E-Petition

The Petition of residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House to Ballymore's MLA100351 in Dittmer, Whitsundays — a proposed 272-hectare copper and gold mine, part of the much larger Dittmer Project (513 sq km) across the Clarke Ranges.

Despite the scale and environmental values, MLA100351 has no EPBC referral, no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), no Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), no Social Impact Assessment (SIA), no baseline or hydrogeological water data publicly available. The rehabilitation bond for MLA100351 is $18,000. This large-scale mine is being regulated under small-scale environmental authority approvals.

Dittmer and Kelsey Creek are in the drinking water catchment for Whitsundays and (MNES) Great Barrier Reef catchment just 48 km downstream. Dittmer is core habitat for multiple endangered (MNES) threatened species; downstream wetlands support migratory (MNES) species.

Copper and gold mining has a well-documented history of water contamination, including acid mine drainage and heavy-metal pollution. Allowing this project to proceed without a referral and EIS poses a significant risk of creating a legacy mine in a World Heritage Area.

It is unacceptable for a project of this scale and potential impact to proceed without an EPBC referral and without all “claimed” environmental and water studies being publicly available.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the Queensland Government to make the referral under section 69 of the EPBC Act for MLA100351 Dittmer Project, so potential impacts on MNES, Water Resources and WHA Great Barrier Reef, are assessed through a rigorous EIS.