BushwalkBushwalk
“A hunter, a fisherman, and a bushwalker walk into a community centre” – it sounds like the start of a corny joke, with one of the three coming out looking like a fool or a smart aleck. But on a warm Sunday in September 2020, these three groups came together in a capacity crowd at the community centre in Miena on Tasmania’s isolated Central Plateau, united and determined to not let the terrible joke that is the proposed heli-tourism development on Halls Island in Lake Malbena go ahead.
Malbena Matters!
Jenny Smith
Malbena Loic Auderset
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Digitally augmented sign on the eastern edge of the TWWHA Dan Broun
Lake Malbena and Halls Island Near the eastern shore of the isolated Lake Malbena in central Tasmania you will find Halls Island, 10 hectares, named after Reg Hall, who built a tiny ramshackle hut there in the 1950s. Reg was a lawyer and thought it prudent to get a lease on the footprint of the hut, and allowed the hut to be used by walkers and anglers. Lake Malbena is in the Western Lakes on the eastern boundary of the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, one of the top five trout fisheries in the entire world. After a day’s walk you can reach Lake Malbena in the incredible Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage (TWWHA) area.
Or rather, that’s where Lake Malbena was … until 2016 when the Tasmanian Government quietly changed the boundary to exclude it from the TWWHA and put it into the Central Plateau Conservation Area (CPCA).
Developments in secretTwo thousand and sixteen was a busy year. Reg Hall’s family passed the hut lease on to a trout guide. Somehow, this hut lease secretly morphed to include a second, exclusive, lease over the entire island, at a cost of slightly more than the lease cost of a rubbish tip. The TWWHA boundary quietly moved to the western side of the lake, so that Lake Malbena was no longer in the TWWHA. The zoning over the CPCA changed to allow ‘self-reliant recreation’. Then accessing the CPCA by helicopter was deemed to be "self-reliant recreation". Then the lessee submitted an Expression of Interest to put a "standing camp" on Halls Island, with
helicopter flights in; no one else knew it was even possible to apply. Much of this was discovered by accident, and the lessee and the Tasmanian Liberal Government weren’t happy about their cosy little affair being outed. The Government said the secrecy was due to "commercial in confidence" negotiations. Surely the owners of the area – the Tasmanian people – should have a say?
It gets more interesting. A rowboat appeared at Halls Island, which can’t be accessed by boats using the usual means. "Fauna monitoring cameras" also appeared on the island; aimed 150 cm off the ground. A packrafter discovered fresh tracks cut with chainsaw leading from the shores of Lake Malbena (a poor fishing lake) towards a trophy lake.
Rich people onlyRight To Information (RTI) documents show "Key target markets will be discerning travellers looking for … privileged access to Tasmania’s wilderness", with "helicopter use (being a) key element of the product". They show the proponent was advised by Parks to split the development into two parts to increase it’s chances of success. We learned that a heritage island, a jewel in the Tasmanian wilderness, was being leased for $19/week with plans to charge guests $4500 each, and only those with "a history of respectful relations with the proponent" would be allowed to go there. The proponents "chose to … release all … RTI ... to the public" – hardly a transparent gesture when they were already released.
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Poor return on investment and a corrupt processThe dissenting views of the Government’s own National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council, the Aboriginal Heritage Council, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council and the tiny regional Central Highlands Council (CHC) were ignored. There were over 1300 submissions to CHC; three were in favour. Coincidentally, three is also the number of jobs this proposal will create. Three ... yet the Tasmanian Government has said this project would come under its proposed Major Projects legislation.
The Halls Island Standing Camp proposal with its corrupt beginning and blatant disregard for social licence or wilderness values has brought together a diverse group. In December 2019, over 150 people came out in poor weather along miles of dirt roads to "Reclaim Malbena". Watching the walkers, the anglers in fly jackets, the conservationists, the kayakers, the hunters in camo gear, the families, and the many ordinary folks interact and come together to condemn this ill-founded and corrupt proposal should be a politician’s worst nightmare. In September 2020, this group met again at Miena, and they were much angrier. Initially they were angry about their wilderness being ruined; now they are furious as more and more dodgy dealings are exposed, and their views are being blatantly disregarded in favour of the elite few.
A federal reprieveThe audience at the meeting organised by Fishers and Walkers against Helicopter Access (FAWAHA) was pleased by the Federal Environment minister Sussan Ley’s announcement on 17 September 2020 that the Halls Island proposal will be a Controlled Action under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, meaning there will be "a detailed assessment ... made and all possible impacts on the TWWHA (will be) considered." However, the proponent is probably keener than before to get this proposal up, as they’ve just learned their existing fly-fishing business based at Lake Ina on Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) land won’t have it’s lease renewed next year.
Mystery investors; political donations?The major backers of this proposal hold their shares "non-beneficially" ie, for the benefit of "others". Who are these "others"? Who has a lot of money to keep fighting the court cases? Who has an interest in tourism? Is it a group with a long history of political donations, and post-political career job options? We can’t match up the possibilities with the political donations register, because 80% of donations in Tasmanian politics aren’t publicly known, due to the weakest political donation laws in Australia. The Liberal Government support this proposal, and Labor have been stunningly silent; who donates substantial sums to both these parties?
Halls Island, Lake MalbenaDan Broun
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Rob Blakers
Jenny didn’t know how good she had it as a child, spending her early years in a small town in the Tasmanian wilderness. She’s a keen walker and harpist who supports her passions by working as a scientist. Her partner is a keen angler, and Jenny has spent many an hour on the side of a lake with a small harp, ending the day with a meal of trout caught and cooked by him – he’s great in the kitchen and she’s great in the dining room, a perfect partnership.
TWWHA is uniqueThe TWWHA is the only wilderness area in the whole world that satisfies seven out of ten World Heritage criteria. It is that special, that unique, that precious. It is worth much more than money, it is priceless, our regard for it comes from our hearts not our pockets. And because of this, the diverse group that oppose the Halls Island development will go to great lengths to ensure this thin edge of the wedge will not be driven into our special place.
There was a recent stickering campaign by a group, Anonymous for the Wild, who re-jigged the well-known Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service logo to read "Tasmania Privatising Wilderness Service". Just before this campaign, the secretary of DPIPWE wrote to Parks staff to ask for loyalty and respect to the Manager of Parks; if they asked the staff why there was a lack of respect and loyalty, they’d certainly get some answers. Unlike the Tasmanian public, who ask a lot of questions about being locked out of their wild places and get very little in the way of answers.
The court actions continue, and funding is required, so any donations are greatly appreciated. Have you written to the Parks Minister Roger Jaensch MP to express your outrage? The Skullbone Plains lease will not be renewed. See also TLC's statement about Riverfly.The Tasmanian Auditor General has released a report into the expressions of interest for tourism investment opportunities process. The report is critical of a number of aspects. TNPA has commented.
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