But there the animal was poached and much reduced. The sanctuary then became more interesting to Omanis for the oil beneath it. In 2007 it was the first place to be struck off the World Heritage list. Since then, there has only been one other delisting case - Dresden, Germany, which lost its cultural landscape status thanks to a bridge that opened last week. Now there may be a third. "The Coalition has never supported Labor's recent rushed and political World Heritage extension, which was put in place against the will of the Tasmanian people," said Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. "And we will seek to have it removed."

The 170,000 hectare extension to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is seen as the crowning conservation achievement of three years of forest peace talks. Even the industry is urging the Coalition to think again. Made in the heat of an election campaign, surely this is an unachievable false promise by the Coalition? "No," said opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt. "We can work with the international community on this. It's not difficult. That's what governments do all of the time." The generation of conflict in Tasmania centred on the tall old-growth native forests in this extension, and any attempt to remove them would send green activists back to the trenches. But it's a telling sign that Labor is not up and attacking the Coalition over this. Such is the state of blame in 8.4 per cent jobless Tasmania that defending forest conservation is not an option for the ALP.