Category Archives: northern development

Nearly 70 per cent of Cape York covered by nature reserves or national parks; little left for Aboriginal economic benefit

May 5

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First published in April 2016

Aboriginal people of Cape York Peninsula are being duped and dudded by the State Government over large land ‘hand overs’ that the local communities believe will prevent them from earning income.

On April 7, another 54,000 hectares north of Cooktown was handed over to several tribal groups from Hopevale, adding even more locked-up land to the vast national park estate on Cape York.

Since the CYPLUS (Cape York Peninsula Land Use Study) research of the 80’s and early 90’s once productive grazing land has steadily been resumed by State Governments, mainly the ALP, to be gazetted as national park or some type of nature reserve.

Nature reserves, national parks, regional parks, timber reserves, environmental reserves and DOGIT land shaded areas cover at least 70 per cent of the Peninsula leaving small areas for grazing or commercial purposes that are not of any economic benefit to Aboriginal groups

Various Aboriginal corporations gratefully sign up to vast areas of former cattle stations, such as the Olkola people when last year they were handed five, once viable large cattle properties in central Cape York Peninsula totalling 1.5 million acres that used to run 30,000 cattle.

The Prescribed Body Corporation gleefully accepted the gift from the State Government, but seemingly did not properly read the paperwork. The PBC just helped the National Parks and Wildlife Service add another one million acres to their vast estate, on which no cattle grazing is allowed.

The remaining portion of Aboriginal Freehold can be used for grazing or selective timber cutting, but under the ALP environmental laws would have to be excluded from the nature reserves and park area by fencing it off.

The fencing would cost several million dollars and require maintenance on a weekly basis to be effective.

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson angrily said, “…again Aborigines have been duped by the Labor/Green bureaucracy.”

Noel Pearson sick and tired of being ‘dudded’ by the Labor/Green bureaucracy

Pearson heaped vitriol on the Labor and former LNP governments at a large meeting of stakeholders in Mareeba recently for dudding the communities of Cape York over land use.

“We have no property rights on Cape York and we need upgraded tenure. There are lots of fronts where all landowners are vulnerable,” he said.

Public servants who once worked for environmental lobby groups were targeted by Pearson for pushing extreme green agendas within government.

“These greens have infiltrated indigenous groups and government departments and it’s like a tag team, they are all the same, and have networked with all departments,” Mr Pearson said.

“Public servants should declare their association with environmental groups.

“The proposition there is going to be land clearing the size of Victoria, is fantasy.

“There are only pockets of land suitable for development.

“White people too have had many generations on this land and they have a great love for their land. It’s high time the law in Queensland started to respect that relationship.

“We spent five hard years and lots of money fighting Wild Rivers in court but we could have been doing other more productive things.

“We need another 10 independents in parliament to put us in a better position, given the absence of an Upper House.”

Posted in aborigines, Agenda 2030, agenda21, agriculture, ALP, Corporate Government, General, Greens, New State of North Queensland, northern development

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Kuranda Range Road highway to hell

Feb 1

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–contributed

The Queensland Labor Corporation last year engaged a Cairns green consulting firm to produce a $1.6 million report requiring a predetermined outcome about finding a new road access to Cairns

Queensland Labor Transport Minister Mark Bailey has been steadfastly opposing any new road to take the place of the outdated and extremely dangerous Kuranda Range Road connecting the Atherton Tablelands to Cairns.

Bailey cannot drive a car therefore makes an excellent choice of a Labor academic in charge of the state’s massive road network.

Labor Transport Minister Mark Bailey

The report’s author, Mark Aitken, CEO of ARUP consultancy firm in Cairns was tasked to deliver a report finding no new road access was needed until 2051, an incredulous outcome in face of the facts.

When the $1.6m funding, secured by the KAP Member for Hill, Shane Knuth was announced in August, the newly formed Kuranda Range Road Bypass Committee contacted Mr Aitken offering him support and mentioned the Reddicliffe Bypass which had been on the table for 30 years.

The committee offered to take Mr Aitken onsite to inspect the route which is considered by engineers and road transport operators as the best and most cost-effective, alternative bypass available.

Mr Aitken declined the offer of inspection but took a phone number for future reference.

He was never heard from again.

The committee by then realised the Minister and the consultant had no intention of investigating a new road and would produce a bogus report.

In a foreword to the report, it was stated that local authorities had been consulted about the contents, however a Mareeba Shire Council spokesperson was unaware of any contact with ARUP.

A joint Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils and Main Roads Department investigation revealed Kuranda Range Road vehicle movements were far in excess of its design capacity in 2017.

FNQROC and Main Roads Department joint report (graph) shows the Kuranda Range Road traffic numbers were over its design capacity in 2017

In other words the range road has been redundant for five years.

The ARUP report found the Kuranda Range Road was not trafficable during a total of 44 closures averaging 6.6 hours annually due to accidents.

This data is at best absurd as any driver who lives on the Tablelands would know. The actual rate of closures, many unreported, is much more, particularly in the wet season when landslides, fallen trees and innumerable vehicle accidents close the road often for 4 to 5 hours at a time.

Latest advice received from shire council sources is the Environment Department now requires a total foliage umbrella for the length of the road, which is another disaster waiting to happen and a dangerous, inhibiting factor for heavy vehicle, wide or high loads.

Excessive leaf litter on the already diesel-smeared, slippery surface will send many more light vehicles over the edge. No sunlight will ensure the road stays wet.

Another glaring anomaly in the report states 93 per cent of travel movements are within two minutes of the expected travel time. Most range travelers today allow three to five hours on top of their estimated travel time to get to Cairns Airport or for medical appointments. Some travelers go the day before staying overnight in Cairns.

