The Newman port strategy proposes major new coal development along the Great Barrier Reef coast, including at Abbot Point, Dudgeon Point, in the Fitzroy delta at the southern end of Keppel Bay and in Gladstone.
“The Great Barrier Reef is at a turning point and the Queensland Government has shown that, as Tony Burke has already stated, it cannot be trusted with the Great Barrier Reef. This is a strategy for the coal industry not the Queensland community,” said Greenpeace Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner Georgina Woods. “We’re calling now for the Federal Government to make good its promise to protect the Reef and stop these port developments.”
“This strategy flies in the face of what the World Heritage Committee requested last June,” said Woods. “That is, that Australia not approve any new development that would impact on the Reef’s outstanding universal value. Since then, the Federal Government has approved a large new coal terminal on the Reef’s coast and has accepted an application for yet more dredging in Gladstone harbour.
“It’s now three months to the day till the Federal Government is due to report to UNESCO about whether we’ve heeded the call not to permit this kind of development, and to review the management of Gladstone harbour. They need to make clear that they will fulfill this request.”
Further comment
Greenpeace Campaigner, Georgina Woods: 0438 223 771
Greenpeace Media Officer, Julie Macken: 0400 925 217
Thursday 1 November, 2012: Greenpeace has called on the Federal Government to urgently step in and prevent the industrialisation of the Great Barrier Reef coast, following the release today of the Queensland Government’s Port Strategy.