Tasmania Slams the Door Shut on Influencers @ASPWthenextjourney 

Years ago, an Aussie entertainer said “the problem with Australia is not the number of convicts, it’s the number of wardens”……….. Nailed it!!!!

As a Tasmanian thank you for shedding light on this. It's a shame our government is not more supportive of creators.

Rob has some brilliant stuff on RU-vid that is well worth watching.

As a Tasmanian I feel a great sense of shame that the bureaucrats have got away with this lunacy. My thought's are, well screw Tasmania, there are other beautiful places in the world and I will be discouraging anyone I come in contact from travelling there.

I have been following Rob as well so am aware of the issues with Parks in Tasmania.We also have friends who live there and were planning a visit next year but may well can that now. I bet anything you like that the cause of all this is a few very stubborn people, with some weird views, at the head of Parks and Rec who are unable to get their heads out of the sand to deal with the issue in a realistic manner. I feel sorry for the whole state of Tasmania that they are caught up in this very bad publicity.

I've watched numerous video's of Australia's outback by Blokes such as Jack Absalom, Steve Irwin, Malcolm Douglas, All 4 Adventure, 4WD 24/7, Rob Parsons, Bush Tucker Man etc. They've all played a part in my adventures to Australia including Tasmania. The above mentioned are absolute legends and patriots of the beautiful Land Down Under, who are like a magnet, they draw adventurists to the beautiful shore of Australia. From the point of view of Rob Parsons, the government should ask Rob if he'd be a spokes person to enhance Tasmania's tourism. Just think of the revenues that video's like Robs have brought to Australia and the Tasmania economy.

The thanks with the bill/total cost is a damn good idea! And great way to further bring attention to this pretty appalling process.

Tassie should be paying Rob to make the videos. Plus Rob is on mainstream tv with some of his gold sniping stuff, so its not just YT

As a citizen of the United States who wants to visit Australia some day, hopefully soon, I've crossed Tasmania off my list of places I want to visit, as well as New Zealand, their policies are anti-liberty. I don't visit fascistic states.

It’s a terrible shame that they’re gatekeeping the natural world. Greed is humanity’s worst trait. No other state in the country has the same issues the Tassie authorities have raised. It’s ridiculous. Do these rules also apply to photographers who capture images within the parks and sell them as prints?

Great video this is what happens when empire building bureaucrats are given control I am furious

After just recently visiting tasmania and many national parks that drones are flown all the time. There are signs everywhere but visitors still do it. They sneak off the path and fly their drones. The difference is they don't put it on line. Rob makes his footage beautiful and in fact makes people want to go to Tassie.

Control and greed are ugly traits... It's sad the way alot things are going in life.

Andrew and Harry there is soooo much I could comment on. Thank you for raising these important issues, but what I really want to make a comment about is your statement “Why do I deserve this job?” I put you both in the same box as Jason Andrews and other presenters who took a risk, put it on the line and still take risks to make and provide this content and I’m so grateful that you make content that I so and many others enjoy. Keep up the amazing work Andrew and Harry.

They better not mess with videos from Rob. I am way into his videos. I am subscribed and like all his videos. He is educational and entertaining. He made me realize Tasmania existed. It is so awesome there. I wish I had money to pay to watch if I did I would.

I’m very pleased that others are highlighting the bureaucracy that the Tasmanian NPWL is imposing unreasonable financial pressure on people like Rob Parsons and Levi Triffit whose only crime is to promote Tasmania. I also believe that this is being done to frustrate well meaning people and to extract extra revenue for NPWL, and possibly the Tasmanian government. Keep going Rob you ARE doing a fantastic job!

