Today is World Water Day and it’s worth taking a moment to think about what we can do to help improve access to this precious resource. The United Nations has a goal of “water for everyone by 2030”. Nobody should be left without ready access to safe, clean water. It’s a human right, yet billions of people, especially those with little political, social or economic clout are living without access to safe water.

www.mackayconservationgroup.org.au/WaterPetition

Australians are more aware of the need to be careful with water than people in any other developed country. We live on the driest inhabited continent on earth, so we know that water can run out, even in the biggest cities. It wasn’t very long ago that Brisbane faced a water crisis as dams dropped to extremely low levels. This month Sydney has had to turn on its desalination plant for the first time since it was completed in 2010 because dams have dropped to less than 60 per cent of capacity.

Our campaign to rescind Adani’s unfair and unsustainable water licenses is only two weeks old and has already received amazing media coverage, numerous campaign and market stallls are active,  hundreds of petition signitires have been gathered and new volunteers are joining the campaign everyday.

The Defend Our water campaign - Not One Drop for Adani 

With the election ready to be called at any time it is vital that we step up the pressure on our politicians and decision makers. That's why we are organising a weekend of action that will begin on World Water Day on the 22nd of March.

The Plan

On Friday the 22nd of March and the following weekend we will be hitting the streets in Mackay and region, visiting MP’s, holding street and market stalls, having conversations, writing letters and generally making the campaign as enormous, colourful, loud and proud as possible!

Register now to be part of the action!

Together we will send a powerful message. Defend Our Water- Not One Drop for Adani!

Record breaking heatwaves and drought continue to cripple Queensland. Meanwhile both major parties are letting Adani get away with plans to extract billions of litres of water from our rivers and underground reservoirs every year to run their mega coal mine.

With a Federal election just around the corner, now is a critical time to join the community push to stop Adani from sucking our state dry. That’s why Queenslanders are uniting to launch an exciting new campaign to Defend Our Water and #StopAdani.

Join community members from across central Queensland for the Defend our Water campaign launch and campaign workshop on February 17. Get equipped with all the intel and skills you need to #StopAdani destroying our water.

RSVP NOW!

Supporters of the project will have us believe that Adani is the best thing since sliced bread and is backed by 100% support from places like Mackay, Townsville and Rockhampton.

By coming together, raising our voices and showing what’s at risk from Adani’s mega mine we can tell a different story - that Queenslanders reject Adani’s false promises and demand a better future for our state.

Join us for this special one day event to:

• Learn about the new national campaign to protect Queensland’s precious water from Adani’s coal mine
• Meet like-minded people from across central and Northern Queensland ready to take action
• Supercharge your skills to increase your impact with workshops on the everything from the impacts of the mine to speaking with others in your community, social media, and more!

It’s on Sunday February 17  from 9am to 5pm in Mackay and hosted by our friends at Mackay Conservation Group and Lock the Gate Alliance. People will be travelling from Townsville to Rockhampton and everywhere in between to be there.

Accommodation can be arranged for those staying from out of town and lunch and snacks will be provided for an optional donation of $10

Registration is free but places are limited, secure your ticket today.

P.S. Spread the word by inviting your friends on Facebook.

Lets make 2019 the year we Stop Adani!

Getting involved is as easy as showing up to our next organising meeting at the Mackay Conservation Group office at 5.30pm Thursday the 7th of February.

Join the Mackay Stop Adani team today to get involved with our rapidly growing campaign team of writers, event organisers, stall holders, campaign coordinators, social media warriors, community campaigners and dedicated volunteers.

Can't make the meeting? Sign up to join the campaign here and one of our organisers will call you.

Lets make 2019 the year we Stop Adani!

Getting involved is as easy as showing up to our next organising meeting at the Mackay Conservation Group office at 6pm Thursday the 17th of January. You can RSVP Now!

This is your opportunity to get involved with our rapidly growing campaign team of writers, event organisers, stall holders, campaign coordinators, social media warriors, community campaigners and dedicated  volunteers.

Can't make the meeting? Sign up for the campaign here and one of our organisers will contact you.

Adani in court today for breaching their ‘special’ pollution licence

New poll reveals Central Queensland voters oppose the Qld government granting special deals to Adani on roads, royalties and water

Mackay Conservation Group released polling today that shows the majority of Central and North Queensland voters want government subsidies for Adani withdrawn. The group delivered a letter to local MP, Julieanne Gilbert, calling on the Queensland Government to cancel what amounts to nearly $500 million in subsidies.

Peter McCallum, Co-ordinator of Mackay Conservation Group said, “It’s disturbing that governments trust Adani to push ahead with a mine at a time when they’re being prosecuted in court for polluting the Great Barrier Reef with coal.

“Last year the Queensland government granted Adani a favour and issued a special licence to allow them to pour coal-laden water into one of the world’s greatest natural assets, the Great Barrier Reef, and Adani failed to even comply with that.

“Today the Mackay Conservation Group is releasing new Reachtel polling in three federal electorates in regional Queensland, conducted on 30 November.

“The polling of voters in Townsville, Rockhampton and Mackay reveals more that 60.0% of respondents strongly oppose the Queensland government giving Adani special deals, which allow the company to avoid paying a reported $370 million in royalties and offers Adani a $100 million publicly-funded road upgrade and a licence to take unlimited water for 60 years.

If there’s a single lesson for politicians from last week’s Victorian election it is that voters want political parties to develop rational policies and stand by them. Despite a major scare campaign around law and order, the ALP leader, Daniel Andrews, stuck to his reasoned platform and was rewarded with a hugely increased majority. He displayed leadership and authority over his party, maintaining a steady course all the way to polling day. With a federal election looming there must be more than a few MPs and candidates contemplating their future in the light of the Victorian result.

It is said that ‘insanity’ is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We have been told that the next big thing for our region is yet another feasibility study for the Urannah dam. That study will be the 19th attempt since 1967 to shuffle the cards and come up with a winning economic hand.

What is even more irrational is that the Federal Government paid $3 million of taxpayers’ money to have those cards reshuffled. Of course there’s a chance that this time the economic analysis may say something different to the previous 18 attempts. Maybe there’s a way to sell the water from Urannah dam to someone who’s willing to pay enough to recoup the dam’s construction and running costs. The only industry that can do that is mining.

Media Release

7 November 2018

Photo: Zoe Bay on Hinchinbrook Island - Steven Nowakowski

Mackay Conservation Group has launched a campaign against a Queensland Government plan to allow private tourism development in three of the state’s iconic national parks.

Last month the Tourism Minister, Kate Jones, issued a statement calling for expressions of interest from private tourism operators to build accommodation and conduct private walking tours in Hinchinbrook, Whitsunday Islands and Great Sandy national parks. 

In a document on a government