Bowen people: Before you support the Abbot Point expansion, have a think about the reality of proposal. You could lose our local fishing spots: the proposed dredging is right next to the mackerel patch. This isn’t just our weekend fun that we’ll lose, it’s the already decreasing local commercial fishing industry. It happened in Gladstone and Weipa – look it up. Mr Fish (oh the irony!) from North Queensland Bulk Ports has specifically said the new employees with be predominantly fly-in fly-out. This expansion will not bring new jobs into Bowen. Tourism from the reef brings in an estimated 3 million per year to the region. It doesn’t take a genius to work out more boats = more pollution = fewer tourists. Can the small businesses of Bowen really afford a 3 million loss in tourism? The great barrier reef is at risk of death by a 1000 cuts: The current proposal of dumping the dredged material at sea will increase the amount of sediment suspended in the reef which can kill the corals. Add this to sea level rise, increasing water temperatures and changes in water acidity from climate change and will the reef really be able to recover? Can we really risk that? Protection from the reef: If we lose the reef, the coastline of Bowen and surrounds will change a lot. The reef protects the coastline from coastal erosion and creates the beautiful and sheltered environments that we love to use for snorkelling, fishing and boating. In Mackay the colour of the sand became darker with the increase in sediments and pollution from the rising boat numbers. The gender of turtle hatchling depends on the temperature of the sand. Darker sand means warmer sand which means the all the hatchlings are hatching as female. This has massive long term implications for the future of turtles in our region. The area around Abbot point is a nesting ground for loggerheaded turtles, one of the species most at risk of global extinction. The expansion will mean the loggerheads lose a breeding ground. Where will they go? Can you really justify the extinction of an entire species? In the preliminary site surveys, the wetlands surrounding Abbot Point were noted as ‘of international significance’. This information was later taken out of the public forum and seems to have been ignored by the environment minister. These wetlands are very important to the Australian Painted Snipe which has recently been added to the endangered species list. So that’s birds AND turtles that we’re threatening….. This is only scraping the surface of the issues but to summarise, if it won’t bring in money or jobs and it will threaten our existing industries, our species and our town, why would we support it? Take a stand and make your voice heard before August 9th. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/australian_coal_disaster_global/?copy
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:25:12 +0000
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