Greens warn Tasmania: Don’t kill the goose that laid tourism’s golden egg

The Australian Greens say the Tasmanian government cannot be trusted to properly assess the environmental impacts of development in national parks and World Heritage areas, for which it has today opened expressions of interest.

"Unfortunately in Tasmania we have a government with the mentality that if you can't dig it up or cut it down then you should put a resort on it. That's a very bad idea," said Greens Leader Christine Milne.

"The Greens want Tasmania to benefit from a strong tourism industry, so the Hodgman government has to get real.

"If you want to sell your reputation globally and you want to talk wilderness, you have to maintain wilderness values," said Senator Milne.

"I would have zero confidence in any panel set up by the Hodgman government to assess the merit of these projects.

"With the Commonwealth now handing approvals back to the states, what we'd see is the same people who've allowed mining in areas which should be protected giving the tick-off to resorts.

"You can stay in resorts and hotels anywhere in the world but you can't access wilderness like we have in Tasmania, so we have to carefully maintain its view fields of mountains and rivers and the habitat for our magnificent plants and animals.

"Access to Tasmania's precious national parks and World Heritage areas should happen from tourism developments outside their boundaries. That's what happened in Strahan after the Franklin River campaign, and it's in line with global best-practice. We don't need roads and resorts inside."