2015-10-31
Australian Greens Deputy Leader Qld Senator Larissa Waters is today speaking at a forum in Cairns with local experts about the federal government’s plan for Northern Australia (details below).
“Northern Australia, and in particular Far North Queensland, is home to unique Indigenous land ownership, management and culture,” Senator Waters said.
“The region boasts precious environmental assets, including some of the last free-flowing rivers in the world, and of course, our globally iconic Great Barrier Reef.
“The precautionary approach must underpin development into the future so that we can protect Far North Queensland’s cultural and environmental heritage and its sustainable agriculture and eco-tourism industries.
“But the Turnbull Government’s plan for Northern Australia is very different. At the centrepiece is a $5 billion slush fund to prop up fossil fuel mining through tax-payer funded infrastructure.
“The future for Far North Queensland is not in the coal industry, which is in structural decline because the world is turning away from fossil fuels and embracing renewable energy.
“Instead of propping up coal, the federal and state governments should be investing in the clean energy revolution, which unlike the coal industry, does not risk our tourism and agricultural industries,” Senator Waters said.
WHEN Saturday 31 October 2015, 2 pm
WHERE Cairns State High School, N Block Auditorium, Upward St entrance, Cairns
WHO: Qld Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens Deputy Leader – on protecting Far North Qld’s cultural and environmental heritage and embracing 21st century, sustainable industries.
Dr Allan Dale, JCU – Overview of the Northern Australian White Paper, its key approaches and the global and regional context in which it sits. How could improving systems of governance ensure accelerated economic investment can also protect and enhance existing social, cultural and environmental values?
Kate Galloway, JCU – An overview of the challenges, opportunities and possible impacts of proposed changes to land tenure: a social justice approach.
Contact – Monique Vandeleur 0416 626 725