Bimblebox Nature Refuge

A sign of mining culture in central Queensland

Billionaire, and wanna-be Prime Minister, Clive Palmer appeared on Australian national television as part of a Q&A panel on Monday 13^th May. An audience member directed a question to Palmer concerning the fate of Bimblebox Nature Refuge (which he wants to dig up for coal), and about the future of the Australian environment if we ignore the need to properly protect conservation areas. Clive Palmer dodged the question and tried to divert attention from the issue by assuring the audience his coal carriages would be covered to stop dust flying out. When pinned on it, Clive rattled off his usual string of mis-truths about Bimblebox – seemingly investing in the theory that “if you tell a lie often enough, people begin to believe it” – not a good look for a hopeful Prime Minister. Here are some of the main ways his message is plain wrong:

• Bimblebox was NOT “declared under the Bligh Government”. It was declared under the Peter Beattie Queensland Government, with generous support and recognition from the John Howard Federal Government, with Robert Hill as Environment Minister.
• The conservation values of Bimblebox are not in question. Anna Bligh made a commitment prior to the 2012 election that she would protect nature refuges with high conservation values if she was re-elected, stating explicitly that would mean “…ruling out mining in areas like the Bimblebox nature refuge” . See her commitment in writing here.
•  Bimblebox is covered by the STRONGEST form of protection for private conservation areas in Queensland. It is a fundamental flaw in State legislation that Nature Refuge Agreements signed between the landholders and the State Government do not prohibit mining – that is regardless of the conservation values of the refuge.
•  Any plan to ‘offset’ the destruction of Bimblebox Nature Refuge would result in a net-loss of Queensland biodiversity. These ‘offset areas’ would be ‘protected’ by Nature Refuge Agreements, so would also not be safe from mining. This issue is further discussed in several excellent articles on The Conversation from May 2013, May 2012 and September 2011.
• Bimblebox is not trashed out cattle country. Bimblebox serves as an outstanding example of the coexistence of cattle production and biodiversity conservation. Private productive lands are increasingly recognised for their important role in contributing to landscape scale conservation in Australia and form a major part of the National Reserve System.

Clive eventually stated his intentions plainly at the end of the segment:

This is not the first time we have had to counter Clive Palmer’s lies about Bimblebox. Here are a few links from our archive:

From Waratah Coal's 2011 EIS, Appendix 8, p24

 

Submissions on the China First Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement closed at 5pm on the 6th May. But we can keep the pressure up on our elected representatives to make sure they know that the Australian public does not want to sacrifice protected areas for more coal mines!

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

•  Write to the relevant government ministers

Tony Burke (Federal Environment Minister) 
Jeff Seeney (Queensland Deputy Premier and State Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning) 
Andrew Cripps (Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines) 
Andrew Powell (Queensland State Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection) 
Campbell Newman (Queensland Premier) 

• Write to your local papers
• Follow our story in the media and talk to your friends about it!
• Subscribe to our e-newsletter

Make a submission on the China First SEIS by May 6th

You can make a submission at the simple click of a button

(For details on how to make a more detailed submission, see below)

Waratah Coal’s Supplementary EIS (SEIS) was released on Monday 8th April, and is open for public comment until 6th May. You can download the SEIS from the company’s website here. According to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP) the public is invited to “make a submission on whether the supplementary information adequately responds to the issues raised regarding the EIS”. Find out more about making a submission on their website.

Information in the SEIS makes it clear that Waratah Coal still intends to mine Bimblebox. It states for instance “the [coal] reserves beneath the Bimblebox Nature Refuge are critical as they are the most cost effective of all reserves within the mining lease to recover”. It is therefore up to the Australian public to let our governments know that we value intact biodiversity over an ever-expanding coal industry!

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

• Follow our story in the media and talk to your friends about it!
• Subscribe to our newsletter

On the coal front

Here at Bimblebox we are getting on with the busy day to day tasks involved with caring for the nature refuge. It is a world away from the air-conditioned offices in Brisbane where we suppose Waratah Coal is preparing its Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). We are expecting this document will be made available for public comment, and we will put out notices when that happens. In recent months we have had several Waratah Coal contractors enter Bimblebox for various bits of survey work  – by law, we are not able to prevent them from coming onto the property. We continue to be committed to stopping the proposed ‘China First’ mine, and to ensure Bimblebox remains a sanctuary for the district’s wildlife and for future generations.

If you would like to receive email updates about Bimblebox news, please drop us an email so we can put you on our mailing list (see contact page for details).

State inquiry into land tenure

We recently gave evidence to the Queensland Inquiry into the Future and Continued Relevance of Government Land Tenure. The main points from that submission are in an article we wrote for latest newsletter of The Australia Institute.

