Environmental vandalism escalates

On March 14, the federal government announced a decision to move the Coode Island chemical and fuel storage plant near Melbourne to Point Lillias. Port Lillias is protected by the international Ramsar convention on wetlands, national estate listing and endangered species laws.

The executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Jim Downey, said, "If the federal government is prepared to allow the Victorian government to build a plant in an area that is protected by three federal mechanisms ... then all our important environments are in severe danger."

Downey points to similar scenarios such as the Western Australian government allowing drilling for oil in Shark Bay, the Queensland government's plans to clear the Daintree rainforest area and the South Australian government's opening up of the Coongie Lakes to oil drilling.

Also on March 14, the federal government announced that the Mt McCall road through wilderness in Tasmania will be maintained, a move that Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown says "tears up the management plan for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area".

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