Anti-World Heritage group peddles fear and misinformation at Cape rally

The Wilderness Society called on the Cape York Sustainable Futures group (CYSF) to stop scare mongering on Cape York Peninsula, and bring a factual and responsible position to the debate over a future World Heritage nomination.

The CYSF held an anti-World Heritage meeting at Musgrave Station on the Cape on Saturday November 3.

The Wilderness Society’s Northern Australia Campaigner Gavan McFadzean said, “Change is often confronting, but unavoidable change is coming to Cape York Peninsula. The future of Cape York Peninsula is being decided in the coming months. It can have an economic future driven by mining, or by a conservation economy underpinned by a World Heritage Area.”

World Heritage listing would make Cape York an international icon and reap huge economic benefits.

The nearby Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics-Daintree World Heritage areas are the powerhouse of the North Queensland economy.

“The future of Cape York is a decision for all Australians to take part in, but most importantly the Cape’s indigenous and non-Indigenous residents. They need to know the facts in order to have an informed debate about the future they want for themselves and their children.

“Pastoralists will not be kicked off their land and they will still be able to run cattle, the Peninsula Development Road will still be able to be upgraded, existing mining operations are not under threat, and Cape York will not be governed by the World Heritage governing body UNESCO in Paris.

“CYSF is only peddling such nonsense to scare Cape residents for its own political advantage and it’s destructive and divisive for Cape communities and the wider public.”

“Cape York could have an economy based on sustainable industries and businesses, and conserving nature and culture, including sustainable agriculture, tourism, cultural and arts industries, biomedicines, land management, conservation, fire management, carbon farming and weed and feral animal control.

“World Heritage has been on the table for over thirty years. The Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy (CYPLUS) in the mid-1990s which included pastoral, mining, tourism, local government, indigenous and conservation groups recognized the World Heritage values of the Cape.

“Commitment to a World Heritage process has been the policy of the Beattie, Bligh, Rudd, Gillard and Newman governments. Accusations that the World Heritage process is a rush to gain ‘Green’ votes are just ridiculous.