“The planning study found that while there are clear challenges with each corridor, none of the existing corridors are operating at capacity.

Traffic analysis indicates 93 per cent of travel movements on the Kuranda Range are within two minutes of the expected travel time.

On average, travel duration (light vehicles) is extended by 30 to 40 seconds throughout the day due to the presence of slower moving heavy vehicles.”

It gets worse:

“Current modelling indicates that with natural growth rates traffic volumes on the Kuranda Range Road will not reach the threshold for major upgrades until 2051.

Major development on the tablelands could increase growth rates and bring forward the need for major capacity upgrades.

While currently not needed, actions can be taken to progress towards planning for an alternative alignment in the long-term…….”

The erroneously-named Bridle Track at Davies Creek was not investigated as an alternative route or was the Reddicliffe Bypass which starts east of the Davies Creek bridge on the Kennedy Highway and takes a direct line eastwards to emerge on state government owned vacant land next to the Boral Quarry on Intake Road in Redlynch Valley, Cairns.

An Intake Rd overpass has been included in the plan along with an entry and exit ramp for local traffic, thus allaying any concerns about extra vehicles along Intake Rd.

The new corridor crosses a small wet area and follows the edge of a wet sclerophyll forest to intersect with the Western Arterial Highway.

Contrary to wild claims of destroying homes in Redlynch by Mark Bailey and the Labor Member for Barron River, Craig Crawford, the Reddicliffe Bypass does not provide for one house or any private property resumption excepting a small vacant allotment on the edge of the Western Arterial Hwy.

“This proposed(Reddicliffe) highway is a project no government would ever build due to its hideous cost and destruction of a heritage listed National Park,” said the Greens-driven Mark Bailey.

Member for Kennedy Bob Katter and Reddicliffe Bypass designer and earthmover Ron Reddicliffe examine the structure of the ailing Barron River bridge, the cost of replacement estimated at more than $700M

The cost of the Reddicliffe Bypass has been estimated at well under $500m. A new bridge across the Barron River is estimated at $700m leaving intact the problems with the Kuranda Range Road. There is an existing road access through the national park which would form a part of the new road and there would be minimal disturbance, said committee members.

Bailey has been totally inept and incompetent as a transport Minister according to Cape York transport industry spokesman John Witherspoon who operates road trains across the north.

“The Labor Party wants to shut down Cape York and Gulf cattle and farming industries” he said.

“While we have a new bitumen Peninsula Development Road built mostly with federal funding,

we have a road bottleneck starting at Mt Molloy restricting truck access to Mareeba, Cairns and the port.

“Now the Barron River bridge at Kuranda is back to single lane because it is structurally unsound.

“The Reddicliffe Bypass is the most sensible solution of the lot.”

Member for Kennedy Bob Katter whose electorate takes in the Tablelands has been scathing of Bailey and the Labor Corporation for ignoring the community which is crying out for a new road to Cairns.

“There are 56,000 people living on the Tablelands and 5 percent of Australia’s fruit and vegetable production is land-locked and cannot access the Cairns Port or a proposed deep-water port at Yarrabah,” Mr Katter said.

“We are in a situation where the State Government doesn’t know if the Kuranda Bridge is or isn’t safe. And even when the bridge is open, that route closes 44 times a year for an average of seven hours per closure (according to their own report). 

“Despite this, they tell us that a new road from Cairns to the Tablelands isn’t viable, but they are spending $6b on the Cross River Rail to save Brisbane commuters five minutes, and are also spending billions on the Olympic Games in Brisbane, a sporting contest that will last two weeks!”

Posted in ALP, Annastacia Palaszczuk, General, local government, New State of North Queensland, northern development

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Cape York possible coal seam gas field?

Jun 18

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by Gil Hanrahan

The State Government had secret plans to create a city of 60,000 people at Port Stewart, along the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, east of the township of Coen, according to a deep-state ALP source.

It also planned to mine much of Cape York, in deference to demands by the Greens and conservation bodies to nominate the Peninsula for World Heritage.

In 2003 the World Bank chartered a specially equipped aircraft from the US to survey a vast area north from Townsville to the Torres Strait for all valuable natural resources which included minerals and timber.

Subsequent research by former Senator Len Harris’ Mareeba office revealed the survey had calculated the value of Far North Queensland mineral reserves to be in the vicinity of half a trillion US dollars.

The world’s largest and purest resource of silica sand stretches 100 klm south from Shelburne Bay and is worth an estimated $3 billion. Picture: Kerry Trapnell

Another plan according to Traditional Owners is to kick-start the National Party-era space station at former cattle properties Bromley and Shelburne Bay, on the east coast.

Indigenous inhabitants of Cape York however, have no knowledge of former Premier Anna Bligh’s secret city plan, believed to be devised in conjunction with Rothschild Bank as principal mortgagee of Queensland Incorporated.

The ALP source said the Cabinet in 2010 had proposed to turn Cape York Peninsula into “one big coal seam gas field.”

A new city built on the old Port Stewart site presumably would be the base for the intended mining fields to the west.

Such a proposition would revile the eco-terrorists of the Greens, World Wildlife Fund and the more sedate Australian Conservation Foundation. These pseudo-conservation bodies have been propping up the ALP for decades.

The Labor Party does not have much option with Rothschild Bank to which it owes at best estimates $60 billion, having it origins with the Goss government of 25 years ago.

