What is Campbell Newman's agenda for Cape York?

Media Release
The Wilderness Society (Qld) Inc
Tuesday June 28th, 2011

The future of Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland is in question again with LNP leader Campbell Newman conducting a short trip there, but revealing nothing about his agenda for the region.

Campbell Newman paid a fly-in fly-out visit to the Cape with his Federal colleague, Warren Entsch MP. Mr Entsch has made it clear that he wants Wild Rivers protections scrapped, and the Wilderness Society is concerned that Mr Newman's trip is part of an ongoing conservative campaign to roll back environmental regulations in the far north of Queensland, allowing more mining and other destructive development.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott recently tried - unsuccessfully - to overturn Queensland's Wild Rivers laws which protect many of Cape York's rivers as well as rivers in North West and Western Queensland. Several Parliamentary Inquiries examined the legislation, and concluded that keeping the Wild Rivers laws was essential to building a sustainable future.

"We hope Mr Newman gets a chance to spend more time in the region to see and hear why Cape York is so special, and that he chooses to protect and manage it for its extraordinary natural and cultural wealth”, said Dr Tim Seelig, Queensland Campaign Manager for The Wilderness Society.

"Cape York Peninsula is a vast and spectacular region, twice the size of Tasmania, where the abundant natural beauty and cultural heritage is unquestionably worthy of World Heritage recognition. It contains many species of birds, animals and plants found nowhere else on Earth, and includes some of the last pristine, free-flowing rivers left on the planet."

"But the future of this unique place is under direct threat from bauxite and sand mining, and other unregulated industries which have received strong political support from Mr Newman's Federal National and Liberal Party colleagues", Dr Seelig added.

"Mr Newman needs to differentiate himself from this Federal push to open up Cape York to further industrialising activity, and confirm his Party's support for current environmental management and a path to sustainable development in Queensland."

The Queensland Liberal Party voted along with the Labor Party for the Wild Rivers Act in 2005. The Nationals abstained at the time.  More recent legislation focusing on Cape York Peninsula heritage also received bi-partisan support.  However, an anti-environment lobby within the LNP and the Federal Coalition has been campaigning to remove Queensland's environmental laws.

"The Wilderness Society encourages Campbell Newman to adopt a policy of maintaining State Government support for the protection and management of this ecologically intact region. The Wilderness Society has written to Mr Newman seeking clarification of his position on Wild Rivers, Cape York World Heritage, the expansion of Aboriginal-owned Parks and Protected Areas and sustainable development in the region.