The Australian Greens say the Tasmanian government cannot be trusted to properly assess the environmental impacts of development in national parks and World Heritage areas, for which it has today opened expressions of interest.

"Unfortunately in Tasmania we have a government with the mentality that if you can't dig it up or cut it down then you should put a resort on it. That's a very bad idea," said Greens Leader Christine Milne.

"The Greens want Tasmania to benefit from a strong tourism industry, so the Hodgman government has to get real.

The Australian Greens have pledged a $100 million boost for tourism marketing as the old parties threaten to destroy our tourism jewels and the half a million jobs that rely on them.

"Our natural attractions are Australia's biggest tourism drawcards," Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said.

"They define us in the international mind. Every year thousands of people visit places like the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and Uluru and come to see unique animals like the koala, leadbeater's possum and Tasmanian devil.

Australia's natural environment is the tourism industry's most important asset. The Greens are committed to protecting the environment and caring for the people who work in tourism by ensuring a strong sustainable tourism industry. The mining boom threatens some of our most spectacular places such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Tarkine as well as contributing to driving up the Australian dollar, which has hurt tourism businesses.

> ENSURING THE GROWTH OF TOURISM

While everyone now recognises the importance of Tasmania's ‘brand' the Greens were the first political party to recognise the importance of Tasmania's clean, green image as our competitive advantage. Well marketed identifiable products, adhering to ethical, health and environmental standards will command price premiums and continue to grow Tasmania's world class reputation.

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Greens spokesperson for both tourism and recycling, returned from this week's 2013 Tasmanian Tourism Conference on "sustainable tourism" shocked to find the event was sponsored by Coca-Cola, a giant multinational which uses corporate lobbying power and deep pockets to block and dismantle popular "refund" or "deposit" recycling schemes, all around the world.

Commenting on the TICT report on the importance of Tasmania's tourism marketing budget, Australian Greens tourism spokesperson Senator Whish-Wilson stated:

"The report from Deloitte Access Economics shows how important tourism marketing is to the entire economy of Tasmania, not just in tourism jobs but in positive flow on effects to other industries."

"Whilst Premier Lara Giddings has recently acknowledged how crucial tourism is to Tasmania, she must explain why considerable funds were taken out of the tourism budget in 2010 -11."

 The Australian Greens have welcomed the release of the Wellington Park Management Trust’s summary of representations from the last round of reviews of the Wellington Park Management Plan.

Senator Peter Whish-Wilson stated it was interesting to note that out of the 226 representations only 10% of submissions supported a cable car proposal. 

 “Of that only six representations out of the 25 supporting a cable car also supported development outside of the Springs area.

The Australian Greens have called for the drafting and implementation of a tourism recovery plan as an integral part of the process of re-building areas affected by the continuing Tasmanian bush fires.

Tourism spokesperson Senator Peter Whish-Wilson stated it was imperative to not only work toward re-building peoples’ homes and essential infrastructure but also the regional economy.

Feedback provided to the Australian Greens by many stakeholders in the Tasmanian wine industry, including the industry’s peak body, Wine Industry Tasmania (WIT), is they are concerned about Labor’s plans to incentivise the aggressive quadrupling of grape plantings in the state.

Whilst supporting the principle of schemes to drive new investment and jobs in the Tasmanian wine sector, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson stated any package of incentives to grow the Tasmanian wine industry must be grounded upon commercial realities.