Call for more time on Toondah Harbour consultation after court bid to abolish native title

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is under pressure to extend consultation for the $3 billion Toondah Harbour housing project after a council lodged a court bid to abolish native title.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is under pressure to extend consultation for the controversial $3 billion Toondah Harbour housing project.

The huge development in Cleveland has been on hold for more than a decade and is subject to a native title claim.

Ahead of delivering her first State of the Environment address to the National Press Club on Tuesday (July 19), Ms Plibersek said there were many projects she would have to assess as minister and that she had noted concerns about the approval processes.

The proposed 3600-unit Walker Group estate would be built on wetlands covered by native title.

The federal Environment Department was due to decide whether to extend consultation from 28 calendar days to 60 days after a request from newly-elected LNP MP Henry Pike.

The federal government is under pressure to increase consultation time for the controversial $3 billion Toondah Harbour housing project.

No decision can be made on the length and timing of the public consultation for the harbour project until a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) has been assessed by the federal government.

Confusion surrounds the status of Walker Group’s draft EIS, with the developer claiming the document was already lodged.

But the department was now conducting an “adequacy review”.

“It’s now up to them to decide on the timing of its release for the public notification period,” Walker Group said.

However, the department said otherwise, claiming the Walker Group was still preparing the draft EIS after it was asked to further refine its initial draft in August last year.

Protesters at Toondah Harbour.

Mr Pike’s call for the consultation extension followed a Redland City Council application in June to the federal court to abolish native title on the harbour project land.

Redland City Council application to the Federal Court to extinguish native title at Toondah Harbour

As part of the Toondah Harbour development application process, state Minister for Economic Development Steven Miles is required to obtain an Indigenous Land Use Agreement which would extinguish all native title in the project area in return for compensation and benefits.

Documents obtained under Right to Information showed the Walker Group would pay the compensation if its development application was “unconditional” and “it approves the amount of compensation”.

Walker Corporation chairman Lang Walker, pictured with Redland mayor Karen Williams in 2014 after signing a memorandum of understanding with the State Government and Redland City Council as the exclusive development partner for the Toondah Harbour and Weinam Creek Priority Development Areas. Picture: Matt Murray, Redland City Council.

Mr Pike, whose seat of Bowman covers Toondah Harbour and North Stradbroke Island, said the project was already more than a decade in the making “so there’s no need to rush it at such a critical stage”.

“I am determined to ensure that the Toondah Harbour EIS is a decision based on the evidence and free from political influence,” he said.

“That is why it is so critical that the consultation is not rushed and that locals have ample time to get their heads around the complex proposal and have the opportunity to make an informed contribution to the process.”

A native title claim has been lodged over Toondah Harbour.

Activist group Redlands2030 said the harbour plan was a complex issue that included native title and the group had been asking for extra time for many years.

“Other conservation groups have also written to the department calling for the time to at least be doubled,” the group said.

“An independent review of the EPBC Act in 2020 found it was not fit for purpose and prioritised development over protecting the environment.

“The risk that this huge document, believed to be more than 3000 pages, will not get adequate scrutiny is creating concerns.”

Under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, the developer must publish the draft impact statement after it is approved and all public comments must be sent to Walker Group, not the federal government.

North Stradbroke Island’s Quandamooka people won native title for Minjerribah (North Stradbroke) in 2011 and lodged a second native title application over most of the Redland Coast, including Toondah Harbour and the southern bay islands, in 2017.