Ecotone Vol32 No4 - CAFNEC

Queensland Resources Council), Dr Geoff Garrett,
(Queensland Government Chief Scientist), Dan Hunt
(Acting Director- General, Department of Natural
Resources and Mines) and Warren Mundine (Director
of the Australian Uranium Association and a former
ALP National President). Queensland Conservation was
approached to be on the Committee but refused on the
grounds that it was to implement rather than assess the
feasibility of the industry.
The Terms of Reference states that the Committee must:
‘report to Government recommending a best
practice policy framework for the orderly
development and operation of a recommenced
uranium mining and export industry in
Queensland. The framework should ensure that
uranium mining recommences with world best
practice environmental and safety standards,
whilst creating an attractive environment for
investment.’
Given the short timeframe there has been no clear
outline so far about how the committee will undertake
this task and in particular, undertake adequate
community engagement around this very contentious
issue.
There are also concerns about how and where uranium
ore will be transported offshore. This is a task given to
the Uranium Implementation Committee. According
to the Australian Uranium Association, uranium todate
uranium has only been exported from safe and
accredited ports in Darwin and Adelaide. As most of the
resources are principally in the Gulf, where there is no
infrastructure, will this mean the public are expected to
fund the infrastructure facilities to ensure transport to
Darwin or an east coast port facility.
Queensland’s uranium from the Mary Kathleen Mine
west of Townsville was exported through Townsville,
and the State government has said that it would
consider shipping uranium through the Great
Barrier Reef if the advisory committee made the
recommendation.
As a result of this decision to overturn the uranium
mining ban, the Queensland environment movement
as well as many community groups and trade unions
have begun to organize a political campaign against
the mining of uranium in Queensland. For more
information on how to get involved, please contact us
at CAFNEC on 4032 1746.
4
Cape York World Heritage
would provide new
opportunities
BY SARAH HOYAL AND
ANDREW PICONE
Progess continues on a potential World Heritage
nomination for parts of Cape York Peninsula (CYP),
even though the State Government withdrew
its support in mid-October 2012 and returned
$2M to the Federal Government. At that time,
Queensland Minister for Environment and Heritage
Protection Andrew Powell stated that since the
Federal government had already begun separate
negotiations with some Cape York traditional
owners it would be counter-productive for the
State Government to consult with interest groups
simultaneously.
However the Newman government still says it
will support the Commonwealth with a potential
nomination of ‘the best of the best’ areas that
demonstrate outstanding universal values. In
fact, World Heritage has been federal and state
government policy for more than six years and
discussed by community groups on and outside
CYP for well over 20 years.
For the last two years, the Queensland Government
(with Federal Government support) has consulted
Cape York Peninsula residents, communities
and organisations through a range of processes
including Country Based Planning with Traditional
Owners and sectoral consultation with the pastoral,
tourism and conservation stakeholders. A range
of consultation papers were released by the
Queensland Government in 2011, over 12 months
ago.
The Federal government has recently initiated its
own negotiations with Traditional Owner groups
through the Balkanu Aboriginal Corporation and
in early November Federal Environment Minister
Tony Burke visited parts of the Cape to talk to those
groups working through Balkanu. Some tensions
then developed from groups already engaged
through other processes such as the Country Based
Planning process as they felt ignored by the Federal
Government. Therefore over the last few months
environment groups have been working hard to
ensure that the process of consent and community
engagement now being undertaken solely by the
Federal Government includes all of the Indigenous
communities interested in considering support for
World Heritage.
The next deadline to submit a World Heritage
application to UNESCO is February 2013. Federal