Thursday, 7 March 2024
This morning, Minister Plibersek met with community members, BirdLife Australia and other Toondah Alliance members to hear the group’s concerns about a decade-long development proposal threatening the important wetlands of Toondah Harbour near Brisbane.
BirdLife Australia is looking forward to the Minister’s final decision in the coming weeks, hopeful that the community’s fight to save their wetlands will finally be won.
During the meeting, members of the local community discussed the iconic birds that visit the area, presented the Minister with artwork inspired by the wetlands and shared their personal connections to the natural wonder.
BirdLife Australia reminded the minister of the site’s conservation value as habitat for Critically Endangered birds like the Eastern Curlew.
The meeting caps more than a decade of tireless community campaigning to save the wetlands with a final decision to be made by Minister Plibersek in the coming weeks.
The private developer behind the proposal, Walker Corporation, proposed to build a $1.3 billion complex so they can profit from the selling of 3,600 apartments, a hotel, restaurants and marinas on the mudflats of Toondah Harbour – all within the internationally recognised Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland area.
The community response to save the wetlands over the last decade has been significant. Annual rallies and events have drawn crowds of greater than 2,000 people. 27,000 formal public submissions were made in opposition to the proposal. 25,000 people have directly emailed the minister asking her to save the wetland – a number that continues to grow.
“We’re so appreciative of the Minister’s time today. She listened to our concerns and took the time to engage with the passionate community representatives in the room.”
“With the final decision due in the coming weeks, we’re optimistic that the minister will make the right decision. But we’re not there yet, and the community’s efforts to save this critical habitat for migratory birds will not stop until the door is well and truly closed on Walker Corporation’s irresponsible proposal.”
“The fact that many of the thousands of submissions to the draft Environmental Impact Statement came from outside of Queensland has been belittled by the Proponents – totally ignoring the inconvenient truth that a private development within our Ramsar site will impact our migratory shorebirds with ramifications well beyond Queensland. It truly is a national and international issue.”
“I am immensely proud of the Toondah Alliance. The Alliance has run, and will continue to run, an incredibly powerful, well-informed grassroots campaign. Today, far from being what the Proponents describe as a small disruptive group of environmentalists, the Minister was able to see firsthand the breadth of our knowledge, integrity, and authenticity across all elements of this totally unacceptable development. We thank her for her time today and look forward to a positive outcome.”
Images, video and more information is available on the Save Toondah Harbour page.
Please contact James Johnson on 0423 659 324 or at media@birdlife.org.au.
Together, we saved Toondah Harbour. We won this battle because of the sustained pressure and opposition from everyday Australians. But this is just the start!
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