Further developments

Further developments

By Tony Hastings

Following a Wet Tropics Ministerial Council meeting in Mackay on April 13, the federal minister for the environment, Senator John Faulkner, announced, "Ministerial Council has made a decision for no restaurant, no kiosk associated with the rainforest station on the Skyrail." This is a major victory for the opponents of Skyrail.

Presented with a 600 signature petition and 100 letters in Sydney on April 25, Faulkner responded by asserting that the "Commonwealth will not relinquish its control over Australia's 10 World Heritage areas". Barron Gorge National Park is World Heritage-listed.

While it remains to be seen if the Commonwealth government will play an assertive role in protecting the Barron Gorge National Park, all avenues are being investigated to halt the development.

The Cape York Land Council has advised the Rainforest Aboriginal Network, which is working with the People Against Kuranda Skyrail (PAKS), that the granting of leases would create a stronger proprietary interest over the crown land in question and therefore may be an impermissible act under the native title legislation. There are 22 separate leases to be granted by the Queensland Department of Lands, which allow the developer to clear patches of the park.

At the December 1993 meeting of the Tribal Land Council, Djabugay people voiced strong opposition to the project, and also decided to begin a land claim.

From GLW issue 141