North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability Act 2011
As members are well aware, FOSI (and SIMO) have campaigned for the application of the Mineral Resources Act to the expired mining leases, especially the Enterprise Mining Lease 1117 which expired in 2007. With this new NSI Act, the government has bypassed the existing law to extend expired leases. All other expired mining leases in Queensland remain subject to the Mineral Resources Act. The provisions of the MRA, if applied, would not allow more mining to take place on land earmarked for National Park (i.e. at Enterprise Mine and Vance Mine where expired leases were also extended by the Act). The government claims the NSI Act will bring certainty to the ending of mining but it only extended mining onto land it intends to make National Park after it is environmentally devalued. Our two legal opinions can be read on the save straddie website, again under the library-resources tab. FOSI calls on the Queensland Government to amend the relevant sections (Section 11 and Schedule 1) of the NSI Act so that mining can be phased out much more quickly. There should be a halt to destruction at Enterprise and a phase out of 2-3 years, happening anyway when Yarraman Mine runs out of minerals around 2014. See article published in the latest Straddie Island News (SIN), with FOSI and SIMO’s publically stated position (on sale now in island shops).
