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| Eastern Curlew, Grey-tailed Tattler & Great Knot |
The foreshore of Raby Bay on Moreton Bay, a short distance from
Brisbane, was a magical place. Thousands of migratory shorebirds of
many species would congregate there at high tide on samphire flats
behind the mangroves, dispersing at low tide to feed on adjoining
mudflats. When I was a young birder in the late-1960s and
early-1970s, Raby Bay was an exciting destination; I spent many hours
there working out how to identify those shorebirds.
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| Whimbrel & Bar-tailed Godwit |
These days, Raby Bay is a vast expanse of canals, marinas and real
estate. All the special spots I once frequented are gone. Nothing
remains of that once thriving haven for birdlife. The same is true of
many places around Moreton Bay and elsewhere in south-east
Queensland, where wildlife habitat has been displaced by canal and
other coastal development. We now know that Moreton Bay is regarded
as being of international significance as a feeding and roosting
ground for migratory shorebirds, so governments have supposedly tried
in recent years to contain the destruction and protect what's left of
the habitat.
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| Toondah Harbour, looking north |
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| Toondah Harbour, looking east to Cassim Island |
Or so we thought. Today, just a short distance from the
environmental wasteland that is Raby Bay, yet another massive
development is set to proceed. More than 40 hectares of tidal flats
which are supposedly protected under the international Ramsar
convention will be destroyed to make way for the Walker Corporation's
$1.3 billion Toondah Harbour project which includes a 200-berth
marina, a convention centre and 3,600 residential dwellings.
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| Scope of the planned Toondah Harbour development |
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| The planned development - another sea of canals |
State and federal environmental laws are being trashed in the
process. What is the point of signing treaties such as Ramsar,
intended to protect the habitat of rapidly dwindling populations of
migratory shorebirds, if those treaties are simply ignored when
inconvenient? When will authorities say “enough is enough” and
seriously do something to curb coastal canal developments? Are the
interests of wealthy owners of canal-side mansions and luxury boats
more important than salvaging those few remaining areas of natural
coastal habitat?
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| Terek Sandpiper |
This week I strolled across the mud and sand flats and through the
tall mangroves of Toondah Harbour at low tide. As I looked east from
the shore towards Cassim Island, I tried to envisage the moonscape of
canals that is set to be the lot of this place. Raby Bay all over
again. Feeding on the mudflats I saw Eastern Curlew and Great Knot,
two species listed federally as “critically endangered” because
their numbers have crashed catastrophically in recent years, largely
due to coastal developments along the flyways between the birds'
breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere and their summer feeding
refuges in Australia. Refuges like Toondah Harbour. Why bother
listing something as endangered if its habitat is being demolished?
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| Gull-billed Tern |
Also on the flats were plenty of Bar-tailed Godwits, some looking
splendid in breeding plumage as they prepare to depart for their
annual 12,000km migration northwards. Other migratory shorebirds
included Whimbrel, Terek Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler. A host of
non-migratory birds were there as well: Australian Pelican, Pied
Oystercatcher, Gull-billed Tern, Little Egret and many others. Bird
images in this post were taken at Toondah Harbour this week.
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| Raby Bay, as it looks today |
Just across the harbour, at Oyster Point, a state government sign
proudly points out that the area is a wetland of international
significance, protected under Ramsar. Says the sign: “These
shorebirds need the space, food and protection found at critical
sites along the foreshores of Moreton Bay.” No hint there that the
treaty is in the process of being gutted and that one of those
critical sites is about to be obliterated.
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| State government sign at Oyster Point |
The former federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, ignored
his own department's advice to block the Toondah Harbour project. In
a 2016 letter to the company, the department suggested it might want
to consider an alternative proposal to “avoid substantially direct
impacts on the ecological character of the Moreton Bay Ramsar
wetland”. When nothing of the sort was forthcoming, the department
advised the minister in 2017 that the proposal was "clearly
unacceptable" because it would result in “permanent and
irreversible damage to the ecological character” of the wetland.
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| Flock of Grey-tailed Tattler & Bar-tailed Godwit |
Frydenberg ignored that advice and instead ordered his department
to undertake a “full assessment” that “might lead to mitigation
or offsets of any significant environmental impact”. That's
politician-speak for giving the project the green light. The Walker
Corporation donated $225,000 to Frydenberg's federal Liberal Party in
2016; the minister and the company insist donations had no influence
on the decision-making process.
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| Little Egret |
According to reports by the ABC, Frydenberg's department raised
multiple objections to the project. The impacts of the ecological
character of the site would be “difficult to mitigate and offset”,
notwithstanding the minister's suggestion to the contrary. The
department expressed concerns about adverse changes to water quality
resulting from dredging, excavation and reclamation work. Increased
boat traffic, lighting and ongoing dredging of the harbour would be
damaging for dugongs and three species of sea turtle that frequent
the area. The removal of onshore vegetation would pose risks to other
threatened species, including koalas.
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| Pied Oystercatcher |
The federal Labor Opposition raised no voices of objection to the
minister's move, being more concerned about lending support to the
Palaszczuk state Labor government, which has not only
enthusiastically embraced the project but expanded it significantly
from what was proposed originally. In 2016, the then Queensland
Environment and Heritage Department wrote on behalf of Deputy Premier
Jackie Trad and Environment Minister Steven Miles to the then federal
Environment and Energy Department about the Ramsar convention. The
letter complained that “historical mapping anomolies” were
compromising the “revitalisation” of Toondah Harbour.
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| Australian Pelican |
In other words state Labor, which has also been the beneficiary of
generous donations from the Walker Corporation, wanted the
international treaty maps torn up so that, among other things, half a
million cubic metres of seabed could be dredged to make way for the
project. On its website, the Walker Corporation describes Toondah Harbour
as a “rare opportunity to create a waterfront destination that will
transform the face” of the region. Yes, the face of the region will
indeed be transformed.
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| Mangroves at Toondah Harbour |
While canal developments are being discouraged around the world,
especially in this era of climate change and rising sea levels, they
continue in Queensland to be regarded as models of sensible economic
development. The wanton destruction of environmentally sensitive
wetlands is as acceptable to governments today as it was half a
century ago.
See here for how to lodge a protest.
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| Toondah Harbour looking south to where ferries leave for North Stradbroke Island |
