Welcome to the Queensland Campaign Centre
Queensland’s natural environment, an overview Queenslanders’ perception of the value of our natural environment has changed dramatically in the past quarter of a century. In 1975, Fraser Island was still being extensively logged and proposed for sand mining. The wet tropical rainforests of far northern Queensland were logged and mined. Much of Queensland’s famous natural coastline was proposed for development and mining. Massive land clearing schemes were under way throughout central Queensland. Only a tiny portion of the state was protected through National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef was threatened by oil drilling. Now many of these places have been protected, often being recognised as being globally important through World Heritage listing. These places now form the backbone of Queensland’s burgeoning tourism industry. Tourism is the second largest industry in Queensland in terms of contribution to Gross State Product. For the year 1999/2000, tourism generated $9.2 billion in revenue for Queensland. Despite this sea change, many of Queensland’s remaining wild places are still being mined, cleared, logged and unsustainably developed. Last year, nearly one half of a million hectares of our woodlands were clear-felled for agricultural expansion. Extraordinary places such as Cape York Peninsula remain open to shortsighted slash and burn development. The native forests of south east Queensland, despite the signing of the historic South East Queensland Forest Agreement, remain available for logging.
Wild rivers throughout the state are threatened by new dam proposals as rural industries seek new, water intensive industries, such as cotton growing, to replace declining industries. Our National Parks remain chronically underfunded compared to the southern states, and Queensland has hesitated in developing genuine partnerships with indigenous Queenslanders in jointly managing our shared legacy, our National Parks and conservation areas. Since colonial times, Australia has built its material wealth on the back of a string of prosperous, but environmentally destructive, industries. The environmental and financial legacy of this pattern of development was outlined in a report prepared jointly by the National Farmer’s Federation and the Australian Conservation Foundation. This report concluded that to reverse the ecological impacts of clearing, grazing and irrigation in the Murray/Darling Basin alone would require a massive investment of $60 billion dollars in public and private revenue over the next ten years. By contrast, the partial sale of Telstra provided 1 billion dollars to restore and protect all of Australia’s environments. he financial and economic disaster of the Murray Darling should not be repeated in Queensland. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. We still have a chance to build a new Queensland, one that values its environment and develops industries and services that are compatible with its protection.
For more information, please contact:
Larelle McMillan
Brisbane Campaign Centre Coordinator
Email Larelle McMillan
Workphone: 07 3846 1420
Mobile:
Created: 05 May 2001 | Last updated: 05 May 2001.