‘Absolute low’: Bob Brown snubbed by Tanya Plibersek on Tasmania visit

Bob Brown slammed a minister for a “low” act in a Tassie restaurant — but new details of the controversial incident have sparked a war of words.

Former Greens leader Bob Brown has slammed Labor’s Tanya Plibersek for allegedly snubbing him to dine with mining officials on a visit to Tasmania.

The Bob Brown Foundation posted a photo on Twitter on Friday of the veteran environmentalist sitting in the same eatery as the Environment Minister the previous night.

Ms Plibersek was touring the state last week to “consider the environmental impact on this special part of Australia, understand the cultural and heritage significance, and to hear the views of the local community” about a controversial rainforest mining project.

But Mr Brown took to Twitter to complain that Ms Plibersek had brushed him off while visiting Tullah in the Tarkine region, around 200km west of Launceston.

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Bob Brown bumped into Tanya Plibersek at dinner. Picture: Twitter

“Last night, Australia’s Environment Minister [Tanya] Plibersek dined with senior mining officials — not Bob Brown and environmentalists, two tables away — at Tullah, Tasmania,” the Bob Brown Foundation account wrote.

“Minister declined invitation to see rainforests with Bob today. An absolute low in Australian environmental history.”

Mr Brown also criticised Ms Plibersek for not visiting the site of a proposed tailings dam at the centre of the current dispute.

“[She] left Tasmania having not seen the masked owl breeding territory and Tarkine rainforest whose fate she is about to decide,” the Bob Brown Foundation wrote.

“A failed opportunity to see what is at stake.”

Plibersek urged to give Tarkine World Heritage status, not waste dump. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, left Tasmania having not seen the Masked Owl breeding territory and Tarkine rainforest whose fate she is about to decide. A failed opportunity to see what is at stake. pic.twitter.com/GD6eHmsJxB

— Bob Brown Foundation (@BobBrownFndn) November 4, 2022

However, news.com.au can reveal that Ms Plibersek was unable to visit the location — because the road had been blocked by the Bob Brown Foundation with a large sign reading “masked owl sanctuary, no entry”.

It’s also understood that contrary to Mr Brown’s claim that he was ignored at the restaurant, he did not approach her table while she was having dinner with unions and workers — and it was in fact the Minister who approached Mr Brown and said she hoped to see him the following day during a scheduled meeting with environmental groups.

“I visited the Tarkine for a conversation, not a confrontation,” Ms Plibersek said in a statement.

Speaking to news.com.au on Monday, Mr Brown insisted the Minister could have easily visited the site, which was only a 20-minute walk past the sign.

“She was totally in the hands of the mining industry,” he said.

“They went down the road at about 7am, saw the sign and went back — none of her people did.”

The Bob Brown Foundation has blocked the road to the MMG tailings dam site.

Mr Brown said the federal court had previously ruled that vehicles should not go beyond that point during the masked owl breeding season, but even so the sign was “easily removable, I can lift it up”.

“What I told Tanya, and she knew, was that it was a 10 or 20-minute walk down the road into the rainforest which is going to be destroyed,” he said.

“It’s not difficult, she obviously walked further to the waterfall, she walked along beaches, she went all over the place. It’s a complete misrepresentation of the reality that Tanya Plibersek was totally against being in the forest that MMG wants to destroy, because it would be so much more difficult for her to give that forest the death warrant.”

Mr Brown also acknowledged that he did not try to speak to Ms Plibersek at the restaurant.

“I was very careful, they were having dinner and we were having dinner and I was not going to interrupt their social event,” he said.

“She came up as we were leaving and said, ‘We’ll see you in Burnie tomorrow’, and I said, ‘No, I want to see you in the rainforest in the morning.’ I said to her, ‘You are the Minister for the Environment for protecting that rainforest, but you’re having dinner with the very people who want to destroy it.’”

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe/NCA NewsWire

The Tarkine, in Tasmania’s northwest, includes around 1800sqkm of temperate rainforest, the largest in Australia and second largest in the world.

According to Tasmania’s Department of State Growth, the region – which includes a large number of Aboriginal heritage sites – is also rich in minerals and “for around 150 years has been the focus of ongoing mineral exploration and development”, as well as supporting the local economy through forestry activities.

The Tasmanian government says the Tarkine “stands as a prime example of multiple land-use management where recreation, conservation, resources utilisation and tourism have coexisted successfully for generations”.

But the Bob Brown Foundation has long lobbied for the Tarkine to be World Heritage Listed, which would prevent mining in the region.

Ms Plibersek said she had spent two days visiting the rainforest, meeting with “local rangers … traditional owners, environment groups, industry union representatives and heritage groups”.

Protesters wait for Tanya Plibersek in the Tarkine.

“I also met with workers from a zinc and copper mine that’s been operating in the area for over 85 years,” she wrote on Twitter.

“The mine is seeking federal government approval for a new dam. I take these decisions seriously. That’s why I wanted to see the area for myself – to consider the environmental impact on this special part of Australia, understand the cultural and heritage significance, and to hear the views of the local community.”

I saw some beautiful parts of the region with local rangers from the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.

I met with Traditional Owners, environment groups, industry, union representatives, and heritage groups. pic.twitter.com/HXulQLlLFR

— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) November 4, 2022

The Chinese-owned MMG heavy metals mine at Rosebery is seeking approval for a new tailings dam inside the Tarkine rainforest.

In July, the Bob Brown Foundation successfully derailed the plan, with the federal court ruling that the initial approval by the Morrison government for preliminary work on the dam was invalid under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

Justice Mark Moshinsky found that former Environment Minister Sussan Ley, through her delegate, did not properly consider the forest’s status as the habitat of the rare Tasmanian masked owl.

The Tarkine rainforest in Tasmania’s northwest.

“In my view, the delegate did not comply with the obligation to take account of the precautionary principle,” Justice Moshinsky told the court, the ABC reported.

“To comply with this obligation, it is necessary for the Minister, or in this case the delegate, to consider whether there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage. I am satisfied the delegate failed to do this.”

After the decision, MMG said that it would remove its equipment from the proposed site and would continue to engage with the Minister on reassessing the proposal.

“We remain committed to the highest standards of compliance and accountability and will continue to work with state and federal governments on the ongoing assessment of this project,” a spokeswoman said.

“Although this outcome is disappointing, we remain committed to our hardworking employees and the Rosebery community that supports us. We will not be deterred from finding a balanced tailings storage solution to extend the life of the Rosebery mine.”

Ms Plibersek said on Friday she was yet to make a decision.

“I’ll carefully consider what I’ve seen and heard in making a decision, as I am required to do by law,” she said. “For now, I have to be careful about what I say publicly, because any suggestion I have prejudged a decision could see it challenged in court.”