Taking away the public’s say

THE Major Projects Bill 2020 that the Liberal Government is attempting to pass, for the third time, in May has not been accepted by parliament before because it is bordering on fascism. The Government is attempting to cherrypick powers and duties from local councils to give themselves powers that will make public consultation redundant. There will be no consultation required for any project that comes along.

The public will have no say as to whether projects go ahead or not. If the premier is in favour of the cable car, or converting Richmond into a housing dormitory, noone will have the opportunity to give feedback and if anyone attempts to stop the project, they face a period in prison. Where has democracy gone to under both the state and federal governments?

Peter Wileman Westbury

the Hodgman-Gutwein government. As member of a community affected by the shambles proposed by offshore companies, TasNetworks and State Government, any delay is a good thing. State Government doesn’t have an energy plan worth the paper it’s written on and no climate plan at all. There’s no genuine co-ordination with Australian Energy Market Operator.

Offshore investors are seeking to plug into our grid and sell power to the mainland. Once infrastructure is built there will be precious few jobs maintaining transmission lines and iconic tourist spots will be industrialised, losing jobs in tourism and drying out forests. Mr Wilkie, you’ve been conned by PR, a multimillion-dollar exercise of box-ticking and phony consultation that talks big and ignores locals. In the North-West there is no economic modelling to back investment and jobs rhetoric. Long live the delay, we might just force this government into a genuine plan with benefits to North-West Tasmanians.

Ben Marshall Loongana