Aussies Watch 4 Corners tonight...CSG mining Great Barrier Reef

I just found out that the show 4Corners on ABC is discussing the destruction of huge swathes of our Great Barrier Reef. Not to spoil the plot, but... Millions of cubic metres of sea floor are being drudged up from the Great Barrier Reef to make way for massive new coal seem gas export facilities. No, we're not kidding.

It's the largest dredging project ever undertaken in Australia, and one that has the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) so alarmed they're warning the Reef could lose its iconic world heritage status.

This is unbelievable. Surely the government won't allow this to happen??

This sort of thing is really starting to # me

Whats next? Mining for uranium in a protected wilderness area?

Oh yeah thats right

reply to post by zenius


What. the. #.

The news isn't even reporting this as far as i see. This is outrageous

I didn't see the report, but I used to work on the reef itself and while I do not support coal seem gas, I understand how a lot of people get the wrong impression of the great barrier reef.
The reef itself is not 1 continuous reef, but made up of around 2,900 individual reefs, the distance between reefs can be 5 nautical mile apart or as little as a 1/2 a mile, now the reef itself is a hell of a lot tougher than you hear in the media, having seen the results of many cyclones on teh reef as well as damage caused by a ship running aground.
the media portray such events as life threatening to the reef, but in reality, destruction itself is all part of the reefs natural cycle, without destruction, new growth does not occur, small fish welcome the damage as it exposes small worms ect..... from the coral structures that are damaged.

the reef is around 344 400 square kilometres, now do people honestly think that a trench would damage or take away from its heritage listing?
What it will do is hopefully prevent any more groundings, ships constantly go up and down as well as across the reef daily.

We need to get CSG the frack out of our country. Period. Methane gas may burn cleaner than coal, but the leakages are worse for the atmosphere overall and the infrastructure is destroying what is left of environment. 100% renewable is the only option, Aussies should not except anything less for our country. After 200+ years of dumbass eurocentric exploitation of our resources for the benefit of a few assholes at the top, its time to wake the f** up.

reply to post by zenius


Bam !! There it is ... right there.

You have lured me out of lurkerdom to add support to your indignation. ( would have flagged you but us lurkers lost that privilege a while back, so have a star ! )

By " right there " I mean respect. Something severely lacking in our steadily greedier grab for cash.

Having had the privilege of spending a week cruising the Whitsundays and in particular, spending some time at anchor in a marine protection zone where we were able to hand feed fish off the back of our vessel, I must tell you; even though I had all my fishing gear with me ... it was too pristine. I couldn't do it.

So ... we fed the fish! ( that respect thing ... like being in another's house.)

This is the first I have heard of this, so consider it a knee jerk reaction rant to something extremely important to which I vote ... lets have a closer look at this.

reply to post by Shar_Chi


I agree. Time and time again I say mining is evil. I've just graduated from a uni science degree, and the only jobs out there for me to apply for are mining related jobs. Do I sell my soul to the devil or suffer financial strain? I would rather live frugally than work for a mining company.

Back on topic, after watching the show, it is apparent that the coal seam gas mining is not the problem per se (although who knows what damage that does in itself), but its the ports and processing facilities being approved and built x 6 from Cape York to Gladstone for coal and csg. It's about the exponential increase in harbour traffic and sea lanes, the increase in potential shipping disasters and threat to marine wild life. It's about inefficient water testing and the Gladstone fishing industry going under because of inexplainable diseases in the fish, dugongs, sharks and turtles.
The world heritage area starts at the low water mark. So these huge developments (one being 8km long) are within these areas. There are threatened and vulnerable species at risk from these developments.
The State and Federal governments have both approved these processing plants and port facilities citing an increase in jobs and wealth from exports. There can be no guarantee that destruction won't occur, no matter how stringent the guidelines for development. They are putting whole ecosystems at higher risk.
As one guy interviewed said, why, if it has to be, can't they have one or two areas, why 6 spread right along the Queensland coast? Again it's all about the almighty dollar. It may create jobs, but will Queenslanders, or Australians for that matter get them? Do the benefits out weigh the potential loss of a species or high mortality rate of several species?
We are a clever country with people who invent wonderful things, then sell the rights to overseas interests because there is no support in this country for innovation. Australians, if given the opportunity, I'm sure could find economic and environmental energy solutions for our country and India, China or who ever.

reply to post by Timely


And I give you a star right back for appreciating and respecting the ecosystem, which seems to be such a rare thing these days.