Our family has canceled our trip to Tassie we have decided to to go to QLD instead because of these disgusting regulations

Poised to travel to Tasmania.. sitting on the sideline.. waiting for the ridiculous s- - to clear.. bureaucracy at its most unsupportive

I'm really sorry, Harry, that you had to pay 3 grand. Thanks for having the disposition to not resort to ad hominem attacks and for simply focusing on the policy. Your channel is perfectly positioned to showcase the subtleties of the different fire laws between states and therefore should have been encouraged. There's no better way to educate people about mundane laws while making them salivate over local produce. And I'm quite bummed that you, Andrew, won't be using your cinematography skills here to showcase Tasmania. I've been looking forward to seeing what your artistic approach would be. Tasmania is kind of its own little microcosm. I'm somewhat conflicted about the current permit approach, particularly when it comes to our wild places. On one hand, maintaining this system has clear conservation benefits for Tasmania, both for the environment and for maintaining that sense of mystery and 'wilderness' that makes it so marketable to begin with. While some may argue that influencers detract from this allure (graffiti), one has the option to simply not engage with the content. Conversely, the very system that protects can also act as an instrument for censorship, notably in shielding primary industries or when public lands are privatised. Although simplifying the process could yield economic advantages, such a shift would also bring irreversible environmental consequences, as exemplified by issues like root rot (a forever problem). This leads me to question: is the short-term privatised profit worth the long-term socialised cost? I guess it ends up boiling down to which issue is the strongest for the individual.

You have to understand why these people exist. They have created these convoluted, ridiculous rules and regulations in order to remain relevant. Effectively to create work for themselves. Any sane person can see that this situation is counter productive and detrimental to the state and it's people but they don't care about that. They want to create work for themselves so they can remain in a job. My dad worked in medical manufacturing and the hoops he had to jump through to cary out his job was mind-blowing. Government regulators would change parameters very slightly from year to year, just so they had something to come out and check. The changes were insignificant and irrelevant and would always go up and down with no explanation but those changes meant they had to come out every year to check everything was in order and in line with current best practices. Government inefficiencies makes my blood boil...

"Life Be In It"; It's all their fault. First they get us to get off our lounge chairs, then they charge us for the privilege of it. It's all Norms fault, we can blame Norm for all this

So, if you’re a local you need to abide by the rules and if you’re an overseas content creator you can shoot holiday footage and post it after the fact and they have zero recourse.

Aspw is a right pain in the ass. Nothing lost for tassie.

This is not the sort of video I was expecting to watch early Sunday morning. I am a tiny channel and don't normally film in parks (not yet) but do film in public places. I am literally in the process of moving to the state and this concerns me a lot. I am now trying to think of ways of how and where I can film legally without costing me money or a lot of money as I cannot afford it. I was excited to be able to film 'Tassie' as part of my content but not the case anymore. Not sure what to do now. I will have to come up with creative ways to be able to continue doing what I love. Thanks Andrew for making this video to inform us.

Visited Trowutta Arch a couple of years ago. Drove through what could only be described as a Waste Land of Decimated Forest to get there and could literally hear the chainsaws and other machinery destroying the forest and ecosystem. We made a decision then to avoid Tasmania as a future holiday destination. Watching Rob’s inspiring videos recently and was considering changing my mind and going back. Watching this video served to infuriate me again. I will continue to spend my tourist dollars on the mainland.

This is an interesting discussion, I have just started back into videography/photography, mainly with a drone, and am TAS based. I follow all the CASA guidelines and check apps for no fly zones, I’m also aware of the no fly rules in national parks, but wasn’t aware just how restrictive things were down here at a local level, this seems like something that should really be standardised across the country and not left to local bureaucrats to pad out their jobs.

Victoria isn’t much better. Getting permission to film or fly a drone in Victoria’s National Parks is expensive and the red tape is frustrating.

Time to start a parallel government, these white shirts aren’t fit for purpose.

42:00 Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service don't want content creators promoting parks.

Is Parks and Wildlife going to fine foreign influencers and ordinary tourists who do photography that ends up or could end up on their RU-vid (or articles, books, etc) channels? And how about when other countries start charging Aussies when they go abroad with their cameras? How are Australians going to feel when the Kiwis, Americans, Japanese (etc. etc. etc.) require a camera tax upon arrival - or other absurdity such as being fined on the spot for taking a picture on their beaches or in their parks? It boggles the mind!

