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CENTRAL HIGHLANDS, TASMANIA

Walls of Jerusalem National Park

Proposed development project:  Halls Island, Lake Malbena
Halls Island, Lake Malbena. Image credit: Rob Blakers.

Lake Malbena is a pristine headwater lake in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, its waters flowing from the Central Highlands into the River Derwent, and eventually through nipaluna/Hobart. The lake was formed by glacial activity in the last Ice Age, and it has remained largely unchanged since, other than through Aboriginal landscape management and the odd fire. The 10 hectare Halls Island lays in the middle of the gorgeous, remote Lake Malbena which has experienced no development impacts other than a small, 70-year-old heritage-listed bush shack used as a base by bushwalkers for decades. The proposed development is for an exclusive, helicopter-accessed ‘standing camp’ on the island - cute wording for luxury huts. The proposal would allow at least 270 helicopter flights a year into a wilderness area that currently has none. The skies here are the domain of the endangered wedge-tailed eagle, and that’s how it should remain.


THE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL IN BRIEF:

- Four accommodation and living structures on Halls Island, only accessible by helicopter.
-Exclusive access for clients to the exclusion of the public in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.
- Undefined private access pathways. The entirety of Lake Malbena is included for exclusive access.
-Track construction in untracked wilderness from helipad to lakeshore and across Halls Island between shore and commercial structures.
- Vegetation clearing for track and building construction.
- At least 270 helicopter flights a year into a wilderness area with associated noise and visual pollution.
- Flight paths to degrade or damage 5,000 hectares of pristine wilderness.

THE DEVELOPER:

Wild Drake Pty Ltd
Image credit: Dan Broun.
Background

Lake Malbena was carved by glaciers over 10,000 years ago. It lies within the Walls of Jerusalem National Park, an area famous for its alpine labyrinth of highland lakes, picturesque mountains and ancient stands of endemic pine forest. Halls Island was named after legendary bushman Reg Hall, who built a small bush shack here in the 1950s. Bushwalkers have used it as a base for exploring this special and delicate area, but this heritage-listed bush hut is now in disrepair as it has been neglected by Wild Drake.

Reg Hall was by no means the first person to be captivated by the island’s beauty. The palawa-pakana people of lutruwita/Tasmania have a deep and ongoing connection spanning tens of thousands of years. The Walls of Jerusalem National Park has been recognised for its global significance, with the national park being included in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) in 1982.

This area is known by several names by different user groups. Anglers call it the Western Lakes, while bushwalkers refer to it as ‘The Plateau’, ‘The Walls’ and also ‘The Land of 1,000 Lakes’. Whatever the name, it is treasured as a place for seekers of solitude and adventure. It is also known for its relative accessibility, with easy access and navigation by foot and/or rafts from multiple trackheads. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure wonderland, a feast for the senses and soul food for those who explore it.

Lake Malbena is a place of immense natural and cultural importance so exceptional that, as shown by its World Heritage designation, it transcends national boundaries - this helicopter-fuelled fantasy has no place here.
Image credit: Dan Broun.
The proposed development

In 2018, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service issued tourism developer Wild Drake with a “draft final determination” to approve the building of luxury accommodation on Halls Island. This development includes: three twin-share accommodation buildings, toilet facilities and a communal dining hall with a kitchen; a helicopter landing pad on the shore of Lake Malbena opposite Halls Island; and up to 240 one-way helicopter flights between Derwent Bridge and Lake Malbena to provide visitor access, with additional flights for construction and maintenance.

The developer originally described the proposal as offering a four-day, three-night “premium” tourism experience costing $4,500 per person. This would involve climbing nearby Mount Oana, trips to a sacred Aboriginal cultural site, and off-island fly-fishing activities. Massive backlash followed from both the Aboriginal community (who hadn’t been consulted) and thousands of Tasmanians, and the proposal was pared back to on-island activities, with guests engaging in self-guided walks as well as poetry, art and astronomy. This reduction is a ruse, designed to facilitate approval, with activities to then be expanded beyond even the original stated concepts.

Certain elements of the Tasmanian tourism industry have long wanted access to this wilderness area for commercial gain. This proposal is only the latest iteration of that desire.
Credit: Dan Broun
Problems with the development

Through legal cases, as well as local and federal development approval processes (but noticeably not the State Government’s approval process), many, many words have been used to point out all the problems with this proposal. (See the Further Information section below to find out more.) Here are the top five:
1. Helicopter flights and luxury lodges destroy wilderness values.
2. This development puts at risk threatened species such as the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle.
3. The Tasmanian Government’s “Unlocking the potential in our Parks” policy is all about locking in dubious processes that compromise the protection of natural, cultural and wilderness values to benefit private developers.
4. The public are being locked out of areas of national parks they once enjoyed.
5. This proposal has been tested in the courts, and the developer keeps losing.

Public meeting of citizens troubled by the Halls Island proposal. Image credit: Dan Broun.
Current status

Wild Drake’s proposal is currently under assessment under the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. In response to an invitation to comment on the proposal, the proponent received more than 5,000 submissions from the concerned public.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek MP’s decision on this proposal has been held over twice, and Wild Drake has once again been asked to provide further information to allow the project to be properly assessed. Most notably, the developer needs to produce a comprehensive cultural heritage assessment taking into account landscape-wide impacts of the proposal.

As of July 2024, no substantial work has been done by the proponent on the comprehensive cultural heritage assessment.
Further information

You can learn more about Lake Malbena here:

How you can help

- Come along to regular meetings held by Fishers and Walkers Tasmania.
- Write a letter to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek, calling on her not to approve the proposal (referred to as the Halls Island Standing Camp, EPBC Number 2018/8177).
- Write a letter to the Premier, Jeremy Rockliff, expressing your concerns about the Tasmanian Government’s “Unlocking the potential in our Parks” policy, and advocating for national parks that are well managed, publicly accessible, and kept free from destructive helicopters and developments. 


Image credit: Dan Broun.