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Protect the Heart of Queensland!

The Queensland Government is considering options for managing the Lake Eyre Basin and sought public feedback. We knew this was a perfect opportunity to let the Government know that this special place deserves the strongest protections!

Public comments closed at 5pm on Friday, 25th August.

Thank you to the thousands of people who made comments using our tool, or via the Queensland Government RIS comment website.

It’s not too late to add your voice! Sign and share our Lake Eyre Basin Petition

Together, we can secure a future for thousands of native birds and their homes!

Background:

The picturesque Lake Eyre Basin is home to some of our most unique and threatened native birds. It is critical for the life history of the elusive Australian Painted Snipe, and many other birds are only found in this region, including the striking Letter-winged Kite, Chirruping Wedgebill, and Bulloo Grey Grasswren.

In Western Queensland, these unique birds, ancient waterflows, local communities, and precious ecosystems are at risk from inappropriate developments including fracking.

These risks and the future management of the region is being analysed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science, who are seeking submissions on which protection options are to be applied to the rivers and floodplains in the Queensland portion of the Lake Eyre Basin, also often called the Channel Country.

These proposed changes include a potential ban on all future oil and gas activities within the region’s rivers and floodplains (more details below).

This public consultation process was an important step in ensuring Queensland protects their magnificent part of the Lake Eyre Basin into the future.

It’s not too late to add your voice! Sign and share our Lake Eyre Basin Petition

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Image Credits: Chirruping Wedgebill by Steve Mantle

 
Chirruping Wedgebill by Steve Mantle.jpg
 

Further details about the public comments for the Regulatory Impact Statement

Public comments on the RIS closed at 5pm on Friday, August 25th

To help you understand why we suggested the combination of options for the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) documents, see our summary below. Alternatively, the Queensland Department of Environment and Science website has more details about the Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), including the scientific reports, maps and spatial layers, and the full Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement for the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin as a PDF.

We’re confident that the following options would best protect Queensland’s birds and ecosystems within the Lake Eyre Basin:

  • Spatial Option 3

  • Regulatory Option 4

  • Environmental Attribute Option 2.

This combination of options provided the maximum protection of wetlands and waterflows, as well as the smallest future climate change costs from oil and gas extraction in the Basin - securing the best future for our birds and their natural environment. Better yet, this combination will also offer the greatest benefits for people, both tourists and locals, including First Nations communities (see the Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement for the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin, pp. 61-62).

To save you having to scour the full RIS document, our summary below shows why we were confident our suggested combination of options best supported birds.

Spatial Options - our pick is Option 3:

Spatial Options relate to how comprehensively areas would be mapped for protections:

  • Option 1. No change to the current maps, which could potentially allow for high impact activities like the expansion of oil & gas extraction within rivers and floodplains

  • Option 2. The expansion of mapped areas to add those river and floodplain areas that were protected until 2014, when key river protection legislation was revoked. This would include protection of special ecological features and would trigger a new regulatory map.

  • Option 3. Protection would include the same areas covered pre-2014, as well as the addition of new areas of ecological significance and important hydrological features to ensure maximum protection.
    This will protect the most floodplains and rivers that matter for birds and other wildlife.

Regulatory Options - our pick is Option 4:

Regulatory Options relate to the permitted future extractive activities, in particular new oil and gas projects:

  • Option 1. No change, putting the Basin at risk from increasing numbers of projects causing irreversible and damaging impacts on the local and wider environment – e.g. from more intense fracking.

  • Option 2. A degree of improved assessment and scrutiny of high impact activities, but ultimately would still allow oil and gas expansion within the Lake Eyre Basin’s most sensitive areas.

  • Option 3. Would see a ban on a subset of new oil and gas extraction within floodplains and rivers, that is a ban on new ‘unconventional’ oil and gas activities as defined by the Queensland Government (such as fracking and underground horizontal drilling). This option still allows for damaging new ‘conventional’ oil and gas activities with impacts on waterflows and habitat.

  • Option 4. A total ban on all future oil and gas extraction, both conventional and unconventional, within the floodplains and river areas identified by the Spatial Option chosen.
    This best protects against both immediate impacts from inappropriate oil and gas developments, as well as future impacts relating to climate change.

Environmental Attribute Options - our pick is Option 2:

Options for Environmental Attributes of the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin river systems:

  • Option 1. No changes, continuing with an incomplete coverage of ecological values protection

  • Option 2. The attributes are broadened to give coverage of a full range of key processes and functions that are important to maintain the near-pristine condition of Lake Eyre Basin’s rivers, such as wildlife corridors, vegetation, water quality, and interconnectivity of waterways.
    This means that what developments are permitted will more accurately reflect the wider environment, not just how water flows through an area, which will be vital in ensuring ongoing population connectivity and habitat quality for our birds.

In combination, Spatial Option 3 protects the most land, Regulatory Option 4 protects against the most inappropriate developments, and Environmental Attribution Option 2 best ensures that the environment as a whole is considered.

Submissions closed at 5pm on Friday, August 25th.

Missed the submission deadline? Luckily it’s never too late to add your voice for the Lake Eyre Basin!

Sign and share our Lake Eyre Basin Petition