I am an admirer of both Rob and Levi. Yes I find the gold segments are great but even better yet is both men struggling through the forests and navigating the rivers in their kayaks over trees waterfalls and rapids. Their is nothing like it on UTube. I have captured so many screen shots of their adventures and some I have digitally drawn. The Tassi wilderness just comes alive in their adventures. I so regret that there will be no more segments of these two men’s adventures. I am from the US and will no longer be able to share stories with my friends of the magnificat Tassi wilderness.

Is there perhaps a pattern of behaviour by the Tassie Govt of going after content creators who have been critical of the government, national parks and/or particularly forestry activities in their videos?

I understand your frustration with the strict photography and filming rules enforced by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. It seems that Tasmania has more lenient regulations in this regard. I hope that the authorities in New Zealand reconsider their policies to encourage more photography and filming in the parks. By the way, thank you for putting together the video and I wish you all the best in achieving your goals.

While I love the wilderness of Tassie I will never spend my money there.

Thanks for this information, so much for my family's visit to Tasie next Christmas. Small business is the life of the US economy!

This video got me irritated. So Tasmania - You can absolutely get knotted - I'll never visit your state. I'll tell all my friends and relatives here on the mainland too. NPWS mismanagement all over again.

I’m so puzzled by parks approach to this. Do they have a dedicated team, scrolling through RU-vid to find anyone filming in Tassie? How do they think they can possibly find and stop everyone? It’s a continuous thing. Foolish approach.

Yet another great episode

I think Victoria should enact legislation that when a Tasmanian PWS employee wants to visit the mainland, they need to apply for a permit to enter the Freedom zone, & they need to obtain Insurance in case they litter, or step on ants, or cause toilets to be filled which is costly to maintain, they should be required to obtain a water usage permit, water aint cheap ya know, I think this might bring some sense to them

Are they charging google earth for satellite images of Tassie national parks?

These Government workers don’t help laying to rest, the age old reputation of Tasmanians.

I could not watch the full video but I do have a small piece of information. Working on the Pieman River I heard that a track that lead along the west coast managed by Parks and Wildlife became a bit dangerous with maybe land slips. Rather than fix the problem to make it safe they closed the track so there was no access. my thoughts are that these areas are managed to be looked after for us.

Firstly all 3 of you guys are brilliant. love your content. The entire world revolves around the greedy. I still believe this 100%. A person who is intent on doing the wrong thing is going to do it anyway. they certainly wont film themselves on social media doing wrong. unless they are stupid. My small channel is slowly growing, not monetised .BUT this sort of stuff is very concerning as to whether I continue to share the places I love to visit.

How frustrating 😢 that does not make sense and doesn't benefit anyone

I have total respect for Roob and support him in any way I can Tasmania is a great destination i have been there afew time's and look forward to going back. I won't be coming back until they change their legislation.

From someone who lives in Tasmania, none of this bureaucratic nonsense suprises me one bit

How do they get away with threatening the charges n fines they do when look at all the damage they have allowed with mining and forestry maybe it's their Shane they are trying to hide ?? Agreed too many wardens

Thanks brother, I really enjoyed that... ✊🏽

Parks and wildlife or national parks is a corporation

The U.S. has also instituted similar policies in our National Parks, and have levied massive fines for those who filmed for YT. Here we can't fly a drone in a National Park under any circumstance, full stop. As many of my friends have observed in another hobby (amateur radio), when it comes to nature reserves and remote islands, "four legs good, two legs bad" is the rule of the day. In many cases, these islands are now completely closed to human activity because a certain environmental element has been granted absolute power. Others may grudgingly have to allow us to go but the stipulations and fees are absolutely astronomical. Your own country has essentially closed Willis, Macquarrie, and possibly Heard Islands to future amateur radio DXpeditions (where we go to contact people around the globe) in the name of protecting the environment from human beings. My guess is a similar force is in play in the Tassie government.

This must be so frustrating for you guy’s. You all do great videos. My gut feeling is the people at the top that don’t even use the national parks don’t want us to use them. I think NZ is heading the same way with DOC. These departments are run by un-elected officials that have to much power and don’t seem to have to answer to anybody with their own personal agendas. 😢

Whaaa, the amount of youtube videos I watched when planning my Tasmanian trips and holidays.... did they all had to do this or was just lucky enough to not get caught? smh beuracrazy

Huh, reminds me of the traps ( cops) on the Gold field that made life miserable for the diggers.

