Friends of Stradbroke Island

After an unprecedented 5 year long criminal trial, the prosecution of Sibelco for illegal removal of island non-mineral sand is finally drawing to a close. The final hearing date has been set – 22 August, 2014 ! It will be heard in Warwick, as the magistrate hearing the case has been transferred there. The evidence against the company was obtained by the former EPA in late 2008. The evidence included incriminating company records seized from Sibelco’s Stradbroke office.

In the High Court of Australia in Canberra on June 9 the mining company’s final attempt to prolong the mining industry on Stradbroke for another 100 years was rejected. This brings to an end the company's plan to remove and sell large quantities of island sand for construction purposes. The new NSI legislation at least prevents any future application for Council approval. FOSI, SIMO, native title owners, other conservationists and members of the local community waged a lengthy legal battle and were rewarded with a significant victory. This proposal involved noisy and polluting trucks roaring through the streets of Dunwich and clogging up the ferry terminal entry point, at a rate of one every three minutes. It also would have meant continued domination of the island by the mining industry long after extractable minerals had run out. All this impact on safety and peace of islanders and tourists was for the sake of ten jobs! (This figure was contained in the company’s application for ...

Investigations have revealed an alleged multi-million dollar sand mining scam orchestrated by Island sand mining company Unimin Australia Ltd.  Unimin in court... Unimin’s NSI operations were under scrutiny when the miner faced court on illegal mining charges. The company has been charged with criminal offences alleging that it illegally removed and sold sand for construction and landscaping purposes for the last decade. It did not have a permit under the Forestry Act - required for the sale of non-mineral sand. The company has not yet been charged with ‘stealing’ the sand or with ‘serious environmental harm’ for not using the sand for rehabilitation of legally mined areas. Such charges would allow the Government to recoup the millions of dollars in profits that the company made from its activities, if it is convicted. The existing charges, being non-indictable, do not permit the State to use its confiscation of illegal proceeds legislation. It was recently revealed by the G...