Greens tourism spokesperson Tabatha Badger has taken aim at Tasmanian Labor after MP Shane Broad voiced his support for a cable car on Kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
Broad took to social media on Monday ahead of parliament returning on Tuesday, saying a cable car could become one of Hobart’s top three tourist attractions alongside Mona and Salamanca Market.
Badger said she was “not at all surprised” by the comments.
“We see them regularly line up with the Liberals and support their policies around inappropriate development, particularly in protected areas as well,” she said.
“Kunanyi is an incredibly sacred place that is important to people, especially in Hobart, but right across Lutruwita/Tasmania and to our Aboriginal community as well.”
“That is a site that should be protected,” she said.
Broad had said snow events currently make it nearly impossible to reach the summit because the road is closed, a problem a cable car would solve.
“I think if there was a cable car up Mount Wellington, we could actually do one that was sympathetic and wasn’t really poking people in the eye,” he said.
“It would be a major tourist attraction, but I think there has to be a way of doing it that means that it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.”
A Labor spokesperson struck a more cautious tone on behalf of the wider party than Broad himself, saying the party was “open minded to solutions to improve access to and environmental protection of Kunanyi/Mt Wellington.”
“We note there are currently no proposals and we will assess any proposals on their merits,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis told Pulse the transport options for the mountain are “not up to standard”.
However Ellis would not commit to a release date for the government’s long-delayed action plan, instead saying it would be “released shortly”.
The action plan was originally scheduled for release in June 2025, then in late 2025, then April this year, then June. But as of August, it still has not been published.
Badger said the Greens have been calling for the government’s mountain review information to be released “for quite some time”.
A previous cable car proposal was rejected by Hobart City Council in 2021 and the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2022, with around 72% of 16,500 public submissions opposing it.
