Last night, the Queensland government failed to pass vital land-clearing reform legislation.

This is a disaster of Queensland’s making. It’s a huge win for big agriculture and a terrible blow for our Reef, climate change and hundreds of Queensland’s vulnerable or endangered species.

The health of our Reef is directly linked to increased erosion that comes from the tree clearing. Queensland has now passed up the chance to take real steps to protect our Reef for Australians and visitors around the world who support a major tourism industry.

On Sunday 14^th of August, NQCC hosted a fundraising dinner to celebrate our community of past committee members, donors, volunteers and staff. Additionally, former NQCC Coordinator Susan Brown was visiting Townsville after spending the past 11 years in Geneva working for WWF. We thought a dinner at the NQCC HQ would be a good opportunity for our community to gather.

Welcome to this month’s Paperbark! It has been a busy month of planning events and making submissions about various conservation issues being reviewed. Just a reminder: if you were a member in 2015/2016, you have until 5 September until your membership officially lapses. Click here to renew your membership.

In this issue: Protecting our wildlife – Vegetation Management laws – Climate Change Policy – Upcoming Events – General Notices.

On the 11^th of August, NQCC staffers Maree Dibella and Jacob Miller attended Hon. Dr Steven Miles’ presentation on the challenges facing the Great Barrier Reef, as the Virginia Chadwick Memorial Lecture. Dr Miles unveiled the findings of a report by the Water Science Taskforce that details an $8.2 billion strategy to save the reef over the next decade.

The strategy is to reduce the amount of sediment that runs off into the reef by managing vegetation clearing and addressing gully erosion. Of particular concern is the Fitzroy catchment near Rockhampton, taking about three-quarters of the recommended funding, as well as the Burdekin catchment to the south of Townsville, which requires $1.39 billion for rehabilitation.

Welcome to the July edition of Paperbark! At the time of writing, the dust is still settling from the Federal Election. We know that the Liberal National coalition will continue, the seat of Herbert is still undecided, and it will be weeks before the final make-up of the Senate is confirmed. In this issue: Election wrap – Plastic Free July – Coal Dust – Butterfly trip to Maggie – Citizen science bird study

Election Wrap-Up

The future for climate campaigning at a Federal politics level is uncertain. Although some of the worst blockers in the last Parliament have exited, many voters rejected the major parties and voted for populist minor parties, such as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

This is not good news for action on climate change. A Parliament under the influence of right-wing climate action blockers, puppeteered by the coal and gas industry, is going to make the fight for climate justice much more difficult.

Welcome to the June edition of Paperbark. With an election approaching, there has been a flurry of activity at the NQCC office. In this issue: AMCS – membership – Election forums for Herbert and Dawson – Great Barrier Beer – Wendy’s launch party – Golf course watering – Letters to the Bulletin – Vegetation Management – Election scorecards – Cash for containers – National Parks win – Emu research

Welcome to the May edition of Paperbark!

With a new month comes a new acting coordinator. I, Maree, would like to thank Wendy Tubman for her enormous contributions to NQCC over the past years in the position of coordinator. Filling her role is a responsibility I’m not taking lightly and I am diving straight into continuing the good work of NQCC as the voice for the environment.

In this issue: Pollution Free Politics, Vegetation Management, two movie screenings, Eco-Fiesta, a solar farm for Townsville, Adani in court, government attacks environmental groups, Coastcare and more.

Back in October 2011, Wendy Tubman, then a member of the NQCC Board, volunteered to step into the vacant role of Coordinator for a three month period ‘while we found someone else’. Four and a half years later she is leaving NQCC so that she can stand as the Greens candidate for the seat of Herbert in the forthcoming federal election.

It’s hard to say ‘all the best’ to Wendy without appearing to take a party-political stance, which we avoid, but we can and do thank her for the enormous time and effort she put into NQCC.

But NQCC isn’t going away, of course. We have a young, enthusiastic and environmentally well-connected woman standing in as Acting Coordinator until we advertise the position in three months time. She is Maree Dibella (right), who has a Degree in International Studies and, until recently, was working with the Green Army as a Team Supervisor.

Maree is contactable on the NQCC numbers (07) 4771 6226 or 0428 987 535 and at [email protected] from next Monday on. Please feel welcome to contact her if you have any questions about current NQCC campaigns or how you can become more involved.

Maree Dibella

In this issue: No Underground Coal Gasification for Queensland - 93% of the Reef is bleached - Queensland Weed and Pest Management - Magnetic Island Rehab - Rescuing the Reef - Beach Rubbish - Climate Change and Flood Risks - Other Local Voices

A newsletter packed with things that you can do to help NQCC and other ENGOs to help the environnment. But first, some good and some very bad news…

Following is the text of a media release distributed by NQCC on 18 March:

Panic and even illegal tree clearing may be the result of the Queensland Parliament’s delaying of an ALP Bill to limit tree-clearing throughout the State, according to North Queensland Conservation Council (NQCC) Coordinator Wendy Tubman.

The Bill conformed with the ALP’s pre-election promise to overturn the Newman government’s devastating tree-clearing laws. However, the progress of the Bill was stymied in the Queensland House last night by the last-minute and inexplicable about-face of Rob Pyne MP (former government, now Independent, member for Cairns). After assuring numerous constituents and stakeholders that he would support the ALP on this issue, Mr Pyne voted with the LNP and the Katter Party to slow its passage. The previous LNP legislation has seen a significant increase in tree-clearing through the State.