PROTECT NURTURE RESTORE
AUSTRALIANS FOR
an ma s Reg. Charity No. CFN12644
FEBRUARY 2014 NEWSLETTER PO Box 414, Brunswick Heads 2483 Australia Tel: 61 2 6680 3674 Fax: 61 2 6680 3612 Email: suearnold@linknet.com.au
INQUIRY INTO GLADSTONE MISMANAGEMENT IS A DISASTER Many of you will have seen the news reports on the leaking bund wall in Gladstone in the Australian, wri en by the Environmental Editor, Graham Lloyd. The reports were based on astounding admissions by a former Environmental Manager for Gladstone Ports Corpora on who contacted AFA in November. As a result of many long hours of phone conversa ons and conference calls, AFA delivered on behalf of the whistleblower, a damning indictment of the Gladstone LNG development to the Australian newspaper. A series of devasta ng ar cles resulted in Federal Environment Minister Hunt announcing he w o u l d c a l l fo r a “ fi e r c e l y independent inquiry” as a result of the revela ons. One of the worst aspects of the appalling mismanagement of the development, reported in the Australian, is the fact that the bund wall con nues to leak and would cost, according to senior engineers, at least $50 million to fix. It was also clear that neither the Queensland or Commonwealth government monitored this massive development which included the dredging of over 20 million c.metres of seabed; the mortality of dugongs, inshore dolphins, turtles and a major outbreak of disease in fish, sharks, s ngrays and other sea creatures. It was appalling and so disappoin ng to read Minister Hunt's media release detailing the Panel he had appointed and the terms of reference. Not only had the Minister failed to deliver “a fiercely independent inquiry” but the three members appointed all have conflicts of interest in Gladstone. Inquiry chair, Dr Andrew Johnson, works for CSIRO. This organisa on has played a major
Left - Dredge Spoil in Gladstone Harbour, Right - Bund Wall
role in publishing research which claims there are no problems with heavy metals in Gladstone Harbour. CSIRO has also been employed to do environmental impact a s s e s s m e n t s IMAGE: b y ROBERTO a m aSOZZANI jor corpora on in Gladstone thus ensuring conflicts of interest. As well, Dr Johnson is on the Great Barrier Reef Founda on's so-called Independent Scien fic Panel. Two other members of the inquiry are Ms Anthea Tinney, former Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of the Environment AND former Chair of the useless Independent Review of Gladstone which was ins gated by the previous Minister for the Environment, Tony Burke. Dr Ian Creswell from CSIRO, and
a member of the Tinney Panel which Burke set in mo on, is also on the new inquiry. Both Creswell and Tinney found no problems with Gladstone Harbour, no problems with the leaking bund and the inquiry report was nothing but a whitewash. Because of the major problems with the bund wall, a highly qualified engineer should have been included in the Panel. None of the three appointed have any background in bund walls, engineering, or leaking bunds. Dr Ma Landos, who has done impeccable work and research uncovering the massive disease problems which have wiped out the commercial fishing industry, has been ignored. There are no scien sts of any independent
status on the review panel. No environmental organisa ons are represented. There's li le doubt that Gladstone is a festering na onal scandal. Unfortunately, the massive development con nues to escape any real inves ga ve focus by the authori es, both state and federal. Whilst there's been enormous coverage of the dumping of 3 million c. metres of dredge spoil at Abbot Point, the opposi on to Gladstone's huge dredging program was almost a whisper in comparison. Stand by for another whitewash. From AFA's inquiries, it appears this review will be a desk top study with no ability for any witnesses to give evidence unless requested, no protec on for witnesses and the charity understands Minister Hunt has told the Panel to conduct the inquiry “ any way they like.”
www.australiansforanimals.org.au
FEBRUARY 2014 NEWSLETTER
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF - A NOT SO HAPPY STORY Well the good news is that there's a huge amount of protest about the destruc on of the Reef by the mining industry. The bad news is that unless there's a ra of legal challenges, it's unlikely the public, concerned scien sts and environment groups will be able to stop the destruc on. AFA has worked relessly on the Reef. The charity has made contact with some of the best known scien sts in the US including Carl Safina – who wrote a wonderful ar cle in Na onal Geographic on the Reef and has been named as one of the world's top 100 conserva onists. We contacted D r Re e s e H a l te r w h o i s a conserva on media star in the US. Together with Dr Helen Caldico , he wrote an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald in January. AFA is in constant communica on with experts who can help. In December, our Co-ordinator flew to Dunedin to give a paper on dugongs at the Society for Marine Mammalogy mee ng, which brings together scien sts from all over the world. More than 1200 a ended the five day seminar but the focus of the seminar completely avoided the substan ve issues. There were very few presenta ons on the destruc on of the Reef, anything controversial was studiously avoided. A FA h a s s e n t n o w t h r e e substan al submissions to the World Heritage Secretariat which details many of the major issues which mainstream media con nues to avoid.
