NORTH Stradbroke Island was in danger of “becoming the next Palm Island” if sand mining ended before 2035, Bowman MP Andrew Laming told a state parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Mr Laming was one of 17 people to address the committee, set up this month to examine laws introduced to state Parliament on October 17 to allow sand miner Sibelco to continue operating until 2035.
“No one was able to put up a plausible argument for the economic survival of the island in the absence of sand mining,” Mr Laming told Redland Times after the meeting.
“There’s no way, economically, that the housing market over there, or any form of economy, can survive with the 2019 shutdown Labor proposed.
“There does not appear to be any encroachment of the mine on to RAMSAR wetlands which was evident after environmentalists conceded the mine path came awfully close.
“And there was nothing presented at the committee to prove native titles were affected by the continuation of mining.”
There were 130 submissions made to the committee including a letter from Straddie resident Jackie Cooper.
In her submission, Ms Cooper accused Sibelco of investing $90,000 in an election campaign designed to get Campbell Newman elected in Ashgrove.
She said after the election, “Sibelco enjoyed exclusive government access for the purpose of rewriting the NSI Protection and Sustainability Act 2011.
Quandamooka Land Council chairperson Darren Burns said he was concerned the government had “trampled over native title rights” in order to make good election favours to the mining company.
“Sibelco is still in court facing criminal charges of sand theft of Quandamooka people's rightful resource and is under investigation into breach of an international wetland convention … so it is outstandingly obvious the special treatment they are receiving while the Quandamooka are getting the opposite treatment.”
Cleveland MP Mark Robinson said a survey he conducted on the island before the election found 560 people rejected the Bligh government’s plan to halt mining in 2019.
Mr Robinson said about 700 people responded to the survey conducted from July to September in 2010 and 1517 people signed a petition opposing the Bligh government’s sandmining time frame.
North Stradbroke Island businesswoman Jan Aldenhoven dismissed claims the island needed the extra 16 years to transit from a mining economy.
She said the Bill would allow mining too close to the environmentally unique Blue Lake and called for a new environmental impact study.
However, Straddie Sand Mining Community Fund chairman Jim Babon said without mining the island faced sharp reductions in ferry services and cuts to jobs and housing prices.
The North Stradbroke Island Rugby League and Allsports Club along with Straddie Fruit Barn and Marine Rescue Stradbroke Island all agreed the amendments would benefit the island.
Redland City Chamber of Commerce president Garry Hargrave said the chamber supported the proposed legislation as there was no other economic alternative and it gave islanders a “certain” time frame.
If passed, the Bill will remove mine path restrictions on Sibelco’s largest mine on Stradbroke, Enterprise, legislated in 2011.
The committee is required to report back to parliament on the Bill by 14 November 2014.
