Good morning all from a very wet Darwin River
Are any members raising concerns about the decision to dump waste in the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park?
Regards
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
PO Box 71, Darwin River,
NT 0841
043 8650 835
PhD candidate, SCU
Vice-chair, Wildlife Tourism Australia
Yes, you can contribute as described below
Dominic Chaplin
It's a terrible moment for the reef - but we have a plan.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has caved to the pressure of the
mining industry and the Federal Government. The agency charged with "the
protection, wise use, understanding and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef in
perpetuity" has allowed it to be sold out for short-term profits.
Late yesterday, they granted a permit to dump five million tonnes of dredge
spoil inside the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
This destructive project is now allowed to go-ahead - unless we make a last
ditch effort to challenge it in court. Click here to learn more, and help fund
the legal challenge to save our Reef:
http://www.getup.org.au/reef-fighting-fund
We're not lawyers, but we've taken on big legal fights before — and won. In
2010, GetUp members challenged Howard-era electoral laws in the High Court.
Together, and with the help of some of the best legal brains in the country, we
stopped hundreds of thousands of Australians from losing their right to vote.
Now we can step up again, this time to protect our Reef.
Our lawyers will be the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) of Queensland, an
independent community law centre dedicated to public interest advocacy in
environmental matters. They'll be representing North Queensland Conservation
Council. Both groups have got what it takes to tackle the project, but need the
backing of GetUp members from right across Australia.
It's as if the Federal Government saw this fight coming. Just before Christmas,
and without warning, they inexplicably cancelled $10 million in federal funding
to EDOs nation-wide. But they aren't expecting people to fight back. Let's
unite, and gather the resources we need to use the full power of the law to
protect our Reef. Click here to make it happen:
http://www.getup.org.au/reef-fighting-fund
The best legal analysis says this case is strong, and we won't be alone. Other
environmental groups are planning to chip in as well.
We all know legal battles can be long and expensive. If we can raise $80k
together as GetUp members - that's about 2,000 of us chipping in $40 or more -
the project will be confident of covering the considerable legal fees involved
in a long fight. That money pays for court fees, printing and overhead costs,
and allowing expert witnesses to provide evidence.
If we raise more than $80k together, we will use the extra to build our Reef
Fighting Fund to power further campaigning, or for further legal costs.
Can you chip-in to kick off the all-in citizen-funded legal fight to protect
our Great Barrier Reef?
http://www.getup.org.au/reef-fighting-fund
The mining industry, the Abbott Government, Campbell Newman and everyone else
with vested interests expect this decision will be a kick in the guts for the
environment movement – something that will deflate us, put us in our place and
mark the end of this campaign.
They obviously don't know us well enough.
For everything you've done so far — thank you. Now here's to our Reef and the
fight ahead,
The GetUp team
Dominic Chaplin
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