Captain Anna Bligh

CEO of the Australian Bankers Association and former Queensland Labor Premier Anna Bligh had secret plans for a city with a population of 60,000 at the old Port Stewart site, east of Coen

Premiers Beattie and Bligh were quick to jump onto the bank bandwagon, reportedly from which they received millions of dollars in fees.  Indeed who would have thought the former, incapable Labor Premier Bligh would have made it to the position of CEO for the nefarious Australian Bankers Association?

Depopulation of the Peninsula continues under the Labor Government as indigenous people are pushed from their traditional home lands with dodgy deals done by the Environment and Natural Resources Departments preventing traditional owner groups from utilising their vast cattle properties.

Only a few cattle properties remain after others have been either purchased or resumed by the State Government ostensibly to hand back to Traditional Owners.

Most white ownership has already gone.

The government cunningly selects an appropriate representative of an indigenous Prescribed Body Corporation to negotiate hand-over conditions, mostly not in favour of indigenous beneficiaries.

After the deal has been done, as in the case of the Olkola PBC, the group discovered the government had pulled a swifty by handing over five former viable, destocked cattle properties totalling 633,630 hectares or 1,565,066 acres of which only a fraction could be utilised for grazing cattle. The five properties once carried a total herd of 14,000 head.

A large portion of the holdings had been gazetted as national park, nature reserve or environmental research.

The Peninsula’s 15 PBC’s have less control over so-called Aboriginal freehold than they did with DOGIT or native title parcels.

Thus the government calls the shots when it comes to land use, in particular mining which can occur with all titles.

Shelburne Bay silica reserves

An indigenous group, the Wuthati clan, reputedly a front for Cape York Partnerships founder Noel Pearson, in the Federal Court two years ago was handed native title over Shelburne Bay Pastoral Holding and its silica sand deposits, the largest and purest deposit in the world with an estimated value of more than $3 billion.

The inaccessible Shelburne Bay lies 150 klm south of the Tip of Cape York nestled in along the eastern coastline and is a favourite haunt for illegal dugong and turtle fishermen.

The silica sand dunes extend 100 klm south from the bay.

Twenty years ago a prominent politician was accused of trafficking valuable parrots and other birdlife from a helipad near the towering dunes.

According to documents filed in the Federal Court in 2016 by another TO group which opposed the claim, the Wuthati totem is a stingray and there are no living persons with an attachment to the land.

Former owners of Shelburne Bay, Dal and Eileen Nixon maintained their research, beginning in the 1960’s when the family took up the lease, found there were no living people with any connection to Shelburne Bay or were there any traceable descendants of the traditional people from the area.

As a Native Title researcher for Agforce the late Mrs Nixon proved there was only one possible legitimate living claimant to her 1 million acre grazing lease, which was resumed by the notorious Labor Government of Peter Beattie in 2003.

At the time she said the only living, legitimate claimant could have been her former long-time employee, Meun Lifu, now the senior TO of Yadaikana Tribal Council of Elders at Cowal Creek.

An examination of the board members for Cape York Partnerships reveals the line-up resembles any bank board in Australia.

A number of CYP board members have bank connections including Westpac, National Bank of Australia, various merchant banks, a Secretary of the Department of Treasury, Macquarie Bank, a former private Secretary to the infamous PM Bob Hawke, P&O Cruiseships, Bank of Melbourne (owned by the Jewish fraternity), ANZ, an advisor to the nearby ALP sanctuary of Wattle Hill holding, mining contractors, a Wik representative, Aboriginal company Bama Services and not forgetting the lawyers.

This avaricious mob will have its corporate fingers well into any future development of the vast silica reserve.

If the Labor Government, pushed by the banks to repay principal and not just interest on its published, actual debt of at least $115 billion, has the political will to mine the scattered, known, substantial coal gas reserves on Cape York then it can do just that.

Some TO’s believe the reason for Cape York Land Council and CYP pursuing the disputed Number 1 Claim over all unclaimed or unallocated land on Cape York is the final part of the jigsaw to allow large-scale mining of the Peninsula.

The widely disputed Number 1 claim also will enable the State Government to nominate parts of the Peninsula for World Heritage in an effort to appease the by now, frothing-at-the-mouth spokesmen for conservation bodies.

Another Cairns ALP source said the recently announced $2.4 billion agricultural project for Cape York community Aurukun would not ever occur under the present State Government.

However it could be utilised in the future to feed the population of the proposed new City at Port Stewart.

Update:

Mining giant BHP at present is trawling among the multitude of indigenous groups, committees, PBC’s and NGO’s  servicing the Peninsula, offering vast riches for ‘worthwhile’ indigenous community projects.

A line-up of Cape York Partnerships board members:

https://capeyorkpartnership.org.au/agents-of-change/board-members/

Posted in Australian Bankers Association, australian Labor Party, Corporate policy, mining industry, northern development, Queensland Asset Sales, radical greens

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A healthy Great Barrier Reef spawns fictitious, costly scare campaigns

Dec 26

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The never-ending battles of the Coral Sea

by Viv Forbes, science writer

For at least 50 years Australian taxpayers and other innocents have supported a parasitic industry in academia, bureaucracy, law, media and the tax-exempt Green Alarm “Charities”, all studying, regulating, inspecting and writing about yet another “imminent threat to Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef.”

The Queensland Labor Party Government is about to embark on another reef-runoff onslaught against coastal farmers that is intended to close down farming along the entire coastline, from Cooktown to Brisbane.

It has become the never-ending battle of the Coral Sea.

