Fracking. In the Great Barrier Reef. In a world heritage listed area.
To Minister Tony Burke and the Gillard ALP Federal Government. I have but one short message for you: FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING MORONS!!
Now that's out of my system, let's get down to brass tacks.
If you're angry already, go sign this petition
UPDATE: Big thanks to America's Progressive Voice on Facebook for spreading the word of GetUp's campaign to US folk. Cheers! A glass of Australian beery goodness is yours should you ever meander in an Antipodean direction!
So Gladstone Ports Corporation want to dredge up 46 million cubic metres of sea bed to create 3 CSG plants within the world heritage area.
Fracking is toxic. It causes sickness and death. Lately it is also suspected of causing earth tremors. It is dangerous, poisonous, and should not be championed by any government that values the life and health of its constituents. It is bad enough our politicians at any level roll over and present their arse to mining companies. It is bad enough they do this for fracking outfits, where the technology has already proved highly dangerous. It is worse that they decide to blindly annihilate a national treasure for private sector profit.
This is like someone saying they want to blow up Ayer's Rock, yet it has had very little national coverage.
The Greens have something to say on it here and repeated here by Larissa Waters, QLD Greens Senator.
Nationals ready to sell the country out here.
The Age covers it here.
GetUp!'s press release below;
If you tune in to Four Corner's tonight you'll see a truly shocking story about the destruction of huge swathes of our Great Barrier Reef. Not to spoil the plot, but... Millions of cubic metres of sea floor are being drudged up from the Great Barrier Reef to make way for massive new coal seem gas export facilities. No, we're not kidding.
It's the largest dredging project ever undertaken in Australia, and one that has the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) so alarmed they're warning the Reef could lose its iconic world heritage status. We've created an emergency petition to stop this. Sign here, tune in and spread the word now.
www.getup.org.au/dredging-the-reef
As The Age recently put it- what's of primary concern is the "vast dredging program" associated with the construction of three coal seam gas plants located inside the reef's World Heritage area. "The Gladstone Ports Corporation (GPC) has approvals to dredge 46 million cubic metres from within the harbour boundaries, inside the World Heritage area, over the next 20 years...a volume equivalent to 27 Melbourne Cricket Grounds." 1
Environment Minister Tony Burke has so far refused to stand up for the Reef, a priceless and fragile site of significance not just to Australia, but to the world. Imagine if the Pyramids were being bulldozed or the Grand Canyon mined -- the global community would be furious. Well UNESCO is furious. They're sending a special delegation in March to inspect the mining sites at the Reef, but that's too late to stop the damage happening now.
Meanwhile, UNESCO are being lobbied hard by the insatiable coal seam gas industry. And although they failed to even tell UNESCO about the project, the state and federal governments would have us simply trust them to monitor and regulate this crazy project -- claiming it's possible to dredge up 46 million cubic metres of reef inside a world heritage site provided there's sufficient environmental oversight. If the Australian Government won't stand up for the Great Barrier Reef as it's ripped up for corporate profit, we will.
That's why we've created an urgent petition, as we prepare to launch this campaign on the global stage.
www.getup.org.au/dredging-the-reef
The fragile and unique ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef is already under intense pressure due to earlier floods and a changing climate. We've witnessed a steep increase in the rates of death of endangered marine wildlife this year -- including dolphins, dugongs and turtles. The massive development for the coal seam gas industry may well prove too much for it to handle.
Coal seam gas mining is now affecting our communities and environment, from the family farm to the deep blue sea, and once these areas are destroyed, no amount of money will ever bring them back. Sign the petition now, and if you're on Twitter and Facebook, be sure to alert others to this campaign as you watch the Four Corners program tonight at 8.30pm.
Thank you for using your voice now,
The GetUp team
1New battlefront opens up in gas debate, Tracey Ferrier, The Age, October 31 2011.
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