Premier Will Hodgman has denied that resignations from the newly appointed Aboriginal Heritage Council are linked to the government’s plan to reopen four-wheel-drive tracks, despite indigenous opposition.
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The new council was formed less than a month ago and has had four members resign from their positions since then.
Two other people were approached to join the council before its formation but declined.
Former council chairman Rocky Sainty, in a letter to Mr Hodgman, said the council needed to now be disbanded.
He said the government’s plan to reopen recreational tracks in the Arthur-Pieman region without meaningful consultation “smacks of arrogance and disrespect.”
“If we were not entirely sure of this government’s outright contempt for the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, or that their ‘reset the relationship’ was not in the interest of ‘reconciliation’ but politically motivated, then we certainly must be now,” Mr Sainty wrote.
“I call on those Aboriginal community members that remain on this farce of a council to resign, and stand with your community against such blatant racist political tactics.”
Council chairman Rodney Dillion said he remained opposed to reopening the Tarkine tracks, as did the remaining members of the council.
He said he would use his position to lobby the government hard against the proposal if it gained approval from the federal government.
“I don’t want to go down in history as a person that saw the heritage of my ancestors destroyed while I’m in the position that I’m in,” he said.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor the move was an attempt by the Liberals to hold their four Braddon seats after the next election.
“The Premier has completely lost control of the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio less than a month after he established a new Aboriginal Heritage Council,” she said.
Mr Hodgman said resignations from the Aboriginal Heritage Council were prior to the government referring the tracks’ proposal to the federal government.
“It appears that the primary concern of outgoing members related to the state government’s new, more inclusive eligibility policy.”
Mr Hodgman denied the government had inadequately consulted with the Aboriginal community, saying the Liberals had proposed it would reopen the tracks before the last election.
