Conservationists protest against Pearson’s Wild Rivers claims

The Wilderness Society (Queensland) Inc
Media Release
9 September 2009

Leading conservation group the Wilderness Society this evening held a picket outside Noel Pearson’s opening address to the Brisbane Writers Festival, to draw attention to the highly inaccurate claims Mr Pearson has been making about Queensland’s Wild Rivers initiative. A new website – www.giveusabreak.org.au – is also being launched to highlight the facts about Wild Rivers and the misinformation from anti-Wild Rivers campaigners. 

Mr Pearson is one of the leaders of a campaign apparently designed to stop the protection of Cape York’s unique rivers and strike fear into Indigenous communities. In 2004, the Queensland Government promised to protect Cape York’s rivers from overdevelopment under Wild Rivers legislation and subsequently declared river basins in the Gulf Country, Hinchinbrook and Fraser Islands.

The government recently formally declared the first three rivers on the Cape as protected, following extensive community consultation. However, Noel Pearson and other pro-big development interests have been furiously campaigning to block the initiative.

Dr Tim Seelig, Queensland Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society said: “Cape York’s rivers are some of the healthiest left on Earth; they are the lifeblood of the environment and local communities. It is critical that together we protect and manage these rivers for future generations, and learn from our past mistakes with water and river management.”

“The facts about Wild Rivers have been the first casualty of Noel Pearson’s campaign. He has made the outrageous claims that Wild Rivers will lead to the banning of traditional hunting and fishing, will prevent the construction of tourism lodges, and stops sustainable economic development. This misinformation only strikes unwarranted fear into Cape York’s Indigenous communities” said Dr Seelig.

“The Queensland Government’s Wild Rivers initiative is a planning scheme, which sensibly excludes destructive developments such as mega-dams, intensive irrigation and strip-mining from rivers and wetlands. It promotes the development of a clean, green economy and sustainable employment on Cape York by avoiding the management mistakes of places like the River Murray.”

As part of the initiative, the Queensland Government has committed to creating 100 Indigenous Wild River Ranger jobs to look after the rivers. Twenty rangers are already employed from local communities, with another 10 commencing shortly.

“The Wilderness Society questions the motives of Noel Pearson for opposing such a sensible river management and employment initiative. The Wilderness Society renews its call on Mr Pearson to publicly acknowledge the facts about Queensland’s Wild Rivers initiative, and admit that he has got the facts on this wrong” concluded Dr Seelig.