28 environmental and social organisations have signed an open letter to the Rockliff Government calling for the immediate publication of the first State of the Environment Report in 15 years and for the government to act upon the report’s findings. Tasmania has been without a report since 2009 following the government’s failure to meet legal obligations to publish a report every 5 years.
The letter welcomes the completion of the State of the Environment Report 2024 and urges the government to hand the report over to the Tasmanian people. The organisations also call for sweeping changes in government decision-making and implore the government to use this report as an opportunity to begin prioritising the health of Tasmania’s environment.
Open letter to the Tasmanian Government
We welcome Tasmania’s first State of the Environment Report in 15 years
Today, Planning Minister Ellis received the State of the Environment Report 2024. The report should provide a critical health check of Tasmania’s most precious natural resources and how well they are being managed. Tasmanians have been without such a report since 2009, with the Tasmanian Government disregarding statutory deadlines in 2014 and 2019.
Today, the Planning Minister could hand the report over to the Tasmanian people.
Instead, the Planning Minister has so far denied calls for transparency and could delay the report’s publication until 28 November, when it must be tabled in Parliament. Tasmanians have been denied access to this information for over a decade. The Tasmanian Government is out of time, we call on the Planning Minister to release the report without further delay.
A decade of missed opportunities for Tasmanians and the environment.
The Government’s failure to publish a report in 2014 and 2019 has come at a cost. These reports stimulate local employment, scientific advancement, cooperation between sectors, growth in sustainable industries and informed public debate. Tasmania is now ten years behind where it could have been. These reports would have helped Tasmanians to protect their way of life.
Without them, Tasmania has been exposed to irresponsible decision-making that jeopardises a sustainable future for all.
A report Tasmanians can use to hold the Government to account.
Tasmania’s Liberal Government is responsible for the deteriorating condition of the state’s environment. The impacts of its environmental decision-making, over the last decade, should be laid bare by this report. It is time for a change. This report must mark a turning point in Government decision-making. We urge the State Government to rise to this challenge by prioritising, and investing in, the health of Tasmania’s environment to help protect and support Tasmanians now and into the future.
Signed,
James Overington, Executive Officer, Environment Tasmania, said:
“Tasmanians have been forced to wait for this report for a decade; it should now be published without delay. This should be a report that Tasmanians can refer to over and over again to hold the government to account and demand that it protects this beautiful, wild island from further harm.”
Eloise Carr, Director, Australia Institute Tasmania, said:
“Chronic underfunding has delayed this report for a decade. The funding the Tasmanian Planning Commission received this time was about one-third of what is cost to produce the last report in 2009. The government now needs to commit appropriate funding in September’s budget to both implementing this Report’s recommendations as well as for the development of the next report. Tasmanians deserve to know it won’t be another 15 years before the next one.”
Todd Dudley, President, North East Bioregional Network, said:
“Environmental policy needs to be based on science, not developers’ and industry wish lists.”
Alice Hardinge, Tasmanian Campaigns Manager, The Wilderness Society, said:
“In the midst of a climate and biodiversity crisis, lutruwita / Tasmania deserves a government that acts for nature. Parliament is a place where decision makers should be held to account and that means environmental data must be released in a transparent and timely manner. It should not be a place to back in industries that are destroying the environment and costing lutruwita / Tasmania its future. Caring for nature is crucial, and what is at stake is worth far more than cheap politics.”
Peter George, President, NOFF, said:
“NOFF condemns this government’s absolute failure, year after year, to provide Tasmanians with a clear understanding of what’s happening to the island’s environment – while encouraging mining, forestry and salmon industries to expand behind a wall of silence that obscures their impact on land and in the water.”
Sophie Underwood, State Director, Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania, said:
“Tasmanians have been kept in the dark for 15 years on the health of Tasmania’s environment.
The Tasmanian Government must meet its legal obligations and produce a State of the Environment Report every five years. Understanding the health of our environment underpins our strategic land use planning system.
One of the critical elements in ensuring the Resource Management and Planning System is applied effectively is monitoring the state of the environment, and as outlined by the State Government itself, it helps ensure planning decisions are made with a ‘complete knowledge of the environment and its condition as possible. Monitoring of the environment will allow strategies, planning schemes and ultimately decisions to be adjusted in response to changes to, or new knowledge about the environment’.”
Media release – Vica Bayley MP, Greens Environment Spokesperson, 30 August 2024
Ellis must release State of the Environment Report ASAP
Tasmanians have been kept in the dark about the state of their environment for over a decade. As the Minister is handed the first State of the Environment report in fifteen years, it’s time for that information to be released to the public.
The Greens echo the calls of community groups who are demanding the Rockliff Government release this vital report immediately.
Despite being legally required to release a State of the Environment Report every five years, there has been no report since 2009. The Liberal Government only committed to release the report after political and legal pressure from community groups and the Greens.
What are the Liberals hiding? If Tasmania’s environment is degrading, Tasmanians need to know, so we can work together to protect and restore our important natural places.
The report was initially due in June, but the Rockliff Government extended the due date to August. The Planning Commission should be delivering the report to the Minister today.
Knowing the Rockliff Government, they’ll continue to delay releasing this information to the public until they are legally required to do so after 15 sitting days. That’s another three months away – in November.
At the very least Minister Ellis should table it in parliament ahead of the State Budget. It’s critical we have the full picture before the Budget is handed down.
Media release – Tasmanian Independent Science Council (TISC), 30 August 2024
Science Council calls for immediate release of long-overdue report on Tasmania’s Environment
The Tasmanian Independent Science Council (TISC) today welcomed the long-overdue completion of the Tasmanian 2024 State of the Environment Report, and called for its immediate release by the Tasmanian Government.
Dr Graeme Wells, TISC Co-chair noted that the Report was the first to be produced in 15 years since 2009, despite a legislative requirement for a Report to be produced every 5 years. “How can Government agencies, Councils, businesses and the Tasmanian community have any confidence in the management of Tasmania’s land, sea and air when these reports are not produced as required?” he queried. “Tasmanians depend on the Reports for the long-term protection of our unique environment.”
The Tasmanian Government only committed to preparing the Report in 2022 after the Australia Institute Tasmania and the Environmental Defenders Office threatened to take the matter to court.
“Who knows how long Tasmanians would have had to wait if the Tasmanian Government had been left to its own timetable. Finally, Tasmanians will be able to gauge the state and trends of the health of our waterways, our land and air,” Dr Wells said.
Prof Ben Richardson, a member of TISC at the University of Tasmania’s Faculty of Law , observed that, “not only is there a clear legal stipulation that the Tasmanian Government periodically report on the health of the state’s natural environment, but worryingly, the lack of timely reporting has impaired the Government’s ability to meet the objectives of the official environmental and resources planning system and to detect weaknesses in the implementation of existing environmental regulations.”
“Tasmania depends on a healthy environment for many of its industries, including agriculture, fisheries and tourism, and without regular reporting, our capacity to thrive as a state is compromised,” Dr Wells noted.
