In 2004 the Beattie Government rejected a Sun Aqua proposal to build a fish farm with sea cages in Moreton Bay.
The Beattie Government also made amendments to Queensland's Coastal Protection and Management Act in 2004, which effectively halted tidal canal developments.
In 2022, the Palaszczuk Government continues to support the irreversible destruction of an internationally significant (including to First Nations peoples) Ramsar wetland inside the Moreton Bay Marine Park and nearby foreshore koala colony at Cleveland’s Toondah Harbour.
The short-sighted pro-development ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ sales pitch for gifting this public land (asset sale?) to Queensland Labor donor, Walker Corporation to replace these natural assets with 3,600 private units does not consider their value to the fishing, tourism and recreational industries or the ecology of Moreton Bay.
It also ignores the environmental cost of dredging half a million cubic metres of inter-tidal wetland and losing vital critically-endangered and endangered species habitat, seagrass beds and mangrove forests.
‘It’s time’ to turn the tide and show the vision Beattie had (comments below) by listening to the people and protecting Moreton Bay.
We can build a smaller-scale commercial and residential development with an upgraded ferry terminal in the current terminal footprint (and nearby commercial land) out of the Ramsar wetland, away from the koalas.
Beattie said in Parliament in 2004:
"Experience in other parts of the world has shown the folly of allowing major developments which can have an adverse impact on the environment," Mr Beattie said.
Mr Beattie said the importance of Moreton Bay as a recreational and environmental resource for southeast Queensland could not be underestimated, particularly as the population increased.
"It is also an important economic resource and we need to continually improve our management practices as further information about the bay and the increasing demands we place upon it are clarified."
"My government has the future of Moreton Bay as a key priority, and takes its stewardship role very seriously indeed," he said.