PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has again defended the resources sector against allegations of its supposed impact on the Great Barrier Reef, saying that a rigorous environmental assessment regime and management arrangements were in place to protect the environment.

Addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications, QRC CEO Michael Roche said the resources sector was being singled out in an emotive campaign opposing trade development.

The Senate Standing Committee was reviewing the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Amendment Bill, which was aimed at prohibiting developments within and outside existing port areas along the Great Barrier Reef coastline.

The Bill was further aimed at the implementation, from March 20, of a moratorium on the approval of developments impacting on the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area until a strategic assessment was completed and deemed adequate by the World Heritage Committee, as well as prohibiting approval of any developments that did not deliver a net benefit to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Roche said the Bill was based on a false premise that port developments, which were primarily driven by the resource sector’s growth, would be a cause of decline in the reef’s health.

“This view is contrary to extensive scientific studies and government pronouncements that make clear that the key issues affecting the reef are Crown of Thorns starfish, water quality and nutrient inflows from coastal rivers and storm damage.”

Roche added that a number of key misrepresentations have also been pervading national discussion on the Great Barrier Reef and appeared to be the basis of the Bill’s development.

One of these misrepresentations was the projected number of ship movements through the World Heritage Area.

“There is no dispute that, as exports of commodities and imports of vital goods to and from Queensland grow, so must the number of ship movements through the World Heritage Area. However, claims of anywhere between 7 000 and 11 000 coal ships moving along the reef every year within the next ten years, are without foundation,” Roche argued.

Further, he pointed out that the resources sector in the region supported more than 400 000 jobs.

“While development at any cost is clearly unacceptable, this is not the option confronting the Australian people. Neither the Great Barrier Reef nor the resource sector’s existence need be at the expense of the other.”

Roche noted that the proposed amendments to the Act were “completely unnecessary” and were in direct conflict with the principles of ecologically sustainable development.