BILATERAL AGREEMENTS Without ge ng into complex ma ers, one of the reasons why Gladstone was such a disaster is because of the Bilateral Agreement between the Commonwealth and Queensland. What this agreement actually achieved was a complete lack of monitoring, compliance and any charges for breaching the consent condi ons. MORE DREDGE SPOIL
A LIST OF SIGNIFICAN OMISSIONS One of the major problems at Gladstone are the condi ons of approval which allow LNG corpora ons and the Gladstone Ports Corpora on to self regulate. No independent audits of environmental condi ons of consent are required unless the Federal Minister for the Environment so instructs. The Minister never instructed any of the players in Gladstone to undertake independent audits. Much the same situa on is wri en into the condi ons of approval at Abbot Point.
The charity has commissioned a legal advice from one of the most ex p e r i e n c e d i nte r n a o n a l lawyers in Australia on the Federal government's role in con nuing to allow the destruc on of the Reef.
Monitoring was non existent in Gladstone. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has no rangers to monitor Abbot Point and the only way they can provide any monitoring is to subcontract Queensland Na onal Parks and Wildlife Rangers whose numbers were dras cally reduced by the Bligh government and now even more reduced by the Newman government.
H o w e v e r, G l a d s t o n e i s a template for what's happening at Abbot Point and we see the same things happening at Abbot Point which con nue to be ignored by the mainstream media.
In the legal document AFA requested from Minister Hunt in rela on to the Abbot Point development, we noted that one of the approvals given by the Minister dealt with the offsets plan by the proponent. Offsets are supposed to “ make up for”
the destruc on of the environment, the loss of listed species and water quality, seabed health. Offsets are highly controversial as there are zero instances of the usefulness of se ng aside one area whilst destroying another. So AFA called the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Environment's Compliance sec on to request details of the proponent's offset plan for Abbot Point dredging. “ No plan has been submi ed and we don't expect one will be for some me.” This was the response. But the Minister's statement of reasons for signing off on Abbot Point contains the following statement. “I have concluded that the offsets proposed by the proponent meet the requirements of the EPBC Act Offset Policy. The offsets have been reviewed in line with this policy and I found that the offsets will provide an overall environmental gain to ma ers of environmental significance under the EPBC Act for listed threatened species and communi es, listed migratory species, the heritage values and the World Heritage values “. Amazing stuff given that NO plans for offsets have been submi ed by the proponent.
Now with Tony Abbo 's one stop approvals which are upgraded Bilateral Agreements, there will be very few barriers to any development. And to make ma ers worse, in December the Abbo government cut off all funding to the Environmental Defenders Offices, thus ensuring the public had almost no ability to challenge the approvals and condi ons laid down for the mining industry. Democracy is dying in Australia.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The Great Barrier Reef Founda on which was established to build support for the Reef is revealing. These are some of the companies who serve on the Chairman's Panel. Resource companies including:Orica Ltd.,Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Origin Energy, Santos. Banks include:- ANZ, Barclays, C o m m o n we a l t h , G o l d m a n S a c h s , We s t p a c , B a n k o f Queensland The inclusion of the resource industry and banks that are financing some of the destruc on of the Reef makes no sense. And there's no environment organisa ons or community groups who are completely shut out of all dialogue.
www.australiansforanimals.org.au
FEBRUARY 2014 NEWSLETTER
AFA’S CONTRIBUTIONS IGNORED It was great to see the number of ar cles in the Australian focused on the vexing Gladstone issue and as well, the paper ran an editorial in support of an inquiry. But the editorial completely failed to acknowledge the brave ac ons of the whistle blower and ignored the significant input of Australians for Animals Inc. (AFA). The charity believes this failure to recognise good ci zens and responsible environmental organisa ons does not assist in crea ng a responsible community. Whistle blowers take enormous risks in opening closet doors, in this par cular case the former environmental manager has found ge ng work almost impossible. AFA has always been a well re s e a rc h e d , o b j e c ve a n d community minded organisa on. We work with lawyers, scien sts, the broad community and enter into dialogue with those we oppose.