This is typical of the Tas gov Ie. The Tas afl team.

The right solution is to set up a streamlined process for everyone, locals or tourists, that takes around 30 minutes to apply and pay for a license and also educate them on important rules. The fee should be within reason and the revenue generated should be used to hire more rangers to actually look after and maintain the quality and natural conditions of the parks, reserves and world heritage sites. In reality, they don't want people to visit because it means more to maintain, and they are happy to have large corporations come in and log, mine, and destroy land for profit. Same thing happens in the USA. Rules for the people, streamlined destruction and profit for the corporations making bucks on so called public lands (lands of the people). It's all a crock of shite.

Just a thought at the end here as Rob said ‘ why now ‘, maybe it’s just some jealous, officious employee of NPW being also a bully boy

Your problem was, you had no connection to the OLD SCHOOL TIE. That’s why the state struggles the get innovative businesses started. I am an ex Tasmanian and has always frustrated me that if you aren’t ‘in the know, you don’t get a go’.

I guess the other side of this is that as "influencers" promote more places then more people will go there, likely many who don't give a crap about looking after the area, that will require more management and cost on the part of Govt. agencies as well. I saw video on a popular 4wd RU-vid channel, who do all the gotta trash our vehicles on the hardest track crap, about how tracks were being closed all over the place and complaining about it all. Some of the commenters were saying that their local tracks had been closed as the same group had done videos on these tracks and then every man and his dog turned up to do it so the tracks were closed due to damage etc. Sort of ironic really. I watch a fair few RU-vid 4wd videos and have planned trips based on what I've seen so I guess I'm guilty of it as well although we only go to parks, pay our way and never leave rubbish etc. I guess that most wage slaves have to get up and spend their time doing something they likely don't like to get by and now those who get paid to do what they love are feeling some pain as well.

I don't know the full story of this, nor what really happened, but it sounds like the officials making the decisions, do not know the subject at hand. I totally support people being fined and banned for doing stupid things in the bush (and not just in TAS), but simply creating content to enforce them to requires all sorts of bureaucratic permissions? That sound's more like revenue raising to me.

You have to visit the zippo factory, next to the case knife factory in Bradford Pennsylvania . Fantastic place.

This is all about Gold, Gold is greed to some and they simply see the the boys finding a bit of gold and just simply want a slice of it. A lot of people see us prospectors as being rich as the word "gold" is used. If you find gold you must be rich, well the reality of it some do find it lucritive and others are just hobbyists and are not rich but we do find gold for our troubles. They have turned a blind eye up until now because "Gold" is being found so they must be making a fortune. Simply put, Gold does some stupid things to some people who cant get off there bums and go get it themselves - My 2 cents worth

Im my opinion someone has seen Rob and Levi in the river sniping for gold and have a bee in their bonnet about how they disturb the river gravels ect. Ive seen the uproar that the simple art of rock stacking people do causes some people to get so upset demanding they all be pushed over and insisting that they are causing degradation and loss of habitat for all sorts of species. They would be freaking out that it was going to encourage waves of others to do what they are doing looking for gold. I think they looked at it found there are no laws to stop them and had to work out a way, so they come up with all these little things they did wrong and then forced them to get all the licences ect. Their aim is not to help them but make it so hard they give up and stop promoting the gold prospecting side I really dont think they care about the history type videos I thinks its all about the gold sniping videos

im moving there soon to mtb at blue derby with some new go pros. so dose that meen i cant put my clips on you tube..

I have my own youtube channel, and it's not monetised. So that means I can go to tassie Film all I want, and then put it all onto my channel. If they're trying to stop small film makers from going to places because of these ridiculous high fees so they don't over run areas. What's stopping people like me. There are hoards of people with youtube channels that make no money and will go anywhere over tassie. The parks are a bunch of Fwitts.

