The FNQ Environment Roundtable Dates Announced!

Join CAFNEC in Cairns for the biggest event of the year!

2023 FNQ Environment Roundtable will be held over two days, Friday 1st December and Saturday 2nd December, in Smithfield, Cairns.

Day One: 1st December: Members Only

Day one is for our Member Groups to come together to collaborate & strengthen relationships (see who our Member Groups are here). Member Groups have received an invitation directly via email. If you have not received an invite and you believe you should have please contact Monique getinvolved@nullcafnec.org.au

Day Two: 2nd December: Open to the Public

Join CAFNEC members, Member Groups and community members from across our region to discuss the biggest challenges & solutions for protecting Country in Far North QLD. We’ll also have a pre-recorded presentation from the QLD Environment Minister and presentations from key campaigners from our region.

Register Here

You will be redirected to renew or register your membership with CAFNEC after you RSVP. Events like this are made possible in part by support from our financial members.

Submissions on the Public Environment Report have now CLOSED (as of 5:00 PM on 09 January 2023). However, you may still wish to write to Ark Energy and the Federal environment minister, Hon Tanya Plibersek to share your concerns, and can use the information below to do so.

The Chalumbin Wind farm is proposed in a heavily vegetated landscape, containing threatened species and in close proximity to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. 

The project is poorly cited, development of this scale and impact does not have place in such close proximity to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTQWHA). The complete lack of consideration of biodiversity in the siting of the project is not acceptable. These impacts can not be avoided effectively or offset. Lastly, it is not a strategic necessity for the transition to renewable energy, and there is currently not enough capacity in the grid for the energy produced by the Wind Farm. The project will set a precedent for the kind of renewable energy development in Queensland that the community can expect to see with the transition away from the fossil fuel industry.

No amount of minimising, offsetting, rehabilitation, will account for poorly placed, and poorly planned development.

Make A Submission

The Public Environment Report that is prepared as a part of the EPBC Act Assessment is really imporant. We must work to have as many people making submissions regarding the issues of this windfarm, so that they are highlighted in the assessment. However, we also know that the Federal Laws have been failing to protect nature, so we must also write to the Federal environment minister, Hon Tanya Plibersek, urging her to reject this proposal. It is a prime opportunity to share the vision we have for a restorative energy industry. 

Make a Submission

1. Post it to: Chalumbin Wind Farm Pty Ltd c/ Ark Energy, Level 6, 200 Adelaide Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000Use the submission template below OR
2. Email to info@nullchalumbinwindfarm.com.au 
3. Given that submission are going straight to the proponent, we suggest you also upload here for transparency 

Write to the Minister 

1. Template Below 
2. Send to Minister.Plibersek@nulldcceew.gov.au

Transparency of EPBC Act Process

Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the implementation of reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. As a result there are still failings that we have to deal with. 

One of the major issues with the PER process is that the proponent does not have to keep a public register of submissions. Therefore there is not transparency regarding what the proponent did, or did not change based on submission. 

To help the community have this transparency, CAFNEC is providing the opportunity to upload your submissions to our folder, so that we can see what issues have been raised, and how the proponent has/has not addressed them in the final PER.

Across regional Queensland we are feeling the impacts of Climate Change. Hotter days, extreme flood events, fires, coastal flooding and erosion and more severe cyclones. We are seeing the reef bleach more often than ever before, our rainforests are drying out and burning, droughts are affecting our farms and agriculture. It is really tough. Regional Queensland is doing it tough and we need our government to act. 

According to a new report recently published, “Queensland Climate Action Plan: Laying the foundation for a successful climate transformation” , we now have the least ambitious emissions reduction plan in the country. The research is showing that with our current emissions reduction plan, we won’t meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement and limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Our current plan means we blow out by almost triple the emissions budget available to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. That’s not good enough, we need an ambitious state government that’s ready to tackle climate change with serious action.

Lucy, CAFNEC’s Director recently hosted a webinar on to unpack the report mentioned above, and to highlight the interactions between the climate and biodiversity crisis. The need to tackle both and what we can do to demonstrate to the government that regional Queensland wants real action on climate. See Below. 