The threats change, but there is always a doomsday forecast – Crown-of-Thorns, oil drilling, fishing, cane farming, coastal shipping, global warming, ocean acidity, coral bleaching, port dredging, chemical and fertiliser runoff, coal transport, river sediments, loss of world heritage status etc. Every recycled scare, magnified by the media and parroted by politicians, generates more income for the alarm industry, usually at the expense of taxpayers, consumers or local industries.

The reality is that sea creatures would starve in pure water – all marine life needs nutrients, salts and minerals. These come from other life forms, from decomposing rocks and organic matter carried to the sea by rivers, from dissolving atmospheric gases, or from delta and shelf sediments stirred up by floods, cyclones, dredging or coastal shipping. No one supports over-use of toxic man-made chemicals, but well-run cane, cattle and coal companies can co-exist with corals.

Conservation bodies and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority conjure up doomsday scare campaigns for a healthy Barrier Reef to attract more funding from inept government

Corals first appeared 500 million years ago and have proven to be one of Earth’s great survivors. They outlasted the Carboniferous Forests, the Permian and Cretaceous extinctions, the dinosaurs, the mammoths, the Neanderthals and the Pleistocene cycles of ice age and warming. They thrive in warm tropical water, cluster around hot volcanic fumaroles and survive massive petroleum spills, natural oil seeps, tidal waves and volcanic dust. They have even recolonised the Montebello Island waters devastated by atomic bomb testing in the 1950’s.

The ENSO oscillation of blobs of warm Pacific water which caused recent coral bleaching can be identified in historical records for at least 400 years. Corals have survived El Nino warmings for thousands of years and they will probably outlast Homo Alarmism as Earth proceeds into the next glacial epoch.

See the Supercorals:
https://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/supercoral.png

Corals do not rely on computer models of global temperature to advise them – they read the sea level thermometer which falls and rises as the great ice sheets come and go.

In the warming phase like the one just ending, ice melts, sea levels rise and the reef that houses the corals may get drowned. Corals have two choices – build their reef higher or just float south/inshore and build a new reef (like the Great Barrier Reef) in shallower, cooler water. When islands sink beneath rising oceans, corals may build their own coral atolls as fast as the water rises.

Then when the cold era returns, ice sheets grow, sea levels fall, and the warm era coral reefs get stranded on the new beaches and coastal plains. Usually the process is slow enough to allow the coral polyps to float into deeper warmer water closer to the equator and build another reef.

This eminently sensible policy of “move when you have to” has proved a successful survival policy for the corals for 500 million years.

Humans should copy the corals – “forget the computer climate models but watch real data like actual sea levels and . . . move when you have to.

Posted in Agenda 2030, agriculture, ALP, australian Labor Party, big brother, Bob Brown. Tasmania, cane growers, carbon dioxide, cattle, Climate Change, Climate Change Fiction, Climate Skeptics, Corporate Government, corruption, Farmers, Farming, Food Security, GetUP, Global warming, Great Barrier Reef, Greens, International Treaties, News State North Queensland, northern development, People Control, political spin, Politicians, Queensland Politics, radical greens, Science, United Nations, world heritage

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Campaign to restore the Upper House in Qld should start now

Dec 8

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Editorial

The SSM plebiscite could have been hacked with a predictably skewed result. In any case Cairns News has a long-standing policy of ignoring the gender neutral campaign started years ago by the feminist movement, contemporaneously referred to as the ‘femminazi’ collection of dykes.

Canberra is infested with thousands in this clique. They sit in the multitude of offices found in the Prime Minister’s Department many drafting bills such as the SSM legislation which was passed yesterday in the Lower House.

This newsletter will continue to use the grammatically correct terminology of Mr; Mrs; husband; wife; de-facto; girl; boy; married couple; fisherman; waiter; waitress, ad infinitum.

Time after time Australia has been the guinea pig for the cultural revolution orchestrated by the United Nations and the

Dark Government which is largely unknown to the average Australian. The SSM continues the tradition paving the way for the seemingly normal people remaining on the planet. Every day Mormon lifestyles seem more attractive.

The growing fascism emanating from state parliaments will be evident to all when the Queensland ALP begins its legislative attack on the business and farming sectors during this term of parliament.

The campaign to restore the Upper House should begin in earnest drawing its members from the existing number of state politicians without adding any more. – Gil Hanrahan

Posted in Agenda 2030, australian Labor Party, Corporate Government, Corporate policy, Farmers, Food Security, Free Trade, International Treaties, Katters Australia Party, Liberal National Party, New State of North Queensland, northern development, One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, Queensland Politics, radical greens, senate, Treaties, United Nations

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New electorate of Cape York looming after welfare vote dominates result

Dec 6

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-contributed

At least 4000 voters, solely dependent on government welfare payments to survive, have elected Labor in the seat of Cook, leaving the economic generators of the Far North floundering without a say in government.

To separate the disparate welfare influence from the southern half of the Cook electorate it has been suggested the creation of a new electorate would be more in the interests of maintaining a thriving agricultural and mining industry.

Plans to create a separate state seat of Cape York with a boundary drawn north of Laura will now escalate before the Labor Party is able to further entrench itself with welfare voters.

Patriach of North Qld Bob Katter has been approached by indigenous leaders seeking to form a new electorate of Cape York

One proponent of a new seat is the patriarch of the north, Bob Katter, who said he had been approached in the past by indigenous leaders seeking support for a separate electorate.

There is no farming industry north of Laura, just a handful of viable cattle breeding properties locked in a continuing battle with federal and state environment departments, indigenous land rights encroachments, egregious mining exploration companies and a Labor Party determined to shut down the cattle industry.

