With just over 400 submissions made in the briefest of public comment periods, 97% of submissions received by  the Tasmanian Government were opposed to the proposed retrospective changes to the State Coastal Policy.  

A total of 387 submissions, 268 from members of the public and 19 from community groups statewide indicated  their clear and unambiguous opposition to the Validation (State Coastal Policy) Bill 2024 tabled in State Parliament on 7 August. Many of the submissions included personal anecdotes and statements on the personal connections  people have with the Tasmanian coast. 

Just three submissions in support of the legislation were received; the remaining 10 submissions were neutral. Of  the 24 coastal Councils in Tasmania, just two made submissions. Clarence Council offered only qualified support,  while Kingborough Council was neutral.  

“Just one Council provided conditional support for the proposed changes to the State Coastal Policy, strongly undermining the claims made by the Minister of a multitude of coastal infrastructures subject to legal uncertainty”  Dr Eric Woehler OAM, Co-convenor of the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Coastal Society said. “Clearly, the  remaining coastal Councils just don’t see the need for this retrospective legislation” he claimed. 

“The Planning Matters Alliance of Tasmania calls on the Tasmanian Government to listen to the community and  scrap the Validation Bill – there is clearly no support for this bill” Sophie Underwood, State Director of the  Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania said. “In its flawed and a truncated public comment process, the Tasmanian  Government received over 400 submissions – with the overwhelming majority opposed” she added. 

“The Validation Bill seeks to go back in time and change the rules to suit a developer, wreaking havoc on other  parts of Tasmania’s coastline. The community can see straight through this rort, as demonstrated in the  extraordinary number of submissions made opposing the bill. Not even 1% of submissions made support this bill” Rebecca Howarth, Environment Tasmania’s Marine Campaigner noted. 

“The Tasmanian community has expressed its near unanimous opposition to the proposed Validation (State  Coastal Policy) Act, with no individuals and just three business organisations expressing support. Unsurprisingly,  the State government ignored this vehement statement of opposition from the public submissions, tabling a nearly  identical bill in the Parliament only three business days after submissions closed” Peter McGlone, Director of the  Tasmanian Conservation Trust noted. 

“The Premier’s Second Reading of the bill, uploaded to the Parliamentary website on the 6 August, did not  mention that 400 submissions were received. We hope that the Parliament does not rush to vote on the legislation  and gives the bill and the 400 public submissions the attention and respect they deserve” he added. 

Media contacts: 

Peter McGlone, CEO, Tasmanian Conservation Trust 0406 380 545 

Sophie Underwood, State Director, Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania 0407 501 999 

Rebecca Howarth, Environment Tasmania’s Marine Campaigner 0493 395 868 

Dr Eric J Woehler OAM, Co-convenor, Australian Coastal Society (Tasmania) 0438 204 565 Overleaf: Detailed analysis of the 400 submissions received.

SCP Validation Bill 2024 – Summary of Submissions, 1 – 402. 

Submissions were classified as Supporting, Opposing or ‘Other’ (qualified, neutral or unclear) from individuals and  various organisations (eg NGOs, Councils, businesses, peak bodies etc). Summary prepared by the Australian  Coastal Society (Tasmania), Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania and the Tasmanian Conservation Trust, August  2024. 

List of submissions: 

https://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/373212/Validation-State-Coastal-Policy-Act-List-of-submissions received.pdf 

Uploaded submissions: 

https://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/policy/state_policies/validation-state-coastal-policy-act-2024 

Submissions by individuals (total of 372). 

Support: Nil. 

Oppose: 368. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35,  36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65,  66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96,  97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120,  

121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145,  146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168,  169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191,  192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215,  216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238,  239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262,  263, 264, 265, 266, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 276, 277, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 286, 287, 288, 289,  290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313,  314, 315, 316, 318, 319, 320, 321, 323, 324, 326, 328, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341,  342, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 352, 354, 355, 357, 358, 359, 360, 362, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 371,  373, 374, 378, 379, 381, 382, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 401. 

Other: 4. 

27, 28, 106, 122. 

Submissions by organisations (total of 28). 

Support: 3. 

392 [Tasmanian Hospitality Association], 400 [Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry], 402 [Clean  Energy Tasmania (member of TCCI)]. 

Oppose: 19. 

73 [Seymour Community Action Group], 208 [Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation], 254 [Tasmanian Ratepayers  Association], 267 [Australian Coastal Society Ltd], 275 [Bob Brown Foundation], 285 [Jacqui Lambie Network],  307 [NW Tas for Clean Oceans], 317 [North East Bioregional Network], 325 [Tasmanian National Parks  Association], 327 [Taroona Community Association], 329 [Circular Head Coastal Action Network], 343 [Planning  Matters Alliance Tasmania], 351 [BirdLife Australia], 353 [Environmental Defenders Office Tasmania], 356 [Rainforest Reserves Australia], 361 [Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania], 370 [Australia Institute], 372  [Tasmanian Conservation Trust], 377 [Environment Tasmania]. 

Other: 6. 

258 [Planning Institute of Australia – Tasmania], 278 [Natural Resources and Environment, Tasmania], 322 [TasWater], 363 [Clarence City Council – qualified support], 375 [Aust Institute Architects], 376 [Kingborough  Council]. 

Note that there were two submissions not included In release: Submissions 380 and 383.