Mount Wellington cable car saga escalates with call for integrity probe
Tasmania's Premier Will Hodgman has dismissed concerns over a deleted post on the Facebook page of a Minister, which political opponents have said call into question the integrity of the handling of the Mount Wellington cable car proposal.
The post on Minister Matthew Groom's Facebook page pictured Mr Groom alongside Adrian Bold, the man who is driving the latest push for a cable car development on Hobart's Mount Wellington[1], ahead of the 2014 election.
In the photo's caption Mr Groom praised Mr Bold "for all of the efforts you are putting in" to the project. Mr Bold is pictured in the photo wearing a "Vote One: Groom" badge.
Mr Groom is the Minister For State Growth and has made no secret of his support for the proposal, mentioning it in his maiden speech to Parliament in 2014.
The original post was deleted from Mr Groom's Facebook in early 2017.
In February this year the Government announced plans to compulsorily acquire land on Mount Wellington[2], with Mr Groom announcing the "new laws" would help expedite the project.
Today, Mr Groom reposted the photo on his Facebook page, stating he made "no apologies for standing up for investment and jobs in Tasmania and for supporting a cable car".
"I am more than happy to be in a photo with Adrian Bold and look forward to doing so again at the opening of a cable car to the summit of our magnificent Kunanyi/Mount Wellington," he wrote.
Hodgman: Groom's Facebook not on my radar
The State Opposition yesterday demanded Mr Groom explain why the original post was deleted, with Labor's Scott Bacon stating Mr Groom was "looking to give away public land to a private developer and he hasn't explained exactly what his relationship with Mr Bold is".
Today, Mr Hodgman played down the relationship between the men and said monitoring Mr Groom's social media posts was not a priority for him.
"There are a lot of things that require my attention — Matt Groom's Facebook page isn't one of those," he said.
Mr Hodgman said it was "hardly a state secret" that Mr Groom and Mr Bold were "acquaintances".
"I can assure Tasmanians that the decisions were made by Government, the whole of Government, off the back of independent advice and it will go through an independent planning process, there is no conspiracy," he said.
Greens join Labor call for Integrity Commission probe
Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said she has written to the Integrity Commission in light of the deletion of Mr Groom's original Facebook post.
"It's very difficult to know what the connection is between the close personal relationship between Mr Bold and the decision to bring in special legislation to enable the cable car," she said.
Ms O'Connor also questioned the independence of the "advice" the Government received over the acquisition of land.
She said she understood the advice had been provided "by Minister Groom's Department of State Growth".
"This is a matter that requires further investigation, we can't simply take Matthew Groom's assurances at face value," she said.
Ms O'Connor said ministers should abstain from decisions where there could be a perceived conflict of interest.
"Given the close personal relationship between [Mr Groom and Mr Bold] ... at the very least Mr Groom should have informed the Premier of the relationship and excused himself from any decision making capacity," she said.
Mr Groom said yesterday there was "no conspiracy".
Mr Bold has not returned the ABC's calls however he did take to Twitter to rebuke Ms O'Connor's assertions.
References
- ^ cable car development on Hobart's Mount Wellington (www.abc.net.au)
- ^ compulsorily acquire land on Mount Wellington (www.abc.net.au)
