Palaszczuk moves
on dredge dump

Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk has announced an agreement with Adani and GVK which will make good on her election promise to not allow dredge spoil from the development at Abbot Point to be dumped near the Great Barrier Reef or in the Caley Valley Wetlands.

Instead dredge spoil will be dumped on land at the site known as T2, adjacent to the existing coal terminal, the only unallocated industrial land at the port.
State Development Minister Dr Anthony Lyneham said the capital dredging costs would not be borne by taxpayers. “We will ensure that approvals costs will be met by Galilee Basin proponents, with capital dredging costs to be paid for by the proponents to the Galilee Basin projects,” he said.

The Palszcuk government says the agreement will lead to the “environmentally sustainable and fiscally responsible” development of the Abbot Point Coal Terminal. “Today my government sends a clear message: we can protect the Great Barrier Reef, and we can foster economic development and create jobs.”

But Australian Greens environment spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters said the agreement was bad news for the Great Barrier Reef and the jobs its supports.

“While we welcome that the dredge spoil will not be dumped in the Reef’s waters or wetlands, the dredging, shipping and climate impacts of building the world’s largest coal port in this World Heritage Area remain,” said Waters.

“Climate change is the biggest threat facing our Reef and sending hundreds of millions of tonnes of coal out through the Reef will come back to bite it through ocean acidification and coral bleaching. Many Queenslanders voted to protect the Great Barrier Reef and they are going to be disappointed that Labor is letting the Reef be dredged, treated as a highway for coal ships, and cooked by climate change.”

The Australian Greens are also calling on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to investigate the ownership of the Abbot Point coal port and Carmichael coal mine projects. “I’ve written to ASIC seeking an urgent investigation into which entity owns these massive projects threatening our Reef and climate,” Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens environment spokesperson, said.

“The Palaszczuk and Abbott governments are bending over backwards to ensure that Adani can turn our Great Barrier Reef into a shipping highway for climate-destroying coal. They appear to be handing over the safety of the Reef to shell companies registered in Singapore and the Cayman Islands.”

The government will withdraw the current applications for dredging and submit new applications to dump the dredge spoil at T2.

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The agreement deals with one of Palaszczuk’s promises in relation to the Great Barrier Reef.

During the election campaign Labor also promised to commit $100 million over five years to protect the Great Barrier Reef and mitigate against damage currently being caused.

Then in opposition, Annastacia Palaszczuk said that Labor would invest $20 million each year over five years to improve water quality within the reef area, create a high-level taskforce of key stakeholders and fight for increased Federal Government funding.

“Australia faces the real possibility that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee will decide to officially list the reef as ‘in danger’ in 2015,” Palaszczuk said.

A Labor Government would reduce nitrogen run-off by up to 80% in key catchments such as the Wet Tropics and the Burdekin by 2025; reduce total suspended sediment run-off by up to 50% in those catchments by 2025; form a taskforce with representatives from local government, conservation groups, primary producers, tourism operators and leading scientists to determine the best approach to meet strict targets and fight for a commensurate increase in funding from the Federal Government for Great Barrier Reef protection programs.

The taskforce would be required to report within a year of commencing and consider the effectiveness of robust regulations, a market-based trading mechanism or a combination of both.