During the election campaign, notorious Green lackey, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, threatened land owners with a new round of Wild Rivers, more water storage restrictions and World Heritage listings over the remaining 50 per cent of the land area of the Peninsula not already languishing under conservation zones.

The world’s toughest vegetation management laws will be introduced under the guidance of two of the ALP’s in-house, rabid greenies, Trad and colleague Dr Stephen Miles.

If either possessed a modicum of political will, no help can be expected from so-called representative bodies such as Agforce or the Natural Resources Management (NRM) quangos which are dependent almost entirely on government funding to survive.

Agforce, the last bastion of the failed Liberal Party will struggle to attract membership or have any direct policy influence on a resurgent Labor Party, driven entirely by the trade union movement and the United Nations Agenda 30 to which Queensland is a signatory.

Spot the clowns: Miles and Trad want to lock up Cape York in a deal with the Greens for allowing Adani mine to go ahead

It will be an entirely political manoeuvre to protect the Far North from the flush of international socialism seeping from the confines of the Queensland south east corner which enjoys state government largesse at a ratio of 10 to one over the north.

It is only the cross bench in State Parliament which now can thwart the UN agenda pushed by the Marxists of the Queensland Labor Party seemingly aided and abetted by the flailing Liberals.

As one commentator quipped, “there are no Nationals in the Queensland parliament, just Liberals wearing Akubras.”

The electorate of Traeger, formerly Mt Isa until the unaccountable Electoral Commission tagged it with this misnomer, was held easily by Robbie Katter with 66 per cent of the primary vote.

In the campaign Katter warned the ALP that one of his first policy initiatives for the new parliament would be to create the new State of North Queensland.

This policy obviously resonated with the adjoining, redrawn electorate of Hill easily taken by his colleague Shane Knuth, in spite of the best attempts of the Electoral Commission to gerrymander Knuth from Parliament.

Hinchinbrook, joining Hill to the south also seems set to go to Katters Australian Party.

North Queenslanders will be assured of a tumultuous ride during this term of parliament, towards attaining their well-deserved, modernised statehood.

At the close of counting on Tuesday night, Labor held Cook with a margin of 2900 preferences.

Posted in aborigines, Agenda 2030, agenda21, agriculture, australian Labor Party, Bob Brown. Tasmania, Centrelink, Corporate Government, ECQ, EHP, environment engineering, Farmers, Food Security, Irrigation projects, KAP, Liberal Party of Australia, mining industry, New State of North Queensland, northern development, One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, political spin, qld election, Queensland Politics, radical greens, Treaties, Unions, United Nations, world heritage

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Dirty deals between QLD LNP and ALP

Jun 18

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Disgrace: LNP and ALP government abandon North Queensland

KAP MP’s Rob Katter & Shane Knuth

KAP’s Robbie Katter and Shane Knuth have called the LNP a disgrace after they confirmed they will sell out North Queensland and pass the budget as is, without any negotiation.

Robbie and Shane asked the government for four basic things to address the current crisis in North Queensland. Robbie and Shane and the rest of the crossbench said they would vote against the budget if the government refused to come to the negotiating table. “North Queensland is in crisis. The government should be ashamed of itself for not agreeing to these four very reasonable requests,” Robbie said. “Even more shameful is that the LNP had an opportunity to stand with us to force the government to listen, but instead they’ve decided to sell out North Queensland and rubber stamp the budget.”

Robbie and Shane requested four urgent actions to support North Queensland, which faces unemployment rates as high as 14%, compared with unemployment of about 4% in Brisbane:

  1. Power prices reduced by 5%
  2. Commit to reducing North Queensland unemployment to 6% by 2020
  3. Commit unspent infrastructure funding to North Queensland to kick start the economy
  4. Set up a North Queensland Budget Equity Board

Shane Knuth said he was disgusted, but not surprised, with the government and LNP. “I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not,” Shane said. “I was excited because we had a real chance to make some change for North Queensland, but we needed support from either the government or LNP to make it happen, and neither of them would step up to the plate. They should hang their heads in shame,” Shane said.

Robbie said he was shocked the major parties wouldn’t consider KAP’s requests. “They’re quite happy to throw billions of dollars at a Brisbane rail project so city people can get home from work earlier, but won’t commit to something as critical as reducing unemployment in the North. At least we in North Queensland know exactly where we stand with the government and LNP: and that’s on the wrong side of the Brisbane border,” Robbie said.

Robbie and Shane will vote against the budget unless the government accepts their basic requests – which could make an immediate difference to North Queensland.

Posted in Katters Australia Party, Liberal National Party, Local News, News State North Queensland, northern development, People Power, Queensland Politics

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EHP draining irrigation dam flushing tonnes of sediment onto the reef

Jun 14

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Draining and bulldozing of the ‘Cook’ irrigation dam on Springvale Station by the EHP has been described as “environmental vandalism” by a neighbouring landowner

-article contributed

The draining and bulldozing of a 1000 megalitre irrigation dam at Springvale Station south west of Cooktown by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection has made a mockery of preventing sediment runoff onto the Great Barrier Reef.

Millions of litres of dam water is being siphoned from the dam directly into the East Normanby River, creating a muddy plume for many kilometres downstream, dumping thousands of tonnes of sediment onto the reef.

The East Normanby runs into the now dry West Normanby to become the Normanby  River which eventually runs into Princess Charlotte Bay.

The 2016 purchase of the former cattle property by EHP drew much criticism from the farming industry when it was discovered flawed sediment runoff data was the basis for its acquisition by the government.

A spokesman for EHP Minister Stephen Miles confirmed the dam was being pumped out and millions of litres of valuable water were being discharged into the flowing East Normanby River.