It doesn't matter mate. Like "Little Johnny Howard" before her, Julia(r) Gillard is far more intent on 'strutting the world stage' to promote her own self importance than she is to look after the interest of Australia.
As a Prime Minister of the Labour Government she is representative of the greatest Liberal policies that were ever instigated and continues to exploit ingenious ways of robbing the poor to give to the rich.
Whilst Aborigine communities across Australia continue to live in conditions that would cause other Countries to vomit and Pensioners (some of whom have put their lives on the line for this great Country) continue to exist well below the poverty line (some living on dog food) we continue to welcome refugee's (some of whom are genuine and need help but most of whom are exploiting the system and are given free food and housing) and provide them with living conditions way beyond their wildest dreams.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of the Great Wonders of the World but the question is "Can it win votes"? No!
So what is the answer - we will give as much money as we can to Greece because they are in financial trouble and the rest of the world will think we are wonderful people. Yes, the 'rest of the world' but what about Australians?
In the meantime we will send our young men and women to Afghanistan and celebrate their deaths with pomp and ceremony.
I do not know how these politicians can live with themselves but why should they care, they restrict the workers of Australia with a "Work till you Drop" policy whilst awarding themselves million dollar superannuation payouts and a cushy job as an "Ambassador to Nowhere" providing themselves with "Gold Cards" giving them access to free travel and food so they don't have to spend any of their money anyway.
Nice work if you can get it.
They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves but I guarantee that they will turn over in their beds tonight and f@rt in our general direction.
Sorry if I have offended anyone but to those of you who have never seen Australia and the Great Barrier Reef please have a look on YouTube and you will understand what I am talking about.

reply to post by zenius


Cheers zenius !

Just a thought, if the Reef holds world heritage status; what can they do from a " world " heritage legal standpoint ? ( is there any meat on this bone? )

Or will they drop it like something that looks nice ... but smells bad ?

OP I hope you can find a way to use your skills for something better than mining. I was being dragged that way but pulled the pin and now working on sustainability projects and enjoying life a lot more. People who are too thick to think of a way to earn a living without raping the earth need to ship off to mars!

reply to post by OzTiger


A bit off topic, but well said. I truly hope I live to see the day where we have leaders who truly love and care about our country, our children and grandchildren, instead of destroying it and selling it off and creating a poverty ridden society.

reply to post by Timely


The show said that World Heritage committee members are coming to investigate the sites in March 2012. I think if they don't stand up to scrutiny, those areas will lose World Heritage Status. I don't think there is a legal stand but I'm not sure. One legal obligation Australia has is that it signed an international agreement (don't remember who with) in which it is bound to protect endemic and threatened species. That's our best hope and helped save the Mary River from damming.
There are also petitions such as getup's if you're interested.

reply to post by Shar_Chi


I agree with you. How much more human destruction can our planet and every living thing on it take? Surely we've passed the tipping point?
I'd love to hear about your work, send me a u2u if you would be so kind. I'm doing volunteer school sustainability work. Much preferred rather than going to the mines.

so looking at the report I see that they are not looking at dredging the reef at all

Gladstone Ports Corporation is now undertaking the biggest dredging operation ever attempted inshore from the Great Barrier Reef.

the dredging occurs in the harbours which are done every other year and the mud is dropped in a spoil ground, the currents take the mud away from the reef and not onto the reef, that is why these areas are chosen.
dredging has to be done due to the mud build up in the harbours, larger tankers require deeper channels to be dredged,

the only warning I read was this

Experts warn this expansion will lead to a substantial increase in shipping through the Reef, increasing the possibility of groundings and oil spills in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

whilst this is correct, the great barrier reef has one of the strictest monitoring of vessels and require pilots to guide ships through the reef.

Good post Zenius S&F!
Anyone concerned about this issue can sign a petition hosted by Get-Up.
(Mods delete this post if it breaches T&C)

You can watch the program here

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