It was sad to see that the Australian failed to recognise our contribu on. And even sadder to realise that Minister Hunt's promises were completely hollow. By the me this newsle er is in your post box, our Co-ordinator will be mee ng with Minister Hunt in his Melbourne electorate office. She has a one hour mee ng with the Minister which will focus on Gladstone and AFA's ongoing pursuit of underwater noise as a major threat to the Reef and Australia's marine environment.
UNDERWATER NOISE
The evidence of a takeover of this country by mining interests is becoming impossible to ignore. With the takeover is a systema c downgrading of ci zens'
Unless Australians stand up and be counted, we will lose so much of our precious environment and our democra c rights.. Without mainstream media highligh ng the very real and extensive destruc on of our environment, the legal system and our democracy, the community must be galvanised. The fight for the Great Barrier Reef is so cri cal.
If UNESCO
downgrades this World Heritage, the world will have lost a precious heritage for all
One of the agenda items for AFA's mee ng with Minister Hunt is underwater noise and the complete failure of both the Labour and Coali on government to deal with this issue. Underwater noise is a major issue in the US and Europe with increasing concern over the damage caused by acous c trauma. I n te r n a o n a l C o nv e n o n s dealing with marine issues are holding workshops and conduc ng important research, yet Australia remains unwilling to get involved.
WE SHOULD NOT GIVE UP HOPE
humanity.
Please nag your local Federal MP and Senators. Write, call, make appointments to see them and let them know you will not accept the loss of the Reef. For the Animals and the Earth, Sue Arnold & Friends.
Please Give Generously democra c rights and ability to challenge government decisions. T h e l o o m i n g Tra n s Pa c i fi c Partnership trade agreement which the Abbo government is nego a ng will see the mining industry and other interna onal corpora ons being given the right to sue if legisla on gets in the way of profits. Good old taxpayers will foot the bill.
You can donate to Australians for Animals through GiveNow’s secure online server or please send your dona ons to: AUSTRALIANS FOR ANIMALS PO BOX 414 BRUNSWICK HEADS 2483
www.givenow.com.au/australiansforanimals www.greatbarrierreef.org.au
FEBRUARY 2014 NEWSLETTER
SOME HAPPY STORIES AFA loves the tale of two dogs and a galah which Carol Horrigan from South Australia tells. On a walk in the local school playing field, a group of galahs flew off as the dogs approached. However one young bird remained, flu ering close to the ground unable to take off. Carol searched around for something to carry the bird in. She found a plas c bag in her bum bag and wrapped up the bird, taking him home. Carol put the bird in a spare cocky cage, he was very calm and allowed her to scratch his head, never a emp ng to bite.
So for the next l0 days, the li le galah stayed in the cage and the parents came by every morning and evening. Even a er a big fright by the dogs, the birds came back. Finally, Carol decided to take her friend out of the cage and see what happened. The bird flew off with his parents.
Later that day, a pair of galahs arrived in her garden which was unusual. They sat in a tall tree where they could see the cage and began calling to the bird. They came back next morning and evening by which stage Carol realised they must be parents. She let the bird out of the cage but he s ll could not fly.
“ I was so amazed by the whole experience,” she says. “ The parents must have followed me home from the playing field that day. It's a good ten minute walk, and then came by every day morning and evening. “ I s ll see a li le group which I think is the family. The whole episode was so inspiring.”
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITES australiansforanimals.org.au greatbarrierreef.org.au
BUTCHER BIRDS ARE AMAZING AFA's office is surrounded by many bird species but the butcher birds are the most friendly. Having fed some wild babies for the past year, named Floor and Smart, the house is basically now run for the birds.
Smart, who is well named, gets impa ent wai ng for meat and flies into the kitchen, flu ering around the fridge to make her point.
AUSTRALIANS FOR
an ma s PROTECT NURTURE RESTORE
PO Box 414, Brunswick Heads 2483 Australia Tel: 61 2 6680 3674 Fax: 61 2 6680 3612 suearnold@linknet.com.au Reg. Charity No. CFN12644
www.facebook.com/australiansforanimals www.greatbarrierreef.org.au
Floor likes to sit on the floor. But if there's trouble brewing in the backyard, she/he will come into the kitchen and sit on one of the kitchen chairs. Neither bird is the slightest bit concerned by human company. When Floor or Smart get hungry, they do a tour of the house to find out where the humans are and o en sit outside the office window demanding to be fed. As well, we have the smaller variety of butcher birds who take turns in coming to the verandah.
To everyone's great delight, one of the small birds sits on a tree nearby and prac ces warbling. We think he may be speaking Mar an, Spanish, Italian and whatever else comes to mind as the song goes on for at least 30 minutes with no repe on of the same sound.