Deep channels have been cut below the dam wall by water gushing from a siphon polypipe in the 1000ml dam flowing straight into the East Normanby River. The EHP intends to bulldoze this massive earth wall

Water being siphoned from the irrigation dam has cut a deep channel through the soil and is draining directly into the flowing East Normanby River(top of photo) creating massive sediment plumes kilometres downstream

The EHP has claimed the dam could fail, but adjoining landowner and former Cook Shire Mayor Graham Elmes said the dam was sound, properly built, had gone through four wet seasons and had filled easily during its first wet in 2013.

“This dam also acted as a large sediment trap filtering runoff into the river system, but when the walls are bulldozed what will happen to the 30,000 cubic metres of earth that an engineer has measured,” he said.

“It can’t be left in the excavation area because it will simply run off into the river and then Springvale actually will have a sediment runoff problem.”

KAP Rob Katter MP for Mt Isa

KAP State leader Robbie Katter said the State Government is on a crusade against farmers.

“They are deceiving the public through misinformation and inaccurate data,” Mr Katter said.

“This is a fallacy, again derived from incorrect data and is a waste of viable, developed grazing property, which would be far better managed by a farmer than the State Government. This dam should be left intact.”

North East Regional Manager of Agforce Paul Burke was incensed that a government could undertake such “wanton waste.”

“It beggars belief that such a precious commodity could be pumped down the river when this property could have been producing a number of irrigated crops and still breeding cattle,” Mr Burke said.

The EHP spokesman claimed the dam “did not undergo a full regulatory approvals process as required by State legislation and is therefore unauthorised.

Stephen Miles (away) EHP Minister

“To prevent dam failure and any subsequent downstream impacts, including contributions to sediment production within the catchment, the dam will be decommissioned and the land will be rehabilitated,” the spokesman said.

Mr Elmes was adamant the dam had been properly constructed and there was absolutely no chance the dam wall could fail.

“Bulldozing this water asset that cost $400,000 to build is totally irresponsible and an act of environmental vandalism.

“The government should stop all destructive activities on this property, freehold and subdivide it into four blocks and ballot these blocks for younger farmers,” he said.

Posted in Agenda 2030, agenda21, Climate Change Fiction, Corporate Government, corruption, environment engineering, Great Barrier Reef, Katters Australia Party, Local News, northern development, Queensland Politics, radicals

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Qld Govt at war with itself over $7m cattle property purchase

Jun 8

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More jaundiced reporting from the ABC about Springvale Station west of Cooktown that the Queensland Environment Department bought for $7 million to prevent sediment runoff into the ocean.

The only problem is that bogus data was used to base the purchase, when in fact the Government’s own previously published scientific data clearly showed Springvale Station was responsible for less than one per cent runoff into Princess Charlotte Bay.

See story Cairns News: ‘Lakefield National Park contributes more reef runoff than all combined cattle properties in the catchment’

from ABC

In what could be a storyline from the satirical TV series Yes Minister, the Queensland Government has gone to war with itself.

Key points:

  • The Mines Department is considering an application to mine a river on state-owned land for gold and tin
  • The Environment Department bought the land in a bid to halt sediment reaching the reef
  • The two departments are in a legal fight in the Land Court

The ABC has learned one Queensland Government department has lodged a legal objection to another department over a plan to mine a river on state-owned land.

The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection is taking on the Department of Natural Resources and Mines in a stoush in the Land Court over Springvale Station on Cape York.

The Queensland Government bought the massive cattle station for $7 million last year.

The idea was to stop, or at least reduce, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sediment from the property washing from the West Normanby River into the Great Barrier Reef.

But it seems — in the best traditions of Yes Minister — the left hand did not know what the right hand was doing.

At the same time the Environment Department was buying the property to prevent damaging sediment flowing down the river, the Natural Resources Department was considering an application to mine the river at Springvale Station for gold and tin ore.

Now the case is before the Queensland Land Court.

The Great Barrier Reef shot from a plane off the north Queensland coast. Photo: The Environment Department bought the Cape York property to prevent sediment flowing into the reef. (Supplied: Queensland Museum – Gary Cranitch)

In its objection, the Environment Department argues “the public right and interest will be prejudiced by the proposed mining activity as it will directly and negatively impact the biodiversity values for which the property was acquired”.

It says research suggests that “Springvale Station is the source of approximately 460,000 tonnes of sediment runoff every year, which is around 40 per cent of all gully erosion-derived sediment in the Normanby River catchment”.

The West Normanby River joins the eastern branch of the river before draining into Princess Charlotte Bay and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

“The proposed mining activity will likely further destabilise the alluvial and colluvial soils of the West Normanby River and increase soil erosion and sediment loss,” the Environment Department said in its objection.

“… The long-term economic benefits of enhancing environmental outcomes through this acquisition will far exceed the economic and employment benefits of this small mining operation.”

The department also warns sedimentation blocks light for coral, smothers marine organisms and reduces coral and seagrass growth.

It states the northern section of the reef has been significantly affected by coral bleaching, with “high levels of coral mortality”.

“For those corals to have the best chance of recovery, the water quality needs to be as good as possible,” the Environment Department wrote.

Endangered plants, animals on land: Environment Department

The State Government has already begun removing cattle from Springvale Station in a bid to reduce sediment run-off.

The Environment Department said it would invest a substantial amount of public money for conservation work on the property to further reduce run-off, with the price tag set at $30,000 a hectare.

The department also said the property was home to endangered or vulnerable flora and fauna species, including the northern quoll, red goshawk, brown antelope orchid and spectacled flying fox.

