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Cape York Land Council signals backflip on new Cape York heritage initiative - 14/11/07
The Wilderness Society is surprised and disappointed at the Cape York Land Council’s latest attack on Queensland’s historic Wild Rivers initiative, as stated in today’s edition of The Australian.
Only three weeks ago, the historic Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act 2007 (CYPHA) was passed with overwhelming support by the Queensland Parliament with 88 of the 89 Members of Parliament voting in its favour. Only the One Nation Member for Tablelands voted against it. A centrepiece of the new legislation is provisions to progress wild river declarations on Cape York.
Lyndon Schneiders, spokesperson for the Wilderness Society said, “The latest attack on the wild rivers initiative appears to signify a decision by the Cape York Land Council to walk away from the CYPHA. This would be very disappointing as the CYPHA appeared to herald a new era of cooperation on Cape York Peninsula.”
The CYPHA was a major breakthrough in securing long term protection for the outstanding natural and cultural values of Cape York Peninsula. It was the result of months of negotiations between the Queensland Government, Indigenous, conservation and industry groups and has been publicly endorsed by The Wilderness Society, the Cape York Land Council, Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, Agforce and the Queensland Resources Council.
“The CYPHA provides a framework to progress the protection of the region’s Wild Rivers and World Heritage values as well as supporting a range of Indigenous development opportunities. It would be a very disappointing if the Land Council was to walk away from this initiative without even giving it a chance to succeed,” Mr Schneiders concluded.