Draft:Lake Pedder National Park

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Lake Pedder National Park was a national park in Tasmania, Australia, proclaimed on 8 March 1955[1] under section 7 of the Scenery Preservation Act 1915.[2] (IMAGE)

Lake Pedder National Park was created to protect the scenic values of the original Lake Pedder and its surrounds.[3][4] At the time of its proclamation, the park was said to be approximately 59,000 acres (24,000 ha) in area.[5][6] It was bounded by straight lines between the summits of Coronation Peak, Mount Helder, Harlequin Hill, Scotts Peak and Cinder Hill.[7] (IMAGE) Modern digital mapping estimates the park's area as 26,895 hectares (66,460 acres).[8]

(PARAGRAPH RE THE HYDRO DEVELOPMENT)

Lake Pedder National Park existed until 15 October 1968 when a further proclamation under the Scenery Preservation Act made two changes.[9] (IMAGE) Firstly, the area of the park was increased by about 8 times, to approximately 473,500 acres (191,600 ha).[10][11] The new, larger national park was to be known as Southwest National Park.[12] (IMAGE) Secondly, works carried out in the national park by or on behalf of the Hydro-Electric Commission were exempted from the protections applying to national parks and other scenic reserves under section 15 of the Scenery Preservation Act.[13] The Scenery Preservation Board is mentioned as recommending this key provision enabling hydro-electric works within the national park.[14]

(Allan Knight SPB membership)

The original Lake Pedder remained part of the national park, as it does to the present day[15] despite its inundation in 1972 as part of the hydro-electric scheme. The state government's intention at the time was that the lake's national park status and its attendant protections would no longer have the potential to hinder the hydro-electric development.[16]

Despite their name, most Australian national parks are declared, and are able to be revoked or modified, under state or territory legislation, although additional Federal protections may apply and take precedence, such as in areas that have World Heritage status.[17][18][19]

(Pedder controversy's role in creation of NPWS)

Until the commencement in 1971 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1970, the Scenery Preservation Board oversaw the creation and management of scenic reserves including national parks in Tasmania under the Scenery Preservation Act, while the Animals & Birds Protection Board did the same for wildlife sanctuaries under the Animals & Birds Protection Act 1928. From 1971 both kinds of reserve were managed by the new National Parks and Wildlife Service under a more effective legislative regime with more competent administration.

By mid-1972, with the impoundment's waters rising to drown the original Lake Pedder, the 1968 provisions weakening the protection of the Lake and the surrounding Southwest National Park had been found to be wanting, when legal action was threatened by conservationists:

"... we received a lot of intelligence over the telephone. The most dramatic piece was the night when the phone rang and a message was given to take ... certain acts of Parliament to a certain lawyer in a certain law firm and ask their opinion about the validity of the Lake Pedder scheme. And we did exactly that. We didn't really know what it all meant, but we took those documents along ... and within a couple of hours, we had a case against the government on their illegal flooding of Lake Pedder." [20]

In August 1972 the Hydro-Electric Commission (Doubts Removal) Act 1972 was passed by the Tasmania state government in response to the litigation threatened by those who wanted Lake Pedder saved. (IMAGE) This Act was retrospective in that it defended past as well as future hydro works and their effects, against any contravention of the new National Parks and Wildlife Act 1970 or the earlier Scenery Preservation Act. The Doubts Removal Act also focussed on the effects of the hydro works, including inundation, on the values of the national park, rather than the works themselves as in the 1968 provision.

The park’s main value of course, was the original Lake Pedder itself. The Lake was not directly damaged by hydro works, but the works ultimately resulted in the Lake's loss, whether permanent or temporary, to future generations.


References

  1. ^ https://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/breaking-the-spirit-of-the-wild/news-story/e19aa4f7afea3bd60e0e0816d1c4e129
  2. ^ https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/tas/num_act/tspa19156gvn15355/
  3. ^ Statutory Rules 1955, No. 17, Tasmania
  4. ^ Plan No. 775 registered under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1944 and filed in the office of the Surveyor-General and Secretary for Lands at Hobart
  5. ^ Statutory Rules 1955, No. 17, Tasmania
  6. ^ Plan No. 775 registered under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1944 and filed in the office of the Surveyor-General and Secretary for Lands at Hobart
  7. ^ Plan No. 775 registered under the Survey Co-ordination Act 1944 and filed in the office of the Surveyor-General and Secretary for Lands at Hobart
  8. ^ Google Maps
  9. ^ Statutory Rules 1968, No. 176, Tasmania
  10. ^ Statutory Rules 1968, No. 176, Tasmania
  11. ^ Land District Plan No. 220 filed and registered in the office of the Surveyor-General and Secretary for Lands at Hobart
  12. ^ Land District Plan No. 220 filed and registered in the office of the Surveyor-General and Secretary for Lands at Hobart
  13. ^ Statutory Rules 1968, No. 176, Tasmania
  14. ^ Statutory Rules 1968, No. 176, Tasmania
  15. ^ https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/southwest-national-park
  16. ^ Statutory Rules 1968, No. 176, Tasmania
  17. ^ https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/senate/environment_and_communications/completed_inquiries/2004-07/nationalparks/report/c03
  18. ^ https://vnpa.org.au/is-it-time-to-make-national-parks-truly-national/
  19. ^ https://habitatadvocate.com.au/national-parks-not-nationally-protected/
  20. ^ Bob Walker, quoted in https://www.abc.net.au/science/kelvin/files/s18.htm
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