Forum

 
  Back to OzPolitic.com   Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register
  Forum Home Album HelpSearch Recent Rules LoginRegister  
 

Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
The Irwins -v- mining giant (Read 579 times)
mantra
Gold Member
*****
Offline


ozpolitic.com

Posts: 10750
Gender: female
The Irwins -v- mining giant
May 16th, 2008 at 10:39am
 
Which government granted the mining permits to this mining corporation - Cape Alumina ?  How much clout will the Irwins have in fighting a mining giant and the State Government, considering their funding for the reserve was granted by the Federal Govt specifically for this purpose?

THE Queensland Government will tell the family of Steve Irwin they must excise an area claimed for mining on Cape York from a nature refuge it is planning for the area.

The Irwin family was last year given $6.25 million by the Howard government to buy a 135,000ha property on Cape York that was to be converted into a nature reserve.

Mining company Cape Alumina claims to have an exploration permit over parts of the property that allows it to explore for bauxite.

Earlier this week, Steve Irwin's widow Terri launched an online petition to save "Steve's Place" and said the ecological integrity of the property was under threat from mining.

The matter of access to the property for the purposes of exploration went to court yesterday, but a statement from the state Government's Environmental Planning Authority appears to override the court action.

The statement, provided to The Australian, said Silverback Properties, the Irwin family private company, had applied to make the entire station a nature reserve, and the EPA was proceeding with the assessment of this application.

"The EPA is waiting on Silverback to provide a draft conservation agreement in order to progress their nature refuge application," the statement said. "The conservation agreement would need to recognise the current mining exploration permits that exist on the property, or exclude this area from the proposed nature refuge."

While the matter of what constitutes the nature reserve is still being finalised, an interim hearing yesterday failed to solve the matter of what access Cape Alumina could have to the property to continue explorations.

In a directions hearing in Brisbane's Land Court, lawyers for Cape Alumina argued there was some urgency in the request. Cape Alumina lawyer Paul Freeburn said four environmental scientists needed to do a flora and fauna study, as part of an environmental impact statement, before the wet season ended.

Lawyers for Silverback Properties Pty Ltd - in which Australia Zoo's Terri Irwin and her father-in-law Bob Irwin are the sole shareholders - and Member of the Land Court Paul Smith were surprised by the request.

Wayne Cochrane, for Silverback Properties, said he had been given no notice of the application and said his clients believed Cape Alumina was "not entitled to access to the land at all".

Mr Smith briefly adjourned the hearing to allow the lawyers from both sides to try to agree on a timeframe to continue the hearing. The lawyers returned and said they would endeavour to reach an agreement regarding Cape Alumina's request for immediate access by noon today.

If an agreement was not reached, lawyers for the mining company would file an official application and a hearing would be held on Tuesday.

In documents submitted to the court, lawyers for Silverback Properties told Cape Alumina that their client would use "whatever lawful means necessary to stop the mining of the Steven Irwin Wildlife Reserve".

"There shall be no compromise on this position," said the letter from McColm Matsinger lawyers to Paul Messenger, chief executive of Cape Alumina

Back to top
 
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print