Join us in asking the newly elected Labor government to commit to better protection of the rivers and floodplains of the Channel Country .
What we want: For the Palaszczuk Government to implement stronger legislative protections for the rivers and floodplains of the Channel Country within the first 12 months of office.
The Cooper, Diamantina and Georgina rivers bring life to the dry heart of Australia as they feed water from the tropics south into Lake Eyre. These rivers are among the last free flowing desert rivers on Earth.
The Channel Country rivers, waterholes, and wetlands are rich with sacred cultural heritage for the region’s traditional owners. This extraordinary natural river system, and the unique historical and cultural values it supports, attracts visitors from across the world supporting a growing tourism industry. The Channel Country also supports a profitable organic beef industry.
Our desert rivers are under threat
Unconventional gas mining (coal seam, tight, and shale gas) is expanding and intensifying in the Lake Eyre Basin. Under current Queensland Government policy, gas fields are permitted across the Channel Country’s floodplains. Infrastructure and industrial activity from these fracking operations is threatening the health and integrity of these rivers and wetlands and the future of the wildlife and communities that depend on them.
Will you ask for better protection to save our precious Channel Country?
Better protection of the Channel Country rivers and floodplains must be a matter of priority in this next term of government - our rivers, wildlife, culture and communities are too precious to risk.
We are preparing a message to send to the newly elected Queensland Government calling for better legislative protection for Channel Country rivers and floodplains within 12 months.
Thanks for your continued support.