CASH FOR LEGISLATION?
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PoliticsPremier Campbell Newman (LNP)LNP leader supports Stradbroke Island sand mining. In contrast, Campbell Newman’s father stopped sand mining on Fraser Island 35 years ago. Kevin Newman was the Federal Environment Minister in 1976 and stopped sandmining on Fraser Island just six weeks after receiving the Fraser Island Inquiry Report which found that sand mining causes major environmental harm.
Campbell Newman broke his pre-2012 election promises to restore rights on Stradbroke and not give Sibelco anything more. Read and listen to what Newman said – the transcripts Former Premier Anna Bligh (ALP)In 2010 then Premier Bligh said that sand mining should never have begun on Stradbroke but in April 2011 her government used special new legislation to renew expired mining leases that allow many more years of destruction.
The Bligh government adopted as policy the mining companies own plan for ‘staged’ National Parks on Stradbroke. In July 2011 the Bligh government went even further and approved a dramatic expansion of the Enterprise open cut sandmine path. Hypocrisy: Former Premier Anna Bligh in the Brisbane Times: “The truth is that sand mining should never have been allowed to begin on North Stradbroke Island. It was a mistake. The leases were issued during an era when it was easier to get a mining lease than it was to get a driving licence. It was the “rip it up and ship it out” era that saw the diggers begin to dig at our island’s heart”. |
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Endangered speciesOpen cut sandmining causes major permanent irreversible damage to the natural environment that is impossible to repair or rehabilitate. Read more.  Destruction of old-growth forest for open cut sandmining near Point Lookout , North Stradbroke Island 2011. Sandmining threatens frogThe Wallum Sedge frog (litoria olongburensis) is one of several ‘vulnerable’ species, threatened by sandmining. Queensland State Government policy increases the risk of pollution from sandmining entering the wetland habitat of nationally recognised endangered species that live in the  Sand mining on Stradbroke Island destroys habitat of the vulnerable Wallum Sedge frog. Sand-mining threats to the habitat of the endangered Wallum Sedge frog are acknowledged by both the Queensland government, and Federal government. Both governments have a joint Wallum Sedge frog recovery plan which lists sandmining as a threat.
See more photos and information about the 18 Mile Swamp wetland.
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- Sand mining on Straddie = mining madness
Queensland government Stradbroke policy a sham
Island environment groups totally oppose continued destructive sand mining
Despite the ‘spin’, the former Bligh government policy did not stop sand mining. It did the opposite. It used special legislation to allow continued destructive sand mining of essential habitat, including of vulnerable frog species and the habitat of the unique island koala, now officially recognised as ‘vulnerable’. The former government did declare 50% of the Island national park, but that was ALP policy in 1990 and since then, it allowed much of the new ‘national park’ to be damaged by sand mining. The declaration of national park also essentially mirrored the mining company’s own ‘plan’ for national park – a plan which does not interfere with mining.
More sand mining further threatens the island’s ecosystems, fragile water bodies and the island’s economic future. The former Bligh government buckled to a giant overseas sand mining company and to its party’s power brokers. The LNP government under Premier Newman supports this policy of environmental destruction, despite the Federal government’s Fraser Island Inquiry concluding in 1976 that sand mining Queensland’s fragile sand islands causes, in the words of our then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, “major permanent and irreversible damage” (for further information about the Fraser Island Inquiry go to ” In 1976 Fraser Island sand mining was stopped in just six weeks by Campbell Newman’s own father” ).
The Queensland government’s policy would be a joke if it weren’t so serious. Side stepping the expired lease laws applying elsewhere in Queensland with special new laws in 2011 was a Bjelke Petersen style tactic. The government cynically legislated around the Mineral Resources Act, because applying it to the expired mining leases may have ended mineral sand mining by 2013.
The sand mining company complained about the special legislation because it didn’t get everything it wanted, but it benefited greatly – the renewal of expired leases from between 9 and 14 more years locked in further sand mining on Stradbroke to enable Sibelco to cash in on record high prices for mineral sands. Why special favours to this company which cannot be trusted ? The Court of Appeal found in 2010 that it unlawfully removed and sold large quantities of Straddie sand for landscaping and building purposes.It is before the courts on unresolved criminal charges for its unlawful activities. Yet before those charges were even heard, this company was rewarded with special legislation extending expired mining leases !
Straddie is the backyard of so many people of South East Queensland. The majority of the community opposes destructive sand mining tearing up the remaining ecosystems in this special place.
Overview of sand mining on North Stradbroke Island
Why the mining on Straddie must stop