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Permalink Reply by Ian Macrae Yeates on January 24, 2012 at 11:11am

Congratulations on setting up this important discussion, Bev.  It is a beautiful area and draws tourists from our own country as well as from overseas to marvel at its wondrous coral reefs.  Fishing is an important industry as well. I recall the late actor, Lee Marvin was one of many who felt challenged by the thrill of marlin fishing. Could it be said, that the LNP should promote a balance of tourism and fishing?

Cheers,

Ian

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Permalink Reply by Beverley Prescott on January 24, 2012 at 11:19am

HI, Ian,

I well remember the days of Le Marvin coming to Cairns.  He used to stay at the Tradewinds Motel and Cairns was booming with tourism then.

Our LNP Cairns candidate has his finger on the pulse and I shall alert him to this discussion as well.

I shall also add a little more from the Weekend POst that he and another LNP candidate are working on.

We have had all these highly paid blowins from other places come to Cairns and change all the things that worked for Cairns.  I think the news item is self explanatory.

I hope anyone with any other information on the GBR or Cape York will add it to this discussion.

Ian Macrae Yeates said:

Congratulations on setting up this important discussion, Bev.  It is a beautiful area and draws tourists from our own country as well as from overseas to marvel at its wondrous coral reefs.  Fishing is an important industry as well. I recall the late actor, Lee Marvin was one of many who felt challenged by the thrill of marlin fishing. Could it be said, that the LNP should promote a balance of tourism and fishing?

Cheers,

Ian

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Permalink Reply by Beverley Prescott on January 24, 2012 at 11:22am

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2012/01/23/202015_local-news.html

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Permalink Reply by Beverley Prescott on January 24, 2012 at 11:46am

I had better clarify the "blowins" - I mean the heads of Tourism who somehow draw huge salaries and are forever going on junket trips overseas selling Cairns.

For years now, everyone has been complaining of lack of numbers in tourism so I would love to know why so much is wasted on their salaries and side events which are obviously not working.

Cairns was always the name that people related to in the "good old days" - not all the other fancy latte sipping type names thrown in by those given the charge to get Cairns Tourism booming.

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Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 27, 2012 at 1:58pm

In a media release The Wilderness Society has put out there its wish list from the March 24th Qld election. Typically TWS haven't bothered with too much accuracy in their claims of dire doom over-hanging the diety of the environment. Also note their concentration on the seat of Ashgrove. Beware if you live in this electorate, you will be bombarded by all sorts of interest groups. Ashgrove is where Premier hopeful Can-do Campbell Newman is seeking to entre Parliament by unseating the Labor party encumbered & a former enviroment minister Kate Jones.

 

http://www.wilderness.org.au/regions/queensland/environment-issues-...

 

Environmental issues such as the retention of Wild River protections, finalising a World Heritage nomination for Cape York Peninsula, and keeping native woodlands and forests safe from land clearing will be key focuses in the Queensland election, the Wilderness Society said today.

 

Dr Tim Seelig, Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society in Queensland said “This election represents a major crossroads for environmental protection in this state.”

“Will Queensland continue on a progressive path with critical environmental laws and policies retained and expanded, or will we be taken backwards to the bad old days of river destruction, broadscale forest clearing, and a failure to protect unique wild places such as Cape York Peninsula?”

 

Campaigners and supporters from the Wilderness Society have already been out on the streets of Ashgrove to highlight the LNP’s current position, and will shortly be releasing new materials to electorate householders and the public. The Society will also be active in other electorates in Brisbane and Far North Queensland.

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Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 29, 2012 at 4:13pm

This link is to a page on TWS site where a PDF document is accessable that shows that in 2008 TWS was in control of a total of $130 million of Government funds for a program called Cape York Heritage Protection Fund.

 

It is proposed that $164 million over 5 years would be allocated to the Cape York Heritage Protection Fund by the Commonwealth Government, the Queensland Government and the private sector. Of this total, $130 million would be sourced from existing Government programs.

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Permalink Reply by Joanne Rea on January 30, 2012 at 10:54am

I read this link Dale (it was finicky on my computer-kept losing it).

It is typical green hypocracy.

The amount of money they want for one program makes anything rural industry receives pale into insignificance.

They talk about permission from the indigenous population before making any application for Heritage Listing and then ask for millions of dollars for an "outreach" (read brainwashing) program. Ask Noel Pearson if they can be trusted?

They will also "consult" with non-indigenous landowners, which means they'll be invited to the table but not listened to.

A lot is spoken about property which they or fellow green groups such as the Australian Nature Conservancy do not own as "not protected" and they want a mixture of State, Commonwealth and tax deductable private funding to purchase property. They already own significant chunks of the Cape. In other words they are significantly increasing their asset base with public money and tax deductable donations. This has got to STOP.

Not once is there acknowledgement that landowners have looked after the area. They do say that "active management" is required to keep out exotic species as if it is their own original idea and not that of the true environmentalists, the landowners.

 

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Permalink Reply by Joanne Rea on January 30, 2012 at 5:42pm

The Protecting Cape York linked by Dale above which is asking for $185m claims:-

The Cape York Indigenous Employment Strategy, published for the Federal Government in late 2005, found that there are more potential jobs in the tourism sector for Indigenous people than forestry, mining and cattle combined.

What the green groups forget is that if you have tourism to this extent it requires quality accommodation (quarry materials are tightly controlled under Wild Rivers legislation) and quality food (irrigation is banned in the HPA, aquacultute is banned in the HPA and modern farming methods are banned in the HPA under Wild Rivers legislation).

Tourists generate food scraps, litter and sewage which all has to go somewhere.

The area is isolated. People are not going to travel so far at considerable cost and not expect five star everything and a plethora of activities to choose from all of which will impact on the environment.

It is reasonable to ask if this is going to be any kinder on the environment than forestry, mining and cattle.

 

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Permalink Reply by Michael Petterson on January 30, 2012 at 6:12pm

This was the group that had the brains to sign my name to said petition to "save the coral sea" without asking my approval for the signing,as I never signed such a document,and then send me a e-mail telling me that I had done so.

Joanne Rea said:

The Protecting Cape York linked by Dale above which is asking for $185m claims:-

The Cape York Indigenous Employment Strategy, published for the Federal Government in late 2005, found that there are more potential jobs in the tourism sector for Indigenous people than forestry, mining and cattle combined.

What the green groups forget is that if you have tourism to this extent it requires quality accommodation (quarry materials are tightly controlled under Wild Rivers legislation) and quality food (irrigation is banned in the HPA, aquacultute is banned in the HPA and modern farming methods are banned in the HPA under Wild Rivers legislation).

Tourists generate food scraps, litter and sewage which all has to go somewhere.

The area is isolated. People are not going to travel so far at considerable cost and not expect five star everything and a plethora of activities to choose from all of which will impact on the environment.

It is reasonable to ask if this is going to be any kinder on the environment than forestry, mining and cattle.

 

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Permalink Reply by Dale Stiller on January 31, 2012 at 7:47am

In todays The Australian this story by their north Qld correspondent Sara Elks, Heritage list call to block Cape York mines

Have a read of the alarmist rubbish that the current Qld environment minister, Viki Darling is quoted as saying in this article.

ENVIRONMENT campaigners are demanding the federal government issue emergency national heritage listings for four sites on Cape York peninsula pegged out for mining as "insurance" against a Liberal National Party win in the Queensland election.

 

The Wilderness Society, which supported Anna Bligh's Labor government at the 2009 state election because of her defence of the wild rivers bill, said the Cape Alumina mine would go ahead under a Newman government.

LNP environment spokesman Andrew Powell said an LNP government would protect Cape York's iconic areas and waterways. "The LNP will strike a balance between preserving the environment and freeing locals from welfare dependence," he said.

Queensland Environment Minister Vicky Darling said the LNP had vowed to "drain, drill and dry up the wild rivers on the Cape".

 

Mr Burke said he had ordered his department to look into the Wilderness Society's request

 

A national heritage listing of parts of Cape York would not mean an automatic ban on mining and development but would ensure the peninsula's heritage values were considered before such activities were approved.

The state and federal Labor governments support nominating parts of Cape York for World Heritage listing and are working to achieve the necessary indigenous consent.

 

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Permalink Reply by Joanne Rea on January 31, 2012 at 8:23am

The state and federal Labor governments support nominating parts of Cape York for World Heritage listing and are working to achieve the necessary indigenous consent.

The Wilderness society has $5m of government money to run outreach and education programs in Indigenous communities for this purpose.

I wonder if they are required to tell the truth based on verifiable fact or if they can make outrageous claims such as those in the Australian article above. Why do the media allow them to make wild assertions and pass them off as fact?

Who is presenting the other side of the story.

The State government promised the Indigenous community employment as rangers under the Wild Rivers legislation and to date has employed two.

 

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Permalink Reply by Joanne Rea on January 31, 2012 at 4:22pm

This is a more recent link than the one above but once again the government grant has provision for land acquisition.

The Press release talks a lot about halting mining (there is more than enough legislation to do that if the state government has the will) but that is just a smokescreen for the land banking that green organisations are engaging in while trampling on the property rights of the productive in the community and with no acknowledgement of the land managers who have kept the Cape in such pristine condition.

http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/cape-york/cape-york-world-he...

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