STATE’S SECRET PARKS DEALS

Veil over EOI proposals

DETAILS of a fresh tranche of tourism projects proposed for public land will remain secret until they have been approved by the Government.

The Government says the projects being assessed under its expressions of interest process will deliver $100 million in investment and 250 jobs in national parks, reserves and crown land around the state.

But those claims can’t be tested because Parks Minister Peter Gutwein, right, confirmed the proposals would be kept secret to protect the proponents’ “intellectual property”.

The terms and conditions for licences and leases will meanwhile be hidden forever — as they are “commercial-in-confidence”.

ALL details of a fresh tranche of tourism projects proposed for public land will remain secret until they have been approved by the State Government, Environment, Parks and Heritage Minister Peter Gutwein says.

The Government says the projects being assessed under its expressions of interest process will deliver $100 million in investment and 250 jobs in national parks, reserves and crown land around the state. But those claims can’t be scrutinised because a veil of secrecy.

About 30 projects have already been approved, including new private huts on the South Coast, Overland, Walls of Jerusalem and Frenchmans Cap tracks and the Lake Malbena proposal approved this week.

Mr Gutwein has previously described the process as “an open and transparent framework” but yesterday said the proposals being considered in round two of the process would be kept secret until they are approved — to protect the intellectual property of the proponents.

That round opened in December 2016 and has no end date. The terms and conditions of any of the secret negotiations for leases and licences will also be kept secret forever because they are regarded by the Government as being commercial-in-confidence, preventing anyone from knowing how much is being paid for access to public land and for how long the licences operate.

And they are exempt from the provisions of the state’s Right to Information Act.

Mr Gutwein yesterday said people should trust the Government to apply high standards.

“The EOI process allows some projects to come through the door and then obviously we assess them and determine whether or not we want to proceed to lease and license stage,” he said.

“Should we assess a project and determine that it will move to lease and license stage, then it will be made public.”

Mr Gutwein said the projects needed to be kept secret so other people couldn’t steal the best ideas.

“We’ve put in place a process that enables ideas to be brought forward and for those ideas and the intellectual property to be protected, it enables the State Government to assess them through a very robust process.”