The Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation says that if the state government cannot be trusted to protect heritage values within the Tarkine region, it needs to be returned to traditional ownership.
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The federal Environment Department on Monday knocked back the government’s proposal to reopen 37 kilometres of track to four-wheel-drive use in the area, saying it needed to submit more information on environmental impacts.
TAC spokesman Sharie Read said this was an acknowledgement that the tracks could not reopen without the destruction of ancient Aboriginal sites.
“The importance of this decision is that the Hodgman Government has been put on-notice,” she said.
“The Hodgman government cannot be trusted to protect, manage or value this significant landscape and should return the area to the rightful owners.”
Environment Minister Elise Archer in Parliament said that celebrations from the proposal’s opponents were premature.
She said the department’s request for the government to submit a public environment plan was part of the process.
But Labor Braddon MHR Justine Keay said the federal government’s decision meant the tracks were several months from opening; not next month as the state government had anticipated.
“The action also makes a lie of Environment Minister Elise Archer’s media statement that this referral was always expected,” she said.
Braddon Liberal MHA Adam Brooks will bring a motion to Parliament on Wednesday which calls on Labor to support reopening the tracks.
Markets For Change chief executive, and former Greens leader, Peg Putt said the government’s doggedness on the proposal was a cynical play for votes in Braddon.
“The Tasmanian Government tried to ride roughshod over due process for political advantage with a constituency who have been riding roughshod over priceless Aboriginal heritage of the ages,” she said.
“It’s a really bad look to want to exacerbate conflict in such a way for pure political advantage.”