Tuesday 28 July 2009

Five months before another disaster at False Cape

The disaster at False Cape is only five months away from another wet season - a disaster waiting to happen yet again.

The sediment traps, which are supposed to protect the Great Barrier Reef from the harmful run-off from this outrageous development, are full again, showing how ineffective they are. Hillslope erosion, at East Trinity of Cairns, is out of control.

The stop-gap "environmental protection" measures adopted by Cairns Regional Council in the face of totally ineffectual activity, or inactivity as was the case from the Federal and State Governments concerning False Cape, are going to fail once again. They will allow tonnes of muck to spew into the Reef and surrounding environs in the upcoming wet season.

When are the Federal and State environment departments going to take legal action against the developer, which appears to remain in breach of its permits, and hence Federal and State law? When are they going to close down this development once and for all?

Their inactivity obviously gives the developer heart: the rumor is that he has asked that the 12-month moratorium on the development be lifted.

Unless these lazy and dishonest Government departments act, we, the Cairns Regional Council taxpayers, will have to foot another very substantial bill required to continue the useless stop-gap measures adopted so far.

I can't think of one single reason for us to be shelling out for this in the first case, if the Government departments and the former shonky Cairns City Council had been doing their jobs.

It is also time for Environment Minister Peter Garrett to release the damning sediment run-off appendix to the consultant's report, that his Department commissioned on the project. He has said that he can't release it because it might prejudice any prosecution of the developer. We all know that he is keeping it secret it to protect his own Department's complicity and careless attitude in policing this development. By doing this, he's also protecting this extremely dodgy developer.

It's time for Minister Garrett to start questioning the lack of action, the lack of accountability, the lack of transparency and the lack of honesty of his Departmental officers about the False Cape project.

Sadly, we have a rather different Garrett in office to the one that was a fierce advocate for the environment, just a few short years ago. He supported the pulp mill in Tasmania, and just last week approved a new uranium mine in South Australia.

It's high time something happened at False Cape.

4 comments:

bolder on my head said...

An inspection of False Cape was carried out two weeks ago and indeed sediment traps are overflowing and actively discharging sediment onto the Great Barrier Reef. What is it going to take to shake this bureaucratic paralysis? I would expect an aditional death or two is required to arouse Peter Garrett into some form of action. CRC are a write off, even a death or two wouldn't stir them.

The Warrior Supporter said...

Peter Garrett and these other "leaders" are your Labor mates, Mr Moore. Obviously your Labor mates are even easier to corrupt that the previous government. Garrett in particular, rolling over for the nuke industry.

You Labor arseholes should be ashamed.

Bryan Law said...

If you don't mind Mr War Supporter, but I think you're wrong when you call Michael Moore a "Labor arsehole". I know Michael quite well and I can assure you that he, like me, is an "Independant arsehole"!

Try and get it right in future please.

Michael Moore said...

Too-shay Mr Law... I mean stirrer, trouble-maker, pest (insert other adjectives from the Cairns Post book of lazy filler words so I don't have to get off my lazy arse and do some real journalistic investigation)