In a statement to the ABC, the Environment Department said it was the Government’s “intention that Springvale Station be declared a nature refuge”.

But it said such a declaration would “not necessarily preclude the commencement of activities proposed under the mining lease application”.

A spokesman for the Land Court said the objection to the proposed mine would be heard in August.

Posted in Agenda 2030, agenda21, agriculture, Corporate Government, corruption, Courts, dams, environment engineering, Farmers, General, Great Barrier Reef, mining industry, northern development, political spin, radical greens

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Crocodiles in plague proportions in North Queensland and KAP is moving laws to reduce numbers

Apr 17

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In response to a public outcry, Katters Australia Party is drafting legislation to remove or cull crocodiles in northern waterways after a spate of savage attacks on tourists and residents.

The recent death of a spearfisherman and the mauling of a man at Innisfail by crocodiles prompted a series of public meetings called by the Member for Dalrymple Shane Knuth to gauge public support for crocodile removal, culling, egg collection and safari hunting.

Meetings were held last week at Mareeba, Innisfail and Port Douglas.

At the Mareeba meeting Mr Knuth said the attacks had been given international media coverage and tourists were now cancelling visits to the Far North because they were frightened of being attacked by a salt water crocodile.

Former deputy Mayor of Mareeba Shire, Evan McGrath spoke of crocodiles close to the town and how farmers had been menaced by them when checking their water pumps in creeks and channels.

He said crocodiles had been seen in irrigation channels and the Barron River near his farm. “Their numbers are out of control in areas where crocodiles have never been seen before.”

Crocs eat crocs or humans in the Far North. KAP is drafting legislation to reduce the runaway numbers of dangerous crocodiles in North Queensland

“Enough is enough,” Mr Knuth told a supportive audience of more than 100 residents.

“We have to bring the numbers back under control. Over the past 40 years since croc shooting finished the numbers have exploded and crocs no longer fear man and they have become cheeky and not afraid to attack people or domestic animals.”

A three metre long photo backdrop of a crocodile with a kelpie in its mouth reminded the audience of the audacity and savagery of a crocodile eating a pet dog near Innisfail two weeks ago, greatly upsetting the dog’s young owner.

Supporting the KAP legislation was the Chairman of Cape York Peninsula Land Council Richie Ahmat who suggested a truck load of large crocs should be taken from a local crocodile farm and dropped into the Brisbane River.

“Then we would see some action,” Mr Ahmat quipped.

Former Gulf area cattle station manager Jack Fraser told the meeting the excessive number of crocs in the vast Lower Gulf district were out of hand and should be culled as a matter of urgency.

He said several years ago a large crocodile on a cattle station was found dead on a riverbank. It was cut open to reveal 60 plastic cattle ear tags in its stomach.

“Sixty ear tags represents a loss to the station of about $60,000 worth of stock on today’s market,” Mr Fraser said.

Member for Kennedy Bob Katter received thunderous applause when he stated the obvious: “The Brisbane Government does not care a less about North Queenslanders and it is time we looked after our own problems.

“Home rule is across the world and like Brexit, North Queensland must now take a stance,” referring to a new State of North Queensland.

Member for Mt Isa Robbie Katter said he would present a bill to State Parliament in the May sittings to address runaway crocodile numbers that were of grave danger to the public.

He alluded to making unchecked crocodile attacks a precursor to blocking the May budget should the Labor Government not support his bill.

Meanwhile the Independent Member for Cook, Billy Gordon, did not attend either the Mareeba or Port Douglas meetings held in his electorate.

On his Facebook page after the meetings Mr Gordon claimed he would not be supporting the crocodile removal legislation because he had not been invited to either the Mareeba or Port Douglas meetings.

“The needs of my electorate are quite substantive, the areas of health, education, telecommunications….and tourism are of primary concern to me,” the post said.

“It’s on these issues that hard- nosed negotiations should be had on.

“As a matter of public record I have not been invited to or included in meetings in both Mareeba and Port Douglas to advocate for culling of crocs.”

A KAP spokesman said today Mr Gordon’s office was contacted early on Tuesday morning by staff inviting him to the meeting.

“On Wednesday morning his office put in an apology telling us they were unsure if Mr Gordon would attend,” the spokesman said.

“A meeting flyer was emailed to his office. KAP contacted his staff who said they were unable to send a representative to the meeting.

“KAP staff also left a message on his phone,” the spokesman said.

Mr Gordon is believed to be in Melbourne and was unable to be contacted for comment.

At the Mareeba forum, local Labor Party stalwart Duncan McInnes said most Aboriginal communities and Traditional Owners he had spoken to supported the proposed legislation.

Posted in ALP, crocodiles, Greens, Katters Australia Party, New State of North Queensland, northern development, radical greens

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We do not owe the blackfellas a living

Jan 28

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Aboriginal cultural history did not begin until the end of 1945. Prior to the end of WWII indigenous inhabitants of Australia faced a grim future with Japanese imperial forces on our door step and the German army taking over Europe.

It took the US Navy to stem the Japanese tide at the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942 otherwise it would have been all over for our languishing black population.

Do indigenous agitators think the Japs would have spared their forefathers if they started their mainland push southwards from Darwin or Cairns?

The Aborigines would have been exterminated to a man, but thanks to the heroic Australian army they held off the pagan invaders at Kokoda.

Australian 39th Battalion at Kokoda fought off the Japs

Australian 39th Battalion at Kokoda fought off the Japs

Thankfully there was a scattering of indigenous soldiers in the Australian forces who fought just as hard alongside the white troops and their efforts have been formally recognised.

