Friends of Stradbroke Island

The Brisbane Times today published an interesting article from our member Richard Carew. It has been popular with the Brisbane Times readership. This is the link -  http://www.brisbanetimes.com. au/queensland/the-government- is-lying-about-stradbroke- island-sand-mining-20140715- zt7j0.html

The areas of North Stradbroke Island being mined now and those under threat of mining are all within the boundaries of the proposed new national park to be declared on the island.
 On 20 June this year Premier Anna Bligh announced, with spin and fanfare, that her Government intended to legislate to end mining and declare 80% of North Stradbroke Island National Park – by 2027. She did not reveal that mineral sands would run out by 2027 anyway, as the miner admitted to the Australian Securities Exchange only last year, nor that her Government could act now to end mining by 2013, using existing legislation. On 20 June the Premier also concealed that her Government intends to renew expired mining leases at the giant Enterprise mine. Instead she implied that no expired leases would be renewed, leading to initial praise from some environmental groups. No reprieve from mining ... under the Queensland Government’s plan for Straddie, much of the island will not be declared National Park u...

In one of its recent publications Unimin subsidiary CRL suggested the anti-sand mining position adopted by FOSI and other groups was a “personal choice” (The Sand Times, Sept 2009). We agree. We live here. So do our kids. It's not my backyard!... mining executives live in Melbourne and Europe, far from where the impact of their decisions is felt.  The decision-makers in Unimin live in Melbourne and Europe. One less dune, Banksia or wallaby doesn't matter much to them! We choose green space, bushland and intact ancient dune systems on the doorstep of a major urban area for generations of Queenslanders to enjoy. They choose destruction of dunes and bushland, short-term jobs, profits for a private Belgian company and paltry royalty payments to the State. What do you choose?

The Courier-Mail newspaper used dramatic aerial photographs of gaping holes in the ancient dunes to expose the devastation being caused by sand mining on North Stradbroke Island. Couriermail coverage of Straddie sand mining. The double-page spread published in August prompted an immediate and passionate response from readers. Many people voted in an online poll, participated in blogs, wrote letters to the editor and the Government and their local members to express their dismay. Around 80% of voters in the paper‟s online poll opposed sand mining on North Stradbroke Island. While most of the island, including recent rehabilitation and mining operations, remain out-of- bounds to the public it is easy for this issue to remain “out of sight and out of mind” for most people. So well done to the Courier-Mail and others involved for alerting the people of South-East Queensland to what is happening on Straddie.

The Courier-Mail's coverage of the destruction wrought by sand mining on North Stradbroke Island sparked a flurry of letter writing to the newspaper and the State Government. Here are a few extracts: One wonders what the late Oodgeroo Noonuccal would have to say about the extensive sand mining on her homeland... The aerial shots of areas being mined (C-M, Aug 15-16) were staggering  Claire Jolliffe, Buderim. C-M 17 August 2009.  ...some of the mining leases have expired and are not yet renewed. What a golden opportunity for the Government to implement the ALP's long-held proposal to convert extensive areas into national parks. I defy anyone who has the long-term interest of the island at heart to justify the destruction of the continuing sand mining. Elinor Drake, Point Lookout. C-M 18 August 2009.  The public debate about the future of NSI should not be about whether mining is good or bad per se. It should be about what use of the island's resources will b...

Paul Vekselstein and Sue Ellen Carew attended the CRL Environmental Working Group (EWP) meeting and mine tour in August.Company spokespeople answered questions, gave an update on mining operations and showed community representatives around some of the mine operations.These photos were taken during the tour:  Now you see it – now you don’t ... (left) mining operations devour bushland at CRL’s Yarraman mine.  Moonscape ... (right) drains like this have replaced creeks and gullies formed over thousands of years.

In the last year the global economic crisis together with new scientific predictions of the rapid escalation of global warming are factors that have radically altered most people’s world view. I am sure most FOSI members consider the island much more in a global context than we did only a year ago. The implications for North Stradbroke Island, already suffering environmental harm from inappropriate development, sand mining and water extraction, and very nearly an oil spill, become ever more unpredictable. Sea level rises, extreme weather events, mining companies ever more fixated on the bottom line and searching for profitable activities, and developers with the same problem, a larger population in Redlands drawing on the aquifer – all these are potential impacts on our poor island. FOSI’s activities over 2008 included involvement in two legal cases. One involved CRL’s attempts to quarry huge volumes of sand from the island (around 500,000 tonnes per annum) for the construction i...

Prior to its takeover by Unimin, Consolidated Rutile Ltd (CRL) announced major changes to its North Stradbroke Island sand mining operations. In a May release to the stock market the company said it anticipated the mining operation at Yarraman would be completed in 2013 and its rig dismantled and taken off the island. The Enterprise Mine would remain and mining of this resource would be extended by four years to 2027. The company said it expected employee numbers would halve by 2014 as a result of these changes. CRL said should the Unimin takeover be successful, these changes would be subject to review by the new owner. Friends of Stradbroke Island (FOSI) sees these changes as an indication of the marginal nature of sand mining on North Stradbroke Island. They provide further evidence that the small gains in terms of jobs, royalties, input to the economy and local purchasing provided by mining is not worth the cost: plants and animals destroyed, dune systems, lakes and creeks...

Mining leases on NSI were granted in a bygone era – Politically by a Bjelke-Petersen national party Government with very different attitudes to the environment than the current Government. Culturally when public perception of and attitudes to mining in fragile environments were quite different. Geographically when NSI was much further from the major population centres. Redlands was still a rural area yet to undergo urbanisation and Brisbane was of much smaller dimensions. Now it is on the door step of a substantial population which is ever increasing. Dredge Mine, concentrator (CRL image library). Now a unique opportunity for the government to act! There are a large number of mining leases that have expired and FOSI and others are opposing the renewal of all such expired leases. The ALP Governments have been proposing to develop extensive National Parks on NSI since 1990. In that time, the population of greater Brisbane has more than doubled, creating a much greater ne...

In our last newsletter we reported the unanimous decision of the Redland City Council in August, 2008, to reject a proposal by a Consolidated Rutile Ltd subsidiary to take sand from the island and sell it to the construction industry. Such sand is not a ‘mineral’ under the Mineral Resources Act. The application involved the establishment on the island of a significant new extractive industry, which on the figures provided by the mining company could last for 98 years. The mining company claimed in its application to the Council that up to 10 extra jobs would be created if its proposal was approved. CRL has appealed the decision. In early April, there was a two-day hearing of several preliminary points of law which could bring the appeal to an end. The court has reserved its judgement. However, there has been another development, which will become very significant if the court decides the preliminary points in CRL’s favour. Prior to the State election on 21 March, several FOSI and S...