It they take away the places you want to go, they can sell/lease it to big business i.e mining, logging etc

All I can comment on, is that in my areas neel every spot I go to in National Parks is becoming trashed, overrun and accompanied by extreme lack of etiquette. Forcing me further into the wilderness to find solitude. Influencers certainly have some responsibility here, for the reasons others have outlined. I agree tassie needs to get it together, but the ideas behind Rangers wanting to reduce traffic is incredibly valid. Theyre too under resourced, especially in Tassie which is the only Liberal state, who have never given a damn in supporting parks.

Seems like an answer might be found in the operations of New Zealand and the tourism board there. I get the feeling that Tasmanian Govt. is like the ugly Farm owner in Quigley Down Under. Is life in “Tazi” so idyllic that there are no longer curbs- but angled inclines so “ road rash rims” no longer create unsightly wheel blemishes on cars?? …😮😮😮😢😢

A move in the right direction. Awesome

Can you film on private property looking on to a beach.

🇸🇮👍🙋🍀🍀💖💖

W E F at work

This whole debacle is absolutely ridiculous if the people who are filming are making six figures for their content then you could understand parks & wildlife clamping down on them, but people like Rob and others who are proud of their state and like to show it off to the world be punished for such a ridiculous thing is bloody disgusting, The Tas government spend millions advertising our state but their content is of the ultra tourist area which only covers the mobile tourist not the people who love the bush and wish to walk into places that 98 percent of Tasmanians didn’t even know existed, I’m a proud Tasmanian but I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices to visit our own national parks, get your act together Tas government stop playing petty games

Being self employed ‘ Content Creators ‘ you are subject to rules, regulations and tax obligation as is the rest of the population. I agree the regulations you have highlighted are a disproportional response. With the changing landscape of media this will not go away in my view ! The Taxman Local and State Government Authorities as well as Parks and Private Landowners are all revenue seekers. I suggest authorities use a Scan Code arrangement with nominal fees for the various jurisdictions that is mandatory for anyone publishing for profit ? Tax file numbers and registered business via ABN would be cross referenced for Government to enforce and would not need to be prosecuted if fees and taxes are paid.

Well, the Tas government doesn't have a majority, and chances are that in next election, there will also be a minority government, so send emails to all theGreensand independent mp expressing our concerns. I have done it.

gee, a youtuber complaining that youtubers can't stand in the middle of tracks filming themselves ! that's a balanced and fair appraisal of the situation. I frequent tas protected areas often, and I totally support the decision.

28:45 that's exactly what happened to Rob and Levi their videos showed them breaking the law Harry you can put videos on your channel just demonetize the four videos you made. how exactly were you helping Tasmania? you were helping yourself. The thing is a lot of Tasmanians don't want you or other youtubers coming here you're fooling yourselves thinking you are helping Tasmania how many of the 1.3 million visitors last year you influenced to come or stay away from Tasmania? you've got to be dreaming.

I think that by applying for a permit (without a fee) should trigger the ATO to check that the content creator is registered and operates legitimately as an income business (regardless how much they make) and have the ATO manage the fees through their business activity statements, based on the amount of income they receive… too many content creators earn sponsored products and income and don’t pay their dues… the trouble I see with society at the moment, is that so many people today want to earn and create wealth from doing nothing but making meaningless content that are merely commercial advertisements that ambush you with garbage and regurgitate the same content that has been created by many other creators…

I’m in 2 minds with this. Firstly their permit fees and conditions are clearly outrageous, and secondly there are DEFINITELY plenty of influencers doing the wrong thing. Rob is one of those, evidenced by his flying drones in National Parks. You then get people following that example, not researching what they should and shouldn’t do, and flying their own drones, trampling all over natural areas, etc. so many content creators give zero f’s about what they’re doing!

Maybe you should pay for a change andrew it is something normal people do when they travel rather trying to get everything for free do you have a business licence andrew

Flying drones in National Parks has been a no no its on their websites. Sounds like the real issue is your not making money etc Sounds like your not doing research properly.

I will right to Tasmania National Park and express my concerns with their system. Two years ago I traveled to Tassie and had to get park permits. Never did get them. They were posted to my home on the North Coast NSW., 7 weeks later. They were a joke. I will travel elsewhere in Australia.