Violent demonstrations in Sydney about ‘invasion day’ being held on January 26 to commemorate the 1788 arrival of the first fleet have fallen on the deaf ears of mainstream Australia and repulsed while the unwashed, dole collecting, pinko rent-a-crowd clashed with police.

National conscription has again been mooted by One Nation and polling has shown it will be accepted by the rank and file population.

Pauline Hanson. One Nation has mooted a return of national conscription for 17 to 24 year olds

Pauline Hanson. One Nation has mooted a return of national conscription for 17 to 24 year olds

These brain-dead, university indoctrinated Bolsheviks need cleaning out just like the second generation of left-leaning university lecturers and the black militia that have infiltrated the so-called halls of secondary education.

The army needs beefing up, most likely with the aid of a battalion of US Marines who could assist our hopeless Generals with discipline by kicking out the gay brigade and women from front line troops.

Then our military would easily accommodate the hordes of 17 to 24 year olds sucking off the social security teat and show them there is more to life than rallying against and bludging off normal people who really run the country.

US President Donald Trump has started to drain the swamp. Australia needs to drain the swamp and flush out the malcontents as soon as possible.

US President Donald Trump has started to drain the swamp. Australia needs to drain the swamp and flush out the malcontents as soon as possible.

Trump has started with the disinfectant in the US to flush out the same mob from their once-esteemed campuses and to ‘drain the swamp’ a process we should follow as soon as possible, that is when we put the broom through the limp-wristed, politically correct bureaucracy that infests Canberra.

All jobs for the boys in the bureaucracy and judiciary should be declared vacant by the militarist Governor General from June 30, 2017 and then re-employ half the number who sign declarations of non-membership of trade unions, political parties and the Lodge.

Turnbull’s ever- diminishing ‘ruling elite’ and Shorten’s mishmash of miscreants should end up in the mop bucket along with this third generation of bureaucratic malcontents who with the aid of their ideological masters have pushed Australia to a standstill.

Australians must thumb their noses at the international ruling elite whose designs of a one world government will stop with Trump.

Unfortunately we do not yet have a political messiah emerging from the ranks but when the going gets even tougher, the Australian camaraderie historically, will shine through.

No corporate party hacks will be tolerated and in reality it is not a job for a woman.

May God help this country for right now there is nobody else!

Posted in ABC, aborigines, Agenda 2030, agenda21, ALP, big brother, corruption, Donald Trump, Federal Politics, General, Indigenous, Labor Party, Liberal National Party, Liberal Party of Australia, malcolm turnbull, northern development, One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, People Control, People Power, Politicians, radical greens, radicals, TPP

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Residents call for senate inquiry and audit into Peninsula Development Road construction

Dec 14

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A group of Coen residents has called for an independent audit into the distribution of $260 million of federal and state funding allocated for a major upgrade of the Peninsula Development Road.

malcolm-roberts-2

Senator Roberts(left) talking to local graziers Paddy Shephard; John and Sally Witherspoon after the meeting, intends to take residents’ concerns over mismanagement of the PDR construction to parliament

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts was invited to the Coen meeting on Wednesday night to hear the concerns of locals who believe there had been a wide-spread waste of government funds by Roadtek.

Long-time local grazier Paddy Shephard explained to the meeting how an Indigenous Land Use Agreement(ILUA) was about to signed off by the State Government giving part control of the PDR to a “Coen Aboriginal family group” which had no connection  to the highway.

Another resolution was passed at the meeting asking Senator Roberts to instigate a senate inquiry into the granting of an ILUA over the PDR, an important arterial tourist and defence road.

Senator Roberts is no stranger to the Cape having taken a number of holiday trips to the Top.

He said he was at the meeting to listen to the concerns of local people and would do what he could to have the matters investigated.

“It seems the place is being held back and the road is important  for defence and the opening up of the region,” Senator Roberts said.

“There is no accountability and now it seems lots of waste in general and an abuse of power where ordinary people are missing out every day.

“We are losing our sovereignty in government under regulations coming from the United Nations.”

malcolm-roberts-1

Senator Roberts discusses with Nichol Keppel the takeover of the PDR by the Cape York Land Council

Businessman Barry Mulley launched an emotional attack on the Cape York Land Council for demanding the PDR be handed over to their elitist members allegedly in order to take a cut of funding for contractors engaged in the upgrade.

“Once they have control of the road they can do what they like with it even charge a toll for tourists to use it and decide which contractors will get jobs,” Mr Mulley said.

“We believe local indigenous people should get jobs on the road but the land council should not be in control of it. There are too many jobs for the boys on big pay that has pushed up the cost of building it.

“There is no accountability from the government or land council in how they spend large amounts taxpayers money.

“I am sick of paying large amounts of tax only to have it wasted by the government on mismanagement of the road works.”

Mr Mulley said Peninsula ratepayers and residents had no political representation which is why Senator Roberts was invited to take their concerns to Parliament.

“Nobody cares about the Peninsula. The government just throws lots of money into it without any accountability,” he added.

The notorious ‘Land Claim Number 1’ according to Cape York Alliance member Jack Wilkie-Jans gave the CYLC the ability to claim ownership of the PDR.

“How do just nine claimants speak for the hundreds of clan groups across the Cape?” he asked.

“Is it any wonder there is such widespread derision among the indigenous and white people of the Cape.”

Posted in aborigines, Federal Politics, Indigenous, Labor Party, Local News, Malcolm Roberts MP, mythmanagement, northern development, One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, Queensland Asset Sales, Queensland Politics

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