Rally calls for action on Brisbane River
By Jim McIlroy
BRISBANE — Queensland Greens convener Drew Hutton and Australian Littoral Society executive officer Di Tarte expressed some optimism about the future of the Brisbane River, following a rally of up to 100 people at the Kangaroo Point cliffs here on August 29.
At the rally, John Gilmour, executive director of the Department of Environment and Heritage, committed the state government to establishing its planned Brisbane River Management Group by November 1993.
This proposal is "supported by conservation organisations, as it includes representation of community groups and an independent chairperson", Drew Hutton said.
Di Tarte had earlier warned that the Brisbane River does not meet World Health Organisation standards for safe swimming.
"It's not good — nobody should really be swimming in it", she said.
The rally endorsed a series of resolutions which, in addition to backing the river management group plan, called for the preparation of a Brisbane River Plan "as a matter of urgency"; opposed "the granting of any further in-channel sand and gravel extraction leases"; and called for "a comprehensive and public assessment of alternative sand and gravel supplies for south-east Queensland, and for the phase-out of in-channel sand and gravel extraction in the Brisbane River within three years".
Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorley called for dredging companies to stop their activities or prove they were not damaging the river.
"They're the ones getting the cheap sand and gravel; they should show they are not having a detrimental effect", Soorley told the rally.