More than 200 people gather to rally against Lake Malbena tourism development

The Government has again defended its Expressions of Interest process for tourism developments in Tasmania’s national parks, amid protests against a development in the Central Highlands.

Halls Island at Lake Malbena. Pic: ROB BLAKERS

A PROPOSED tourism development in Tasmania’s World Heritage Area would ruin natural amenity and compromise wilderness values, opponents say.

More than 200 people attended a Reclaim Malbena event on Saturday at Gowan Brae in the state’s Central Highlands.

They gathered to protest against a proposal to build a helicopter-accessed standing camp on Halls Island, which sits on Lake Malbena in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

Anglers, wildlife groups, bushwalkers and nature lovers mustered in a symbolic action to “reclaim” the area and rally against “private, profit-driven developments”.

Group member Brett Smith said the protesters were from all walks of life, but were united by a common cause.

“We’re not Greens, we’re not hard-line environmentalists, but we’ve all come together to say some wild places are worth keeping as they are,’’ he said.

“Anglers have fished in the western lakes and enjoyed that wilderness experience for decades and that way of life is under threat.

“We’ve got the threat of being locked out in lieu of private interests and we don’t want helicopters flying people in and ruining that experience.”

In a speech to the rally, fly fisher Greg French said he had a decades-long attachment to the area.

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He said the Lake Malbena proposal had become a test case for the State Government’s Expressions of Interest process for developments in Tasmanian parks and reserves.

Under the EOI process, details of these tourism projects will initially be kept secret until they have been greenlit by the Government to proceed.

The Government again defended the EOI process, saying claims it was veiled in secrecy are “misinformed and untrue.”

“In fact the EOI process provides greater public oversight than under previous Governments’ system, where the first the public would know about a lease or licence agreement would be after the fact,’’ a spokeswoman said.

The Government said the Halls Island proposal had been in planning and assessment stages for several years and had been subject to rigorous assessment.

The spokeswoman said there would be no helicopter use for more than 300 days per year and flight times on flying days would be between 18-36 minutes, equating to a maximum of only 45 hours of flight time per year.

The future of the proposal took a twist recently with the Federal Court ordering the Federal Government to assess the project.

Following action brought by the Wilderness Society, the court last month declared that the original decision that federal approval was not required was flawed.

The Environmental Defenders Office said the Government was now required to make a decision to approve or reject the plan under the requirements of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The Central Highlands Council had knocked back the proposal at a special meeting in February, but that decision was effectively set aside in October by the Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal.