Dear Australians, we need your help! Tasmania's natural beauty, economic future, and way of life are under threat from Project Marinus, one of the largest and most damaging infrastructure projects ever proposed in Tasmania's history.

The Marinus undersea energy cables connecting Tasmania with the mainland, together with the associated North West Transmission Developments, currently have a price tag of more than $6.5 billion for stages 1 and 2 combined. This is simply unaffordable for Tasmania's small population and economy. If built, Marinus risks imposing a crushing debt burden on current and future generations of Tasmanians, leaving less money available for essential services such as healthcare, education, and housing, all of which are already under serious strain.

Independent energy experts have also warned that Marinus is likely to increase costs for Tasmanian electricity consumers. Energy economist Professor Bruce Mountain, Director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre at Victoria University, has said there is "simply no prospect at all that adding the cost of Marinus Link will be profitable", and that it "will leave Tasmanians much poorer for it for a very long period of time".

But the damage from Marinus Link goes far beyond power prices. If this project goes ahead, it will enable the rollout of wind farms, transmission lines, and other energy developments on such a large scale statewide as to cause unprecedented environmental damage. AEMO's map shows roughly two-thirds of Tasmania – in the Northeast, Northwest, and Central Highlands – covered by Renewable Energy Zones. Even special, environmentally sensitive locations such as Robbins Island, home to critically endangered species, face the destructive impacts of wind farms under Marinus. Prime agricultural land and towns as large as George Town will likewise not be exempt from some inappropriately-sited wind projects.

Tasmania represents less than one percent of Australia's land mass. Yet, it is being asked to shoulder an enormous environmental and economic burden in order to trade energy with the mainland. To industrialise so much of this beautiful island with energy infrastructure would transform Tasmania greatly for the worse.

In addition to the energy cables, Marinus also includes fibre optic data cables. By significantly increasing connectivity of energy and data with mainland Australia, the Marinus Link is also expected to enable a major new Artificial Intelligence industry in the state, which will arguably be of little benefit to ordinary Tasmanians. AI data centres require enormous amounts of energy and water to operate but create relatively few jobs. At the same time, data centres raise deeper questions of control. If Tasmania's energy future is reshaped around AI data centres backed by foreign or off-island investment, then local communities risk being overpowered by corporate interests based far from Tasmania, with the island's precious resources increasingly treated as something to be exploited rather than protected. Marinus would help make these changes possible.

However, Tasmania does not have to become a dumping ground for the foreign-owned wind farms and energy-intensive AI data centres enabled by Marinus.

This GoFundMe was started to raise the funds needed to stop Project Marinus from going ahead. There are two separate but closely related legal challenges. One concerns the Marinus Link development approval at Heybridge, while the other concerns the North West Transmission Developments, the transmission infrastructure needed to support Marinus. There are substantial costs involved in legal action, including lawyers' fees, expert reports, hearing-related costs, and other legal expenses.

These legal challenges are incredibly important because, at present, they are virtually the only obstacle standing in the way of Project Marinus moving from approvals and preparatory works into full construction.

This is a fight Tasmania cannot afford to lose.

Please donate if you can. Even if you are not able to give financially, sharing this campaign with others will do much to help spread the word and is greatly appreciated. Together, we can help protect Tasmania from the economic, social, and environmental destruction of Project Marinus.