Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O'Connor on Wednesday sought to kill off any future developments on Mount Wellington with a bill seeking to repeal a facilitation law, but the government voted down the motion.
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The motion would have repealed the Cable Car (kunanyi/Mount Wellington) Facilitation Act 2017, a law passed by the Hodgman government as a way to facilitate projects like the one championed by the Mount Wellington Cableway Company.
That project was placed into limbo after Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last week rejected an appeal seeking reversal of a Council decision knocking the project back.
Ms O'Connor said the 2017 law helped the project proponent compulsorily acquire the mountain summit, and labeled it an "abuse of parliament".
"TasCAT's decision should be the death knell for this project. It was a resounding win for the mountain, and for all who have fought for years against this appalling attempt to desecrate it."
In response, Minister for State Development, Guy Barnett, said the government "supported the cable car project for a whole range of reasons".
"It's not just to grow the economy and support our visitor economy and create more jobs, but also to protect and support the natural assets of Mount Wellington," Mr Barnett said.
He said about 600,000 people use the access road to the mountain top, and that the numbers are only set to increase.
"So we need to act ... we need to look at all the options for development of the mountain," he said.
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