In the wake of the Queensland election result the federal government has decided to postpone a decision on whether to allow dredge spoil from a north Queensland port expansion to be dumped on nearby wetlands.
Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed that he will delay a decision on whether to allow dredge spoil from the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal, near Bowen, to be dumped on the Caley Valley wetlands, until he can talk to the new Queensland government.
In the months leading up to the election the Newman government spent $1 million on a campaign designed to dispel concerns the reef was under threat from industrialisation. The reef became a hot topic during the election campaign, with state and federal Labor pledging to ban dredge spoil dumping in the entire heritage area.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society welcomed the news and called on the new Queensland government to withdraw the dredging and dumping proposals for Abbot Point and the Caley Valley wetlands and reassess the whole project.
They issued this statement on February 2.
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The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) said the shock Queensland election sends a warning to Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, with Queenslanders rejecting plans to rapidly industrialise the coastline of the Great Barrier Reef.
A vast majority of Australians (66%) do not approve of the decision to expand the Abbot Point coal port in the Great Barrier Reef.
AMCS Great Barrier Reef Campaign Director, Felicity Wishart, said the Queensland election result demonstrates that Australians are prepared to vote for the protection of the Reef.
“The Federal Government should learn the lesson from Queensland. Minister Hunt needs to urgently put a proper plan in place for the strong protection of the Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage Area,” Wishart said.
“This would mean an immediate end to dredge dumping in the Reef’s World Heritage waters and no new mega port developments along the Reef coast.
“Yesterday the Minister submitted the Australian State Party Report on the management of the Great Barrier Reef to UNESCO ahead of the World Heritage Committee meeting in June.
“While the Minister is suggesting Australia has done enough to secure the Reef from ‘In Danger’ listing, clearly the Queensland community does not agree.
“The community has rejected the Newman government’s plans for mega ports, millions of tonnes of dredging and dumping in the Reef’s waters or its precious wetlands, including the current proposal for dumping Abbot Point spoil in Caley Valley Wetlands.
“Australians have a more sophisticated notion of what will bring jobs and investment to our shores, beyond relying on being in the ‘coal business’ in a changing global market.
“They recognise that a healthy economy relies on a healthy environment and rapid industrialisation threatens a $6 billion tourism industry and 60,000 jobs that rely on the Reef.
“Weakening environmental protections, unrestrained state approval powers and special treatment for the mining industry is not where we should be heading.
“We call on Minister Hunt to immediately do everything he can in the months before the World Heritage Committee meeting to keep our natural wonder off the ‘In Danger’ list and on the path to a healthy future,” she said.
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