Senate Inquiry rejects Abbott’s anti-Wild Rivers Bill, but is anyone listening?

Media Release
The Wilderness Society (Qld) Inc
11 May 2011

The Wilderness Society has welcomed the report by the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee which calls for the rejection of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s anti Wild Rivers Bill in the Senate. The report validates the conservation group’s arguments that the Abbott Bill is badly drafted, founded on false assumptions, and is poor policy.

However, the Wilderness Society is concerned that key Senators who hold crucial votes in the Senate will be ignoring the report’s findings, and are planning to vote for bad legislation and unnecessary federal intervention. A vote on the Bill is expected tomorrow (Thursday).

Despite supporting the new Senate Inquiry, Senator Nick Xenophon has already made it clear he is backing Abbott and the Coalition in the Senate, rejecting out of hand what the Committee has advised. Family First Senator Steve Fielding now appears to hold the deciding vote.

Dr Tim Seelig, Queensland Campaign Manager for The Wilderness Society said: “Tony Abbott is on a river-wrecking mission at the behest of the mining industry, Northern Irrigation and Agriculture advocates, and pro-industrial development groups on Cape York Peninsula. We welcome the findings of the Senate Inquiry and its rejection of Abbott’s deeply flawed anti Wild Rivers Bill”

"Mr Abbott has adopted a tricky tactic of introducing his Bill into the House of Representatives and the Senate at the same time, in a rush to beat the changeover in the Senate at the end of June."

"We call on all Senators, especially Senator Steve Fielding, to heed the findings of the Committee and put good public policy and the environment above Mr Abbott's political opportunism, by voting against the Bill."

"We are deeply disappointed that Senator Xenophon is intending to vote for Abbott's river-wrecking bill in the Senate, and is ignoring the findings of an Inquiry he supported and participated in."

"His reported comments on the Queensland Wild Rivers Act indicate he made his mind up a long time ago, and has not looked at the evidence and analysis of the real issues. Senator Xenophon has offered no strong reasons why he chooses to support Mr Abbott in his anti-Wild Rivers crusade."

The House of Representatives’ Economics Committee has been separately conducting an Inquiry into Tony Abbott’s anti Wild River Bill, with broad terms of reference that encompass Indigenous economic development and the need for the protection of pristine river systems. The Committee is expected to table its report at some point in May.

If the anti-Wild Rivers Bill passes the Senate, independent MPs Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie in the House of Representatives will be critical to the outcome on Abbott’s Bill.

For further information and comment, contact Dr Tim Seelig on 0439 201 183