Faulkner to reassess Skyrail

Issue 

By Kate Minnett

CAIRNS — The federal minister for environment, John Faulkner has announced he will visit the construction site of the $30 million tourist Skyrail in early August to make a first-hand assessment.

Conservation group and Djabugay Aboriginal community representatives presented letters and petitions to one of the PM's advisers, Simon Balderstone on July 20 and urged the government to halt work while the Djabugay's land claim is heard.

Te 7.5km Skyrail cableway system, located in the Barron Gorge National Park, will traverse protected World Heritage and National Park rainforest. The area contains many endangered species including the flightless cassowary bird.

It is also the land, inhabited for thousands of years, of the Djabugay. The Djabugay, who have lodged a land claim with the Native Title Tribunal, are frustrated with the excessive legal technicalities, in particular, the demand for proof that the development is causing "permanent damage" to the forest.

Recent heavy rain is already causing erosion on the 37 tower sites. Scarred trees and stone rings used for ceremonial purposes have been desecrated in the clearing process. But until the concreting and the erection of the 40-metre towers is under way, in legal terms, no "permanent damage" is deemed to have occurred.

Djabugay spokesperson Rhonda Duffin said that the land claim process is putting "enormous strain on our old people. These elders will have to 'prove' in a distant white man's court their spiritual bonds to this land. [They will have to] reveal information that should not be told, not even to our own people until the time is right".

The Australian Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ACUIUN) met in Cairns on July 7 and gave the federal government six months to ban Skyrail. If this does not occur, ACUIUN will start an international campaign to pressure the government.

Members of the Barron Gorge Wildlife Action Group have entered the sixth week of their forest protest. One protester has been tree sitting — in the same tree — for five weeks; the developer claims he will "build the tower around him".

Those interested in helping out can write, phone or fax the Honourable John Faulkner, Minister for Environment, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600. For further information, contact Melissa on (070) 533 735, or write to People against Kuranda Skyrail (PAKS), at PO Box 664, Smithfield QLD 4878.

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