The Australia Institute and 30 other organisations from around Tasmania have published an open letter with 10 asks for the environment from whomever forms Tasmania’s next government. When cross-benchers and major parties have struck successful power-sharing agreements elsewhere, they covered policy as well as procedure, making now the ideal time for progress.
To Tasmania’s 52nd Parliament –
Lutruwita / Tasmania’s environment is in trouble. From marine heatwaves, toxic algal blooms and over a million dead fish last summer, to the rapid loss of native vegetation and the increase in animals and plants threatened with extinction, Tasmanians are suffering considerable environmental losses. The 2024 State of Environment Report confirmed this with a majority of indicators classified as getting worse.
We call on you to do your job and end Lutruwita / Tasmania’s environmental and economic decline by protecting and investing in nature, the living system that sustains the state’s prosperity, resilience and way of life.
The well-being and prosperity of all Tasmanians relies on a healthy environment. We call on the next government to make a real change and commit to protecting Lutruwita / Tasmania’s environment from further harm, real action on climate change, and to respect the rights of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people to care for their Country through land returns and Treaty.
Liberal and Labor parties are taking the environment for granted, ignoring signs of ecological collapse, wielding the term ‘environmental activism’ as an insult, and outlawing peaceful protest. But they are no longer able to govern in majority and must find new ways to work collaboratively in power-sharing government, in the best interest of Tasmanians and the environment we all rely on.
We the undersigned, call on whoever forms Tasmania’s next government act on the following key asks:
● Establish a long-term vision and strategy for Tasmania’s environment, as recommended in the State of the Environment report 2024, within 12 months.
● End native forest logging. This is the most effective way to rapidly reduce Tasmania’s carbon emissions and protect biodiversity.
● Remove polluting fish farms from Tasmania’s unique waterways.
● Stop the inappropriate development and the privatisation of reserved land.
● Deliver secure protection of Takayna / Tarkine with world heritage nomination.
● Strengthen the management of and extend the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and National Parks through collaboration with Tasmanian Aboriginal community in a manner that respects their knowledge, rights and interests.
● Establish a comprehensive, adequate and representative system of marine protected areas in state waters in accordance with national and international commitments, consistent with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community’s rights and interests.
● Support the dedication of the first proposed Sea Country Indigenous Protected Area in Lutruwita / Tasmania.
● Immediately engage the Tasmanian Aboriginal community as a senior partner in modernising the outdated Aboriginal Heritage Act
● Stop the attack on environmentalism and activism and repeal the undemocratic anti-protest laws.
Signed:
ACF Community Tasmania South
Bob Brown Foundation
Blue Derby Wild
Clarence Climate Action
Environment Tasmania
Environmental Justice Australia
Extinction Rebellion North Tasmania
Fishers & Walkers Tasmania
For Wild Places
Friends of the Great Western Tiers
Grassroots Action Network Tasmania
Hands off Quamby Bluff
Lawyers for Forests
Lake Pedder Restoration Inc
Nayri Niara
Neighbours of Fish Farming
NW Tas for Clean Oceans
Protect Our North West Forests
Surfrider Foundation
Stand with Uncle Jim
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre
Tasmanian Alliance for Marine Protection
Tasmanian Conservation Trust
Tasmanian Climate Collective
Tasmanian National Parks Association
Tasmanian University Environment Society
The Australia Institute
The Tree Projects
Wilderness Australia
Wilderness Society Tasmania
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