Media coverage

The latest media coverage for Bimblebox was regarding a petition for no mining on Bimblebox Nature Refuge and Steve Irwin Reserve initiated by Paul Dawkins from Nambour on the Sunshine Coast. Just over 10 days ago we had a ministerial answer to the 950 signature strong petition. It is clear that the current Queensland Government is continuing on a path of business as usual, which is likely to result in continued degradation of our unique biodiversity and global atmosphere.

Other Galilee projects

An article appeared in The Conversation on the 28th November which gave an over-view of plans and projections for the Galilee Basin – it is worth reading to get a big picture over-view.

Of significant concern, a number of Galilee Basin and associated port projects have been progressing through the Queensland Government’s approvals pipeline. Adani’s Carmichael EIS is open for comments until 11th February 2013. It would be one of the largest proposed mines in the Galilee Basin, and is projected to produce 60 million tonnes per year for 90 years. Also, recently public comments were due for: GVK/Hancock Kevin’s Corner Supplementary EIS (we put in this submission);  the draft EIS Terms of Reference for the China Stone mine (planned to be twice as big as Australia’s biggest current coal mine); the EIS for the South Galilee coal mine proposal; Cumulative Impact Assessment of Abbot Point; and the Queensland Government’s “Port Strategy”.

Woodford Folk Festival and Bimblebox (The Movie)

We are very pleased to announce that ‘Bimblebox’ will be screening at the opening night of the Woodford Folk Festival (27th Dec, 9pm). Ellie and Paola will be there so if you are at the festival and you would like to meet them, they will be at the Lock the Gate stall, near the Greenhouse, between 3:30pm and 5:30pm every day. The documentary has been very well received and since its début in March at the Byron Bay International Film Festival, it has been screened in Vic, NSW, ACT and QLD hundreds of times. Next year it will be screening in Tasmania and we are now looking for venues and takers to screen it in Western Australia and Northern Territory.

Sign a petition to urge Minister Burke to reverse his approval

Last week Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke gave his approval for a new coal terminal at Abbot Point. It is the final green light required for the GVK-Hancock Alpha coal project to go ahead. There are countless ways in which Minister Burke’s decision will result in environmental destruction.

Australian Painted Snipe

The expansion of coal export facilities at Abbot Point will seriously impact the internationally significant Calley Valley wetlands, habitat for numerous shorebirds including the threatened Australian Painted Snipe. The port development will also affect sea life dependent on seagrass in the area, such as dugongs and turtles.

Sign a petition to urge Minister Burke to reverse his approval

Significantly, the GVK-Hancock project is the first in the Galilee Basin to receive all the necessary State and Federal approvals, and as such it spells the ‘opening up’ of the region to coal production. The mines will result in the clearing of tens of thousands of hectares of remnant woodland, long-term effects on the region’s groundwater, and the unleashing of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Please consider signing this petition, and if you can, make contact with Minister Burke directly to let him know your thoughts and feelings about this:

Phone: 02 6277 7640
Twitter: @Tony_Burke
Email:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tony.burke.mp

*Follow the Bimblebox Art Project blog*

Here at Bimblebox Nature Refuge we are honoured to host a 10 day visit by a number of talented artists.

Artist Jill Sampson will be there and has been one of the main organisers of the camp. She was interviewed by Simon Green from Central Queensland News:

“Our intention is to map the country and its inhabitants in our own unique ways,” Ms Sampson said.

“These 8000 ha of native bushland sustain complex ecosystems.

“The landscape and its habitats exist as they have for thousands of years.

“This long history will end if Waratah Coal is allowed to clear and mine the reserve.”

Bimblebox has played host to a number of scientific studies in the past decade. Ms Sampson said art and science had long complemented each other.

“Nature, art and science are all meant to enhance our lives, and this is what we’re seeing at Bimblebox,” she said.

“Through our art we will bear witness to this place, its past and its future.”

‘Bimblebox fight takes to canvases’, By Simon Green, Central Queensland News, 5th September 2012

‘Capturing Bimblebox’, By Alice Roberts and Paul Robinson, ABC Capricornia 3rd September 2012

Free Statcounter

As of 7th Sept 2012

After several years of high rainfall there are some spectacular displays of life on Bimblebox. To share this, we are in the process of re-vamping our photos page – and here is a sample: 

A Koala, Plum-Headed Finches and an Echidna on Bimblebox Nature Refuge

The photo of the koala was taken by the previous owner of Bimblebox, sometime before 2000. The juvenile Plum-headed Finches and echidna were photographed by visitors to Bimblebox in mid 2012. It’s important to note that Plum-headed Finch commonly share habitat with Black-throated Finch, and this photo was taken within a few kilometres of where the Black-throated Finch were recorded last year.

Clive Palmer has again come out in the media trying to diminish the conservation values of Bimblebox Nature Refuge (you can listen to his interview on the Steve Austin show here). He has a clear vested interest in casting these aspersions given that he intends to destroy the property through open cut and underground mining as part of his proposed China First thermal coal mine. You can hear a response to Clive Palmer’s comments on the Steve Austin show here.

