Tasmanian leaders struggle with a basic fact: environment laws should protect the environment | Adam Morton

Nature in Australia's smallest state is in poor health, but this has been largely ignored by both major parties in the lead-up to the early state electionWant to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter hereTasmania has a complicated relationship with its natural beauty. Australia's smallest state is marketed for its "clean and green" environment and produce, and the government runs tourism campaigns with the tagline "come down for air" that lean heavily on its stunning landscapes, coastlines and wildlife.But the state also has a hard-earned reputation for backing environmentally damaging industries that grab national, and sometimes international, attention: hydroelectric dam expansion, logging of old-growth forests and, most recently, salmon farming.Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter Continue reading...