Here in the Top End myself, friends and colleagues were flabbergasted to hear earlier this week that a deep sea port had been built in the Tiwi Islands. But what compounded our amazement was that it had been built in an area listed as internationally significant to wildlife but without any environmental approval. Government ministers appear to be passing the buck – no one is accepting any responsibility. It seems that companies such as the Singaporean corporation involved here, can ignore the NT Environmental Approval Act with impunity. What really concerns me is that this development will set a precedent, not only in the NT, but elsewhere in Australia. We’ve already seen off an inappropriate development here in Darwin River, but the proposals and exploration licences keep coming. The Environmental Defenders’ Office is prepared to launch an action but need a plaintiff. That might be hard to find, but all ideas are welcome. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71 Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841 043 8650 835 PhD candidate, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia Nominated by Earthfoot for Condé Nast’s International Ecotourism Award, 2004. With every introduction of a plant or animal that goes feral this continent becomes a little less unique, a little less Australian.
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
Carl, as an ex- Darwin City Council alderman I could not watch “Yes Minister” – it was too close to the bone. In fact it was even worse. That being said neither the Opposition or the environmentalists opposing certain developments covered themselves with glory either. At least they didn’t threaten people, not that I know of anyway. Denise On 7 May 2015, at 9:24 pm, Carl Clifford < carlsclifford@gmail.com> wrote:
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
The rationale for this development by various members of the NT govt. over this, has been straight out of “Yes Minister”, with the govt. saying it is a port, the developers saying it is not a port, and now the govt. saying that anyway, the whatever it is does not come under the purview of any Minister, so it doesn’t really exist. It must be something in the water up there. Carl Clifford
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
There is so much wrong with this that it is difficult to know where to start. However, like Denise, I think that other unscrupulous developers will attempt to build first and avoid questions later, particularly if they think they can find comfort in one of our ‘free trade’ agreements. Emails to the Commonwealth and NT Environment Ministers are called for. Cheers David On Thu, May 7, 2015 at 7:06 PM, Denise Goodfellow < goodfellow@bigpond.com.au
Birding-Aus mailing list
Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org