March in North Queensland saw another mass coral bleaching event, flash flooding and the highest king tides many of us have ever seen. 

Our climate is growing more chaotic, our environment is facing increasing pressures and our political landscape appears to be increasingly dynamic and unpredictable. Here at NQCC, we're building our capacity, to ensure North Queensland's environment has a powerful voice in these challenging times.

In late 2023, NQCC made a submission to the Draft Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Roadmap (read it here). On 26 March 2024, the refined Roadmap was released and is available here. 

For a week in the middle of March, NQCC was represented at the Ministerial Environment Roundtable (MERT) and Queensland Environment Roundtable (QERT), hosted by Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) in Meanjin Brisbane.

February was a particularly wet month for North Queensland, but it wasn't enough to dampen our spirits! We presented at a committee hearing for the Energy Transformation and Jobs Bill, engaged with students at JCU's O-Week Market Day, attended a Delegates Conference with civil society leaders from across the Queensland Community Alliance, held several energising volunteer meetings at our office and hosted a Mayoral Candidates' Forum - not bad for the shortest month of the year!

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Media Release: Queensland Conservation Council & North Queensland Conservation Council

8 March 2024

The bulldozing of a 2km-long driveway through Bowling Green National Park near Townsville is an international embarrassment for Queensland, highlighting critical problems in the state’s ability to respond to illegal clearing across the state.

Townsville residents know we're on the frontlines of climate change, and the need for strong local leadership on climate action and environmental conservation is higher now than ever before.

Last night, NQCC invited Townsville's three mayoral candidates to share their perspectives and priorities on all things related to climate, environment and liveability, as they responded to questions from NQCC and the community.

I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well, amid the climate chaos that has been playing out over the past few weeks. Sadly, this is exactly the kind of summer we were expecting. 

Following a submission made in late 2023, NQCC was invited to present to Queensland's Transport and Resources Committee on the Energy (Renewable Transformation and Jobs) Bill 2023. Our Coordinator was one of just four representatives to speak at the Townsville hearing, and the only one providing a conservation perspective. We spoke in support of the Bill, and highlighted potential improvements (read our opening statement here). 

Prairie Wind Farm is part of the North Queensland Super Hub, located in the North Queensland Renewable Energy Zone in the Flinders Shire, on Yirendali Country.

Queensland Farmers’ Federation in partnership with the Queensland Government, has prepared the Queensland Renewable Energy Landholder Toolkit to assist and inform landholders as they respond to and negotiate with energy industry representatives about accessing land and developing renewable energy projects.