The problem for Clive is that he appears to have little idea about the nature refuge, which he has never set foot on. Below are a few simple facts to set the record straight:

• The property was bought in 2000 by a small group of concerned landholders and residents to save it from being cleared. The previous landholders continue to be well respected graziers in the region
• In recognition of its high conservation values, the National Reserve System program (at the time of the Howard Liberal Federal Government) contributed around $300,000 towards the purchase – see the documentation here
• A ‘perpetual’ Nature Refuge Agreement was signed with the State Government in 2003 which is the highest level of protection that can be afforded to private land in Queensland. Bimblebox also forms part of the National Reserve System of Protected Areas
• Bimblebox is situated in the Desert Uplands bioregion, considered a biodiversity hotspot, but where less than 5% of the area is held is conservation reserves
• Bimblebox Nature Refuge consists of over 95% remnant woodland (woodland that has never been cleared) with an understory made up predominantly of native grasses and shrubs
• There is abundant wildlife on the property, with around 150 bird species counted so far
• Bimblebox is widely regarded as supporting one of the highest levels of native plant diversity in the region. Qualified botanists who recently visited the property made a list of at least 220 plant species
• Bimblebox currently serves as an outstanding example of the coexistence of cattle production and biodiversity conservation. Private productive lands are increasingly recognised for their important role in contributing to landscape scale conservation in Australia and form a major part of the National Reserve System 
• A number of long term research projects are conducted on Bimblebox that will contribute towards better land management outcomes in the region

This isn’t the first time that Clive has tried to peddle the same lies about Bimblebox, which we responded to with this simple youtube clip.

The premier screening of Bimblebox a huge success

Following the premiere of Bimblebox at the Byron Bay Film Festival on March 11^th there were sell-out screenings also held in Toowoomba and Brisbane. Before a crowd of several hundred people spilling out of Tribal Theatre in Brisbane on March 13th, Bimblebox co-owner Paola Cassoni delivered a heartfelt speech about the predicament facing Bimblebox, and the significance of this case for all of us.


QLD election results: Will Clive Palmer get red carpet treatment to dig up Bimblebox?

Queensland had a change of government on Saturday 24^th March. After nearly 23 years of a Labor government, the Liberal-National Party (LNP) is now in power, with Campbell Newman at the helm. What does this mean for Bimblebox Nature Refuge and other conservation areas threatened by mining? It’s hard to say, but there were some interesting developments in the lead up to the election.

The Lock the Gate Alliance conducted a questionnaire prior to the election, asking the ALP, Greens, KAP and LNP what their position was on various aspects of mining. The LNP answered YES in response to the question “Will you protect biodiversity by prohibiting coal mine development and associated infrastructure in Nature Refuges and other areas of high conservation value?” The same answer was given by the Greens and the KAP, but the ALP did not respond at all.

An answer to a questionnaire is of course not a hard policy decision, but the LNP will be pressured to stick to this position given that both Anna Bligh and Bob Katter have specifically said elsewhere that they would protect Bimblebox Nature Refuge from Clive Palmer’s proposed mine. There will be many people keen to scutinise the LNP’s actions in this case given that Clive Palmer is the LNP’s largest financial donor.

Significantly, GetUp! launched an online campaign to protect Bimblebox and other areas of high conservation value in the lead up to the election, and the matter was raised in Federal Parliament on the 22^nd March when Senator Larissa Waters asked Senator Conroy what the Federal Government will do if the LNP gives Palmer’s project the green light and how they will justify the spending of tax-payers money to help protect Bimblebox in 2000, only for it to be mined by Waratah Coal in 2013. After a lot of stalling Senator Conroy eventually said “We will be very carefully making sure that all rules and laws are complied with”… which still offers little certainty for landholders investing the time, energy and money into biodiversity conservation. For the full transcript, you can download it here.

Senator Water’s question followed a flight that she and Senator Bob Brown made over Bimblebox Nature Refuge in late February 2012. Listen to Bob Brown’s press conference here:

In a surprise announcement, Anna Bligh has promised to protect Bimblebox Nature Refuge from Clive Palmer’s proposed “China First” mine!

Responding to the current  GetUp! campaign, Anna Bligh has stated (see full letter here):

“The Government is committed to ensuring the protection of nature refuges with high conservation values. I am advised the Commonwealth has assessed Bimblebox as having environmental values worthy of conservation as habitat.

Given this assessment, I can confirm that Labor’s policy would have the effect of ruling out mining in areas like the Bimblebox nature refuge.”

However, with the Queensland election to be held tomorrow and the polls suggesting a win for Campbell Newman and the LNP, the real pressure is now on Campbell Newman to step up to the plate and promise that he will not allow Bimblebox to be destroyed by the LNP’s largest donor, Clive Palmer.

Please spread this widely – we only have 24 hours to go before the election!