Cease and desist: plea to stop harming this global wonder
Queensland’s former chief scientist has called on the Palaszczuk government to ban all future oil and gas production in the waterways of the Lake Eyre basin, saying it would be ‘ecologically reckless’.
Queensland’s former chief scientist has called on the Palaszczuk government to ban all future oil and gas production in the waterways of the Lake Eyre basin, saying it would be “scientifically irresponsible and ecologically reckless” to expand the industries in the region.
Hugh Possingham, who served as the state’s top scientific adviser until 2022, said development of the Channel Country flood plains of Western Queensland risked damaging fragile ecosystems.
Dr Possingham’s comments come as the state government considers how to fulfil its overdue 2015 election promise to protect the basin, with submissions on a regulatory impact statement closing on Friday.
The regulatory impact statement offered four options for the government to protect the flood plain, and it is the fourth and most stringent option that Dr Possingham wants adopted.
“In the context of the increasing loss of native wildlife, degradation of natural ecosystems and the worsening impacts of climate change, it’s scientifically irresponsible and ecologically reckless to expand highly damaging oil and gas industries in this region,” Dr Possingham said.
“We can’t afford to allow any future oil and gas production on the Channel Country’s globally significant flood plains. Only regulatory option four of the Queensland government’s proposed approaches, which seeks to prevent the development of new oil and gas in the Lake Eyre Basin’s flood plains and channels, will provide the certainty we need to protect these fragile ecosystems and the wildlife that depend on them.”
Dr Possingham, who is a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland and chief councillor at the Biodiversity Council, said in the relatively flat terrain that made up the basin, even small developments like access roads could have significant impacts on water flow.
“The cumulative number of oil and gas wells are projected to continue to rise in the Cooper Creek and will directly threaten nationally important wetlands,” he said.
“Fracking and gas production, which often involve damaging aquifers and using large volumes of chemicals, present serious and irreversible risks.”
The basin of Lake Eyre, also known as Kati Thanda, is bigger than France, Italy and Germany combined and is the world’s largest internal drainage basin. Its free-flowing streams, tributaries and flood plains are relied on by ecosystems, communities and graziers who run vast sheep and cattle stations in the region.
The Australian has previously revealed that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk personally intervened to cut the critical mineral-rich North West Minerals Province from the protection plan.
Farmers, conservationists, traditional owners and community representatives have been calling for stronger protections since the former Bligh government’s “Wild Rivers” legislation was scrapped in 2014 by the Newman government.
In the intervening time, several exploration and petroleum licences have been granted to resources companies who insist that the industry can operate without destroying the environment.
Twiggy’s green nirvana gets a fresh makeover
When thinking about the great figures of Australian mining, it’s hard to go past some of the committed geologists and company executives who turned dreams into profitable reality. But Twiggy Forrest would not make either the first or second XI
Price to pay: hand that feeds the nation bites Albanese
The food sector has united to accuse Labor of failing to act on rising prices, warning that customers are paying more at shopping centres and restaurants because of high energy prices, the PM’s workplace relations agenda and a lack of productivity-enhancing reforms.