Amendments to deliver agreement on wild river policy

The Queensland Government has introduced amendments to wild river legislation to deliver its agreement with stakeholders reached in July this year.

Natural Resources and Water Minister Kerry Shine introduced the Wild Rivers and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 ensured the Government’s 2004 State election commitment to protect the natural values of Queensland's pristine rivers for future generations was honoured.

“Following the proclaimation of the Wild Rivers Act 2005, the Government nominated Settlement Creek, Morning Inlet and the Gregory and Staaten rivers in the Gulf region and Hinchinbrook and Fraser Islands* for declaration as wild rivers,” Mr Shine said.

“During the consultation period on these nominations, a number of issues were raised by the community and stakeholders.”

“The Government acted on these issues and on 24 July this year, the Government announced a ‘balanced approach’ on the declaration on wild rivers following extensive talks with the environmentalists, indigenous landholders, miners and graziers.”

Mr Shine said the main focus was to preserve these river systems by having a buffer, called a high preservation area, between future development and the river and any significant offstream features such as floodplain wetlands.

The key principles of the July agreement, and to be implemented with the amendments, are:

• permit low impact minerals exploration in high preservation areas;
• open pit mining will be prohibited in these areas, but the Bill allows miners to only mine beneath them subject to strict environmental conditions set through an environmental impact statement;
• allow pastoralists to be able to establish new fodder crops outside high preservation areas as of right without approvals, provided they use species that present a low risk of becoming an environmental weed in the rivers and wetlands;
• permit a range of services essential for communities, in urban areas, such as water and sewage treatment, motor mechanic and fuel storage, even if the urban area is located in a high preservation area.
• remove constraints on fuel storage and access to quarry materials for rural homesteads, outstations and resort complexes to allow these developments to occur; and
• clarify where wild river requirements will apply to future developments outside high preservation areas.

*Mining exploration is already not permitted on Fraser and Hinchinbrook Islands.

31 October 2006

Media contact: Kirby Anderson 3896 3689 or 0418 197 350

kirby.anderson@ministerial.qld.gov.au