We all need to take action for a safer climate. Follow the link here to sign the petition and write to the QLD Premier: https://cafnec.org.au/all-campaigns/can/

Hi, I am Lucy, currently the Director here at CAFNEC, and jumping on to share a little bit about myself and how the year 2022 is kicking off. I joined the staff team here at CAFNEC in August 2019. It’s been almost three years since then, with a lot of big challenges, the pandemic for one, and great successes, like celebrating our 40th Anniversary last year. 

In this blog, rather than talking about a campaign, or an environmental issue, of which there are a lot, I wanted to take a moment to share with you all how incredibly humbling and inspiring it is to work in an organisation that has such a passionate and committed community. 

The breadth of environmental issues across Far North Queensland is incredible. I often find myself reminding decision makers and interstate folk that our region is bigger than the state of Victoria. Within that area we have environments of international significance, precious marine and terrestrial environments and incredibly diverse communities and cultures. Despite our staff team at CAFNEC growing a lot in recent years, there is still more work to be done for the environment than our team would ever be able to handle. It is the work of our CAFNEC community, and it’s breadth, depth and passion that is keeping FNQ wild and beautiful. 

Sitting at the 40th anniversary last year, I was inspired to see that we had people sitting in the room who had joined CAFNEC in the beginning, founding members, right across to people who had joined in recent months. I could write for pages and pages about how our members, volunteers and member groups are changing the world, but for now I wanted to share some of the recent highlights from January and February 2022. 

Holloways Beach Coast Care 

Despite operating for over 20 years, HBCC is one of our newer Member Groups which has been working on sites such as Billy Jagar reserve, the Boat Ramp, Thomatis Creek and the shorefront of the Holloways Beach Environmental Education Centre. Sarah Sims, a volunteer with the organisation has recently injected a new energy into the group, is helping to attract new members, funding and help raise the profile of the groups work. This month attracting around 20 volunteers to a morning of site maintenance – hard and sweaty work. There are land care groups all across our region doing essential restoration and biodiversity work such as this, and I am excited to see that these groups are still growing and expanding. 

Elise Bryant one of our CAFNEC volunteers who started with us in 2021, is a behind the scenes person who provides CAFNEC with amazing, unseen support. Across the work that CAFNEC does, we have to track our success, understand how we are making a difference, in what ways, where we might be failing and what opportunities we have to grow. Elise has committed her volunteer time to helping CAFNEC evolve our measurement and evaluation, to have consistency, and really tell the true story of our work. This mostly unseen work is such an essential part of how we continue to grow and ensure that we’re having impact. Elise has been committing about 1 day a week for almost a year now, to help us succeed. 

I have only shared two examples in this blog today, but there are so many more stories of how our member groups, individuals and partners are ensuring that our region has a vibrant natural environment and a safe climate. 

Many of our older members have said to me how inspiring it is to have so many young people getting involved in CAFNEC and bringing new energy to the work. Simultaneously, newer members are inspired by the members and volunteers who have worked with CAFNEC and helped protect our environment for decades. I find myself humbled by the dedication we all share to this region, our shared values and commitment to creating change over time. 

As we move into 2022, our Mangrove Watch program is expanding because of the dedicated time of our citizen scientists. Our Climate Action work is helping more and more residents of Cairns join the conversation about climate change, driven by the volunteer work of our amazing door knocking teams and leaders. We have volunteers who are working on renewable energy impacts, Taylor Point buy back, T5 tree removal, Flying Fox protection and so much more. And of course our Management Committee that ensures our organisation is well managed and here for the future to come. 

So I want to start this year by thanking all of you for the incredible work that you do for the environment. Without this incredible community in FNQ, our work to protect the environment would not be possible and I am inspired by our region every day. 

CAFNEC has prepared a submission to the Queensland Governments Discussion Paper on Renewable Energy Zones. Submission close on the 14th of January and we encourage members and supporters to make a submission.

Our safe climate future relies on a rapid expansion of renewable energy that limits global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, and does not come at a cost to nature.