'Gobsmacked': Govt sides with developer over disability access

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David Cawthorn has spent years fighting for easy disabled access to Hobart's multi-million-dollar Parliament Square redevelopment that boasts bars, restaurants and cafes — and the latest twist in the case has him 'gobsmacked'.

David Cawthorn has spent years fighting for easy access to Hobart's $200-million Parliament Square redevelopment, which boasts bars, restaurants and cafes — and the latest twist in the case has "got me gobsmacked", he says.The developer wants David Cawthorn's case heard by the High Court, rather than under Tasmanian jurisdiction

The development — in the bustling Salamanca area of Hobart — has two disability accesses, but Mr Cawthorn says both are situated on a steep hill, effectively not serving their purpose of giving easy access., Citta Property Group, for a third disability access — next to the main staircase — to be built.

He was worried that the developer arguing the state Anti-Discrimination Tribunal did not have "the jurisdiction to hear the case" and taking it to the High Court instead would weaken those Tasmanian laws."In a nutshell, the developer is arguing that because there are Commonwealth disability standards in relation to access to premises, they do not need to follow the stronger state-based access to premises standards," he said.

"For people who don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on arguing these cases before the Federal Court, it means that they're just not going to make the complaint," he said. "If the High Court does come out and say if it's federal legislation, the state body has no jurisdiction, then that would cause a whole amount of grief," she said.

 

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