Environment report delay
Caitlin Jarvis | The Examiner | 21 July 2022
Tasmania has not produced a State of Environment report since 2009, but the state government says the report is under review.
A tale of the declining health of Australia’s environment was presented in stark detail in the recent national State of Environment report.
Planning Minister Michael Ferguson said a number of Tasmanian authorities contributed to the national report, but the state one was still under review.
“The Tasmanian State of the Environment sits with the Tasmanian Planning Commission but given its statutory roles and responsibilities it is widely recognised as not the most appropriate authority for this work,” Mr Ferguson said.
“The government is currently undertaking a review of the reporting requirements, the format of the report and the most suitable authority for the work and will include extensive public consultation.”
Independent Member for Nelson Meg Webb said Tasmania’s State of the Environment report should be labelled extinct.
“In June, I asked Planning Minister Ferguson when the Report would be released and received a ‘yes Minister’ style response which would do Sir Humphrey Appleby proud,” she said.
“Worryingly, Minister Ferguson made it apparent the only options regarding who was responsible for the report’s production were expected to be presented to government by the end of the year.
“It is not good enough to keep putting this crucial report into the too hard basket. Our environment is literally burning while governments fiddle around the edges.”
Environmental concerns in Tasmania have been raised over the impact of forestry, along with the impact expansion of irrigation and industrialisation has had on the state’s river systems.
Sediment build up in the Tamar due to historic decisions that has impacted the river has been a fight waged for decades, and water quality has been in poor condition for 16 years.
An internal department report showed that nearly half Tasmania’s river systems had experienced ecological decline, but the current state of the rivers is not public information. During the state budget, the government also only allocated 2 per cent of the funds to the environment department. It was the equal smallest slice of the budget along with recreation, culture and religion, and nominal interest on superannuation.
Another common theme to emerge from the commentary surrounding the national report, was that the country needed an independent Environment Protection Authority.
In the state budget, funds were allocated to make the EPA more independent from the government, with the process underway.
An EPA spokesperson said the changes would broaden the EPA’s responsibility for environmental assessment.
The draft bill will strengthen the independence of the EPA and expand the powers of the EPA director to make monitoring information available to the public.
It will also establishing processes for making environmental standards to manage activities that may affect the state’s natural environment.
However when asked, the spokesperson declined to comment on the national State of Environment Report, nor what the state could do to improve environmental management.
Mr Jaensch said the state government takes the protection of Tasmania’s natural environment seriously.
“The report acknowledges that the changes to our climate already underway are having an impact on our environment. That’s why Tasmania will continue to do all we can to reduce emissions and support our communities, environment and economy to adapt and build resilience to climate change.”
Mr Jaensch said Tasmania had recorded net negative emissions for the past seven years and tabled legislation targeting net zero emissions or lower from 2030, which will be the most ambitious legislated target in the country.
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