Hinchinbrook campaign continues

By Trish Corcoran

SYDNEY -- One hundred and thirty people packed the Glebe Town Hall here on November 26 to hear an update on the campaign to stop tourist "development" and save the ecosystem in the area around Hinchinbrook Island, on the northern coast of Queensland adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef and wet tropics world heritage areas.

Peter Wright from the Australian Conservation Foundation explained that a tourist resort accommodating 1500 people is already being built on the shore near the island, destroying a large area of mangroves.

The other part of this development is a marina for 250 boats. The channel where it would be built is home to critically endangered dugongs, which feed on the seagrass beds. Michael Kennedy from the Humane Society told the meeting that Australia has the healthiest population of dugongs in the world; one of the largest is in the Hinchinbrook channel. The campaign will now focus on stopping the marina.

James Johnson from the Environmental Defenders Office spoke about the court case being heard on the destruction of the mangroves. He explained that the case on its own is nothing without community support. He cited the fact that in many cases where a court verdict has been favourable to the environment, the government has then changed the law.

Felicity Wade from the Wilderness Society encouraged people to get involved in the campaign. TWS is organising poster runs in Howard's electorate to put pressure on the prime minister and encouraging people to write letters, distribute postcards and phone parliamentarians.

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