Today, 28 organisations have signed an open letter to the Rockliff Government calling for the immediate publication of the first State of the Environment Report in 15 years and for the government to act upon the report’s findings. Tasmania has been without a report since 2009 following the government’s failure to meet legal obligations to publish a report every 5 years. 

The letter welcomes the completion of the State of the Environment Report 2024 and urges the government to hand the report over to the Tasmanian people. The organisations also call for sweeping changes in government decision-making and implore the government to use this report as an opportunity to begin prioritising the health of Tasmania’s environment. 

Key Points

• State of the Environment Reports should provide a vital health check for the environment and assess whether natural resource management objectives are being met. They also provide recommendations for actions to address environmental problems.
• Tasmanian law requires State of the Environment Reports to be published every 5 years. (1)
• The Planning Minister must table the Reports in Parliament within 15 sitting days after the Report is received by the Minister. This means the Minister could wait until 28 November before publishing the 2024 Report.
• The Tasmanian Government recommitted to preparing the reports in 2022 after considerable pressure from the Australia Institute, Environmental Defenders Office and community members.
  
  (1) State Policies and Projects Act 1993, s.29

Open letter to the Tasmanian Government

We welcome Tasmania’s first State of the Environment Report in 15 years

Today, Planning Minister Ellis received the State of the Environment Report 2024. The report should provide a critical health check of Tasmania’s most precious natural resources and how well they are being managed. Tasmanians have been without such a report since 2009, with the Tasmanian Government disregarding statutory deadlines in 2014 and 2019. 

Today, the Planning Minister could hand the report over to the Tasmanian people.

Instead, the Planning Minister has so far denied calls for transparency and could delay the report’s publication until 28 November, when it must be tabled in Parliament. Tasmanians have been denied access to this information for over a decade. The Tasmanian Government is out of time, we call on the Planning Minister to release the report without further delay.

A decade of missed opportunities for Tasmanians and the environment.

The Government’s failure to publish a report in 2014 and 2019 has come at a cost. These reports stimulate local employment, scientific advancement, cooperation between sectors, growth in sustainable industries and informed public debate. Tasmania is now ten years behind where it could have been. These reports would have helped Tasmanians to protect their way of life. Without them, Tasmania has been exposed to irresponsible decision-making that jeopardises a sustainable future for all. 

A report Tasmanians can use to hold the Government to account.

Tasmania’s Liberal Government is responsible for the deteriorating condition of the state’s environment. The impacts of its environmental decision-making, over the last decade, should be laid bare by this report. It is time for a change. This report must mark a turning point in Government decision-making. We urge the State Government to rise to this challenge by prioritising, and investing in, the health of Tasmania’s environment to help protect and support Tasmanians now and into the future. 

Signed,