasmania have been thrown a temporary lifeline. It seems as if the only crime the EDO has committed is to have the word “Environment” in its name.
There have been many occasions when the EDO has advised people not to proceed with planning appeals, which reduces pressure on local government and the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
Reducing pressure on Tasmania’s courts and planning authorities is something the government should support given its ‘reduce red tape’ rhetoric, but it seems as if its ideological hatred of the environment has clouded its thinking yet again.
Nick McKim MP | Greens Member for Franklin