Petition on Tourism EoIs

Petition to the House of Assembly – Kate Johnston, 4 April 2022

Inadequate processes for assessing and approving private tourism developments in Tasmania’s national parks

The petition of the undersigned Residents of Tasmania draws to the attention of the House:

• The inherent failure of the ‘Unlock the Parks’ policy and the Expressions of Interest (EOI) process designed to facilitate development in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) and Tasmania’s national parks.
• The Reserve Activity Assessment (RAA) process is flawed, opaque and lacks genuine public consultation.
• Widespread public opposition to private tourism developments within the TWWHA exists and has been consistently expressed.
• UNESCO’s request for a detailed plan for a Comprehensive Cultural Heritage Assessment of the TWWHA before any development is considered has not been met.
• Signing public land over to private interests in secret leases and licenses fails to properly respect the expectations of the community.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the Government to abandon the Expressions of Interest process and halt all proposals currently being considered under the Reserve Activity Assessment process until a statutory assessment and approval process for private tourism developments in Tasmania’s national parks is implemented.

View and sign the petition here: https://haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au/haepet/Home/PetitionDetails/%20100