Australian Painted Snipe

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.

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: Tony.Burke.MP@aph.gov.au
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tony.burke.mp