At the August Gecko Talk, Robbie Porter from OzFish delivered a passionate talk on the forgotten shellfish reefs of Queensland to over 50 community members, including divers, fishers, water lovers, and curious listeners. He walked us through some of the many projects OzFish is involved in, including riparian restoration, safe Read more…
Last week a group of locals had the opportunity to get an update on the progress of the Currumbin Eco Park. The Queensland Department of Economic Development had invited members of Gecko Environment Council and Friends of Currumbin to an information session and brief walk up into the Blackbutt forest. Read more…
A recent Yarning about the Waters of Gondwana was held by Hinze Dam, featuri3ng diverse speakers sharing personal and local tales to positively re-imagine the management of water. This yarning brought together voices of encounters with nature, of regeneration, of solutions and cultural ways of being and knowing, all toward Read more…
Photograph: Hinze Dam, by Phill Cullen Water is life – foundational to healthy ecosystems and their services that in turn support our healthy society, economy, cultures, and way of life. So how is our water managed? The Gold Coast Water Plan was developed almost twenty years ago and is currently Read more…
Homes for all – Save our iconic wildlife Join us for conversations about protecting native forests and wildlife in the SEQ Regional Plan update 2023. The draft plan update for our region is out and the clock is ticking down to be a voice for our environment. We recognise that Read more…
Local Groups Fear Gold Coast Beach Erosion and Homes Flooding if Climate Change is not reduced to 50% by 2030 Fearing serious damage to homes and hinterland rainforests along with flooding, tourism and community groups want urgent action to cut carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030.Gold Coast tourism and Read more…
The City of Gold Coast Council is once again proposing a cableway from Mudgeeraba to Springbrook National Park and have commissioned a feasibility study which will be presented to Councillors in February. Gecko is extremely concerned that this proposal has been raised again as the Government report in 2000 clearly stated the reasons it should not proceed.
This is a proposed 4-6 lane highway with speeds up to 100km/h which will run roughly parallel to the east of the M1 and which is purported to remove 60,000 vehicles from the M1 and reduce congestion on the M1. However the end result will be 14 lanes of traffic from the Gold Coast to the Logan Motorway and no increase in public transport patronage.
At present there is funding of $1.53 billion for Stage 1 only and the project will begin mid-year with the construction of the Coomera River Bridge. Stage 1 is from Nerang to Coomera. Public consultation is likely in the first half of 2021. See gecko.org.au/campaigns/biodiversity for full details.
Over that time Gecko, as a leading regional environmental body, has actively participated in all
consultations relating the EPBC Act, the cornerstone of Australia’s environmental protection as well
as to development proposals that trigger Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES). In
this instance we would like to express our strong objection to this Bill, its manner of hasty passage
through Parliament and the lamentably curtailed debate that has taken place. We believe that this
Bill, which has been prematurely drafted and tabled, should have been informed by the final report
of the statutory independent review of the EPBC Act conducted by Prof Graeme Samuel AO. This has
yet to be presented to the public, together with the government’s considered response. The findings
of the preliminary report clearly stated that, “The EPBC Act is ineffective. It does not enable the
Commonwealth to protect and conserve environmental matters that are important for the nation.”
This view was backed up by the Australian National Audit Office which found that the federal
government’s administration of the EPBC Act was neither effective nor efficient.
No proof has been provided to demonstrate that the Bill will provide increased efficiency or a reduction of the costs of development applications.
The Federal legislation the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) is under review by Professor Samuels, and his final report is due for release prior to Christmas. In the meantime the Federal Government is pushing through a Bill called Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation (Streamlining Approvals) Bill which gives the State Governments the role of assessing development applications under the EPBC Act, without any national standards to guide their decisions. Gecko is opposing this undue haste and has requested that such a decision is delayed at least until February 2021 until the Review report is made public and national standards are developed.