Welcome to the July Paperbark! Check out all the wonderful events happening around our community this month! NQCC is recruiting - an ad will appear on Ethical Jobs over the coming days. If you are interested in joining the NQCC team, email NQCC President Gail Hamilton at [email protected]

News

‘Chasing Coral’ film event

NQCC is proud to be delivering a local screening of the internationally acclaimed documentary ‘Chasing Coral’. This film records coral beaching around the world using time lapse cinematography. After the film there will be a Q&A panel with Dr Charlie Veron who is featured in the film, Tony Fontes who is a dive instructor and Reef campaigner from Airlie Beach, and Dr David Wachenfeld who is the Director of the Reef Recovery Program at GBRMPA. A must-see event!

Where: James Cook University, Medical Lecture Theatre 45.002
When: 6:30pm for 7pm start
Click here to RSVP for your FREE ticket!

Kevin’s Corner court case decision

On 4 July the Queensland Land Court handed down its decision to uphold the mining lease and environmental authority for the Kevin’s Corner coal mine in the Galilee Basin. NQCC commenced legal action in 2015 challenging that the cumulative impact assessment was not properly conducted. Read our full media release and background information here.

North Queensland Conservation Council today vowed to continue its fight to have the cumulative impacts of opening up the Galilee Basin to a clutch of new coal mines taken into account by having ‘Cumulative Impact Assessments’ thoroughly considered by governments charged with approving mining projects.

NQCC was an objector in the GVK Hancock Kevin’s Corner coal mine case in the Queensland Land Court. NQCC Coordinator Maree Dibella was speaking after learning of the decision to uphold approvals for a Mining Lease and an Environmental Authority for the project. Kevin’s Corner is a proposed 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) coal mine in the Galilee Basin that would cover over 37,000 hectares and be worked for 30 years (a period that the mining company defined as a ‘temporary interruption’ of other uses).

Welcome to the June Paperbark. In this issue: membership due – new committee members – SGM outcome – Adani campaign news – Kevin’s Corner court case – mine rehabilitation reform – Wet Tropics review – upcoming events.

News

Membership due

Thank you to our members who have already renewed their membership, and welcome to the new members who have recently signed up.

Between 19 and 30 October, NQCC was at the Land Court in Brisbane as an objector in the matter of Galilee Coal Pty Ltd v Bruce Bede Currie and others. Galilee Coal Pty Ltd is owned by the Indian GVK Group.

We were objecting to the approval of Galilee Coal’s Kevin’s Corner mine, 160 km west of Emerald in the Galilee Basin, by the Queensland Government. As a level 3 objector, NQCC was able to attend the hearing, give opening and closing addresses, call evidence, cross-examine witnesses and put in a final submission. Cross-examination of witnesses for NQCC was conducted by Kathryn Kelly, assisted by Wendy Tubman.