Probe into parks tourism

AN audit will be conducted into the process by which national park tourism proposals are assessed.

The Wilderness Society has welcomed the prospect of the audit. “We hope [it] will shine some much-needed light on a controversial process that has been marked by secrecy, rulebending and a lack of public consultation,” campaign manager Tom Allen said.

“The EOI process boils down to a public land-grab by vested interests against the interests of the public, nature, wilderness and the integrity of national parks and reserves.”

Before 2014 there were 222 tourism operators in the state, which had secured leases or licenses through Parks and Wildlife Service or in an open tender process.

In 2014 the Government announced its plan to broaden the range of wilderness experiences, grow the tourism industry to 1.5 million visitors, and create 8000 jobs.

The objective of the audit is to “assess the effectiveness of the EOI process to achieve development of sensitive and appropriate tourism experiences and associated infrastructure in Tasmania’s national parks, reserves and Crown land by private investors and tourism operators to broaden the range of exciting and unique experiences on offer.”

Environment, Parks and Heritage Minister Peter Gutwein said the EOI process provided an open and transparent means for tourism development ideas to be brought forward.

“[It] provides greater transparency and public confidence because all proposals assessed as appropriate are made public, and if deemed suitable, must still go through all requisite Commonwealth, State and local council planning and approval processes,” Mr Gutwein said.