Widows upset at ‘twisted’ quotes
THE widows of two of Tasmania’s most accomplished conservationist photographers say the Government is twisting their late husbands’ words to appear to endorse development in national parks.
Parks has apologised and agreed to remove the offending quotes.
Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis were quoted in a Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service positioning paper “Towards a Tourism Master Plan”.
The pioneering Tasmanian wilderness photographers were instrumental in conveying the beauty of Tasmania’s natural places to an international audience.
But Melva Truchanas and Liz Dombrovskis say their late husbands’ words were misappropriated without their consent to support an agenda they would have vehemently opposed.
“Using the statements of Olegas and Peter for a purpose such as this fundamentally misunderstands what they were saying and misrepresents their work,” they said.
“Olegas and Peter would share our horror at the rush to commercialise wild places, the willingness of Government to destroy wilderness and the perversion of process that has put the cart before the horse.
“Using these quotes in this way twists their meaning and misappropriates their message.”
They said changes to the overarching TWWHA Management Plan meant development would proceed regardless. “How can Government genuinely consult its constituents on a plan for tourism in the World Heritage Area when it has already changed the rules to allow pet projects to proceed?
“Together with Olegas and Peter, we have worked to protect world heritage and wilderness for decades.”
The Parks and Wildlife Service apologised yesterday.
“PWS acknowledges the environmental work of photographers Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis in the conservation of Tasmania’s wilderness. PWS meant no offence in publishing the late photographers’ quotes and will remove these references from the TMP document,” it said in a statement.
Parks released the positioning paper last week as part of its response to a 2015 UNESCO request for a tourism management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
It included a partial quote from Olegas Truchanas proclaiming the state’s wild areas as “a shining beacon in the (sic) dull, uniform and largely artificial world”.
But editing stripped the quote of its proper context.
The quote read: “Is there any reason why Tasmania should not be more beautiful on the day we leave it, than on the day we came?
“If we can revise our attitudes towards the land under our feet; if we can accept a role of steward and depart from the role of the conqueror, if we can accept that man and nature are inseparable parts of the unified whole, then Tasmania can be a shining beacon in a dull, uniform and largely artificial world.”