King Coal to Destroy Nature Refuge?

For those who missed it, the massive "China First" coal mine at Alpha was announced late last week.

While Gold Coast mining magnate Clive Palmer was trumpeting the 70% Chinese investment that he has secured in the $6.5 bn project, Australians can be forgiven for wondering what the real impacts on the ground will be from this, the biggest coal mine in Australia.

Paola and Ian from Bimblebox Nature Refuge, which sits on the proposed mine site, are the people on the ground. In a recent article on ABC news they listed the dozen or so threatened species that exist on the nature refuge, and were pretty clear about how well conservation and mining can go together: 

"Mining and conservation don't go together... it's a waste of money to try and combine the two," says Ian. 

Here is their account of some of the real impacts of the project: (This story was released in conjuction with the Patricia Julien from the Mackay Conservation Group.) 

King Coal to Destroy Nature Refuge?

Invisible in the hype of Waratah Coal's multi-billion dollar business deal that has secured Chinese funding for its proposed developments in central Queensland, are the very gritty facts on the ground.

If the federal and Queensland governments approve Waratah's proposed thermal coal mine in the Galilee Basin it will uncover a gross inadequacy in current state and federal legislation which fails to protect Australia's important National Reserve System in the face of mining interests. The National Reserve System is designed to meet Australia's international obligations to conserve lands of high environmental values under the international Convention on Biological Diversity. This includes all our National Parks and privately owned Nature Refuges approved under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act.

Waratah Coal has a coal exploration permit over the 8000 hectare Bimblebox Nature Refuge, a rare example of intact bushland and sustainable land management amid vast areas of cleared grazing land. The property was bought for the express purpose of saving it from land clearing in 2000 and attracted federal funding to "permanently" protect the property as part of the National Reserve System.

It is one of the very few protected areas in the Desert Uplands bio-region, declared an Australian Biodiversity Hotspot, and hosts a number of long-term research projects. Importantly, Bimblebox is also in the groundwater recharge zone for the Great Artesian Basin.

If the Queensland mining minister approves a mining lease there is nothing in Queensland legislation to prevent Bimblebox from being cleared and becoming a massive coal mine.

According to Paola Cassoni, co-owner of Bimblebox Reserve: 

Queensland already has the smallest percentage of protected areas of any other Australian state or territory. Now that the Queensland government has backed down on a promise to expand National Parks and refused to prohibit mining on Nature Refuges, you could be forgiven for asking what is the point of nature refuge agreements and a National Reserve System if they aren't actually being protected.

The environment has been the biggest loser in the last 20 years of mining boom in every sense.

Here locally in central Queensland with losses of biodiversity, and globally with Australia at the forefront of carbon emissions. Surely the alternative energy industries that will create thousands of green jobs should be our first priority before we trash the future for all other, more sustainable, industries in the Galilee Basin such as grazing, agriculture and tourism

Waratah Coal's plans also include building 500km rail line to the coast at Abbot Point north of Bowen, a water pipeline, a new port in the Great Barrier Reef waters, and a 2.5km coal stockyard adjacent to the Caley Valley wetlands to export 40 mega tonnes of coal to China every year, equivalent to 92 mega-tonnes of carbon dioxide or around 16 per cent of Australia's total annual emissions.

Patricia Julien, coordinator of the regional Mackay Conservation Group said: 

The Caley Valley Abbot Point wetlands are listed in the Directory of National Wetlands, and meet the criteria for Ramsar listing as internationally significant. They cover more than 5,000 hectares and are the largest coastal wetlands in the Bowen Region and are a significant part of the East Australasian Flyway for migratory birds. They are home to up to 20,000 birds in the wet season. They also act as a fish nursery and help maintain water quality in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.”

The terms of reference for the EIS will be released for comment from this weekend, available through the QLD Department of Infrastructure and Planning website.