Media release – Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania, 10 February 2025
Latest attack on our planning appeal rights is anti-democratic & removes the community’s voice
The major changes to planning appeal rights announced on 7 February 2025 by Minister for Planning, Felix Ellis, will impact every single Tasmanian by taking away community rights and preferencing property developers over the community.
The public will have very limited right to appeal. Only those who are neighbours and are directly affected by a development will be able to lodge an appeal.
Developments on both public and private land like skyscrapers in our cities or cable car proposals on reserved land such as kunyani/Mount Wellington and Cataract Gorge will not be able to be appealed by the community.
“The state government’s clear intention is to remove the community’s right to planning appeals and their voice.,” says Sophie Underwood, State Director of the Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania (PMAT).
“The planning change announced by the Government makes it clear that they want it easier for developers to do whatever they like – while it fails the community completely.
“We are also one of the few states that still allow political donations from property developers. These news laws are designed to make it easier for the development sector to do whatever they like.
“We cannot let a group of business developers make deals with our politicians behind closed doors in an attempt to silence and sidestep the actual people who live in Tasmanian neighbourhoods. Rights of local communities to have a say about developments that impact on their own home, their local streets and town, local parks and their most treasured national parks and reserves will effectively be removed.
“This is what Felix Ellis is proposing. They want to ensure the property industry can do whatever they want.” says Ms Underwood.
PMAT has a host of public meetings planned across the state to help inform the community about some of the most anti-democratic laws the state has ever seen.
“It’s important that people attend. It’s critical for our democracy and the future of Tasmania. If you care about shaping the future of Tasmania – then we ask you to come along to hear about these proposed laws.”
Public meetings will be held in Launceston February 12, Rosny Feb 18 and Glenorchy March 4 with more being organised across the state.
To find out more about the public meetings – https://planningmatterstas.org.au/events/.
Ben Marshall
February 10, 2025 at 10:56
Whichever way people vote, whether they painstakingly order their preferences or just tick the Liberal-Labor boxes, we all need to support PMAT’s fight to preserve what’s left of our democracy. The two major parties are in lock-step in their cult-like faith in ‘market economics’ and in believing that their main priority is to ‘create investment opportunities’ without thinking it through, and this is why Ellis et al are determined to ditch any democratic checks and balances on corporate investor powers.
Liberal-Labor regard any community which has concerns about bad planning, or which are asking for better, fairer and more open planning, as scum – eg ‘blockers’, ‘leaners’, ‘nimbys’, and the ‘anti-everything brigade’, and contempt for ordinary people who make up every community, large and small, allows the Lib/Labs to justify ditching legislative protections and the normal checks and balances on for-profit developments. Those two political parties regard us as obstacles to be sidestepped by secretive deals, ‘commercial-in-confidence’ agreements, back-room ‘Game of Mates’ backslapping, and lying to our faces about how new legislation is for our benefit rather than what it actually is, namely back-stabbing us and our democracy.
Whichever way you normally vote, Liberal or Labor, please instead consider supporting independents and minor parties at the next election, and put Liberal and Labor at the bottom of your preferences.
It’s the only way we’ll be able to hold the “Mates”, and their proxies in parliament, to account.