A decision by the minister on the $1.3b Toondah Harbour project in Moreton Bay by billionaire property developer Lang Walker has been postponed five times and is now due on 5 December.
Scientists and conservation groups warn the 3600 unit development would make a “mockery” of Australia’s international wetland treaty obligations and migratory bird agreements.
Walker Corporation in a statement to SBS said it “supports” Mr Frydenberg to declare the Toondah Harbour plan a “controlled action” and order an environmental impact assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The site at Cleveland on Moreton Bay, south of Brisbane, is home to endangered turtles and dugongs, vulnerable salt marshes, threatened fish and critically endangered migratory birds from Russia.
Toondah harbour is a favoured destination for the eastern curlew at the end of a ten thousand kilometre annual migration from Russia and Alaska.
“The wetlands are particularly significant as habitat for dugong and wetland birds, particularly migratory shorebirds,” states a Walker Corporation submission to the minister.
“Moreton Bay also supports large numbers of the nationally threatened green turtle, hawksbill turtle and loggerhead turtle. Other nationally threatened species that the site supports are the oxleyan pygmy perch, honey blue-eye and water mouse. The site is ranked among the top ten habitats in Queensland for the internationally vulnerable dugong.”
The site is also the departure point for ferries from the mainland to Stradbroke island, also known as Minjerribah, and prime waterfront real estate.
“We know its used by the critically endangered eastern curlew. We know through science, the birds have declined by 30 per cent since 2006 globally,” said Judith Hoyle, BirdLife Australia’s spokesperson on the Toondah redevelopment.
“That’s down to between 20,000 and 25,000.”
In the 30 years prior to that, the global population crashed by 79 per cent.
Also in Toondah every summer are the world record holders for the longest uninterrupted flight, the bar-tailed godwit from the northern hemisphere, listed as vulnerable by the Australian government in April.
Bar-tailed Godwits at Toondah Harbour Source: Chris Walker
Moreton Bay was protected twenty-five years ago under the international wetlands treaty, known as Ramsar, and Australia was one of its first signatories in 1975.
“I think (the development) makes a mockery of (the treaty), yes,” said Ms Hoyle.
Walker wants to build 3600 apartments for an estimated 7000 people on 50 hectares of land reclaimed from the Toondah mudflat, with a 400 berth marina.
Mangroves and sea grass habitat would be destroyed and a deep boat channel dredged, potentially releasing acid sulphate from the mudflats into the environment.
“The first step is to undertake a comprehensive environmental impact assessment to identify potential environmental impacts of the development,” Walker Corporation said in a statement.
“The economic impact assessment will also identify mitigation, rehabilitation, and offset strategies, as well as a comprehensive set of management plans.
“The regulators at federal and state levels will then determine whether the proposed offsets are suitable and will take this into consideration in deciding whether the development should proceed.
“Walker’s referral to the federal environment minister under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 identified the project as a controlled action.”
The ageing ferry harbour would have a $100m-plus upgrade as part of Walker’s $1.3b project, that could create hundreds of jobs.
Federal environment ministers have five times delayed deciding if the Toondah development needs an environmental impact assessment or not under the Act, or if the project should go ahead at all.
“The Department of the Environment and Energy agreed to a request from the proponent (Walker Corporation) for a further extension for the project referral decision until 5 December 2016.”
“The Toondah Harbour Project is subject to a decision on whether it must be assessed under national environment law,” the department said in a statement.
Migratory bird numbers have declined rapidly due to large-scale habitat destruction through land reclamation by China in the Yellow Sea, a vital stopover their return flights to the northern hemisphere, causing many to die due to lack of food.
In April, Mr Frydenberg’s predecessor Greg Hunt launched the federal Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds.
“There is a growing need to reduce the threats to their habitat. This is critical for the continued survival of these birds,” the then environment minister Mr Hunt said.
“This plan is guiding our bilateral talks with Japan, China and the Republic of Korea on how threats to migratory shorebirds in the Yellow Sea region can be managed with the help of local communities.
“We take our global obligations to these shorebirds seriously.”
Mr Hunt at the time also appointed Australia’s first federal threatened species commissioner, Gregory Andrews.
“The government and the threatened species commissioner are well aware of their duty of care in relation to these critically endangered birds,” said Ms Hoyle from Birdlife Australia, which sits on the commissioner’s advisory board.
Australia has agreements with China, Korea and Japan to help save the birds.
“It weakens our position, if we go to China and say, ‘Stop reclaiming in the Yellow Sea’, if we do the same. We won’t have a leg to stand on,” said professor Hugh Possingham, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions.
Two decades ago professor Hugh Possingham helped write the federal Environment Protection and Biodiveristy Conservation Act for the Howard government, that included enforcing the RAMSAR treaty, protecting the Toondah harbour site.
“I would think it is odd, I would definitely say this (project) meets the requirements for a controlled action and requires much more deeper thought,” said professor Possingham, who is also the newly appointed chief scientist of Nature Conservancy, the world’s largest environmental NGO.
“It ticks at least two of the big boxes, critically endangered birds in some numbers and a Ramsar wetland.”
“It’s not the most beautiful but it’s the most interesting, but mud is where things are going on. Mud is a ridiculously valuable resource.”
The project on a mix of public and private land was declared a Priority Development Area (PDA) by the Queensland government in 2013 at the request of Redland City Council.
“It is vital the local environment is protected in delivering this important project and Council supports the strictest and most robust assessment process to ensure this occurs,” said local Redland City Council.
“The agreement with Walker Corporation for Toondah Harbour is not for the sale of land, it is based on an infrastructure agreement that will see Walker Corporation build $116 million in community infrastructure, such as a new ferry terminal, new roads, water infrastructure and new parkland.
“It is widely accepted that Toondah Harbour needs to be upgraded, and this agreement will see this much-needed upgrade completed at no cost to residents.
Editor's note: This report has been updated to reflect that the conservation status of the bar-tailed godwit (subspecies baueri) is 'vulnerable'.
