Lake Eyre Basin Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement
As the patron of the Labor Environment Action Network, I have taken a strong interest in the ongoing environmental concerns in the Lake Eyre Basin and our beautiful Channel Country. Recently the Queensland Government started a consultation period on on options for how to best ensure Queensland’s environmental protections can achieve a balance between ecological sustainability and future economic prosperity for the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin region. Below is my submission.
To whom it may concern,
Re: Submission to the Department of Environment & Science on the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement
I write to express my support towards the urgent protection of the Lake Eyre Basin and Channel Country. As a Member of Parliament representing an electorate with a strong view on this, a Patron of the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) – a network that has championed these protections for over a decade, and a Queenslander - this is a matter of significance for me.
Queensland Labor governments have a proud legacy in the Channel Country, and the matters contained in the cRIS present an opportunity to cement this legacy for future generations of Queenslanders.
As the RIS clearly identifies, this area has irreplaceable environmental, cultural and economic values that must be protected. Critically endangered species like the curlew sandpiper and the dusky hopping-mouse rely on the natural flood and dry cycles of one of the world’s last free-flowing desert river systems.
First Nations, including Mithaka, Kullili and Koa people, have connections to this area stretching back tens of thousands of years. For over ten years, they have been calling on the Queensland Government to enact protections to ensure that the rivers that hold their song-lines are not irreversibly damaged.
The Channel Country is also home to a thriving organic beef industry that feeds both Queenslanders and the world. Producers like OBE Organics have also called for stronger protections for the area. The climate impacts of unlocking new gas-fields also cannot be ignored, particularly in light of the Queensland Government’s commitment to ambitious emissions reduction targets.
As outlined in the Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement, there are strong scientific, environmental, cultural and economic reasons to protect the rivers and floodplains from the damaging impact of new oil and gas projects.
On this basis, I am writing to advise you of my support for:
Spatial Option 3, which protects all relevant areas of these precious rivers and floodplains from the expansion of the fossil fuel industry
Regulatory Option 4, which will prevent the significant and irreversible damage of new oil and gas extraction
Environmental Attributes Option 2, which will recognise all of the qualities that make this area worth protecting
I look forward to protections being implemented urgently after this consultation process concludes.
Kind regards
Jonty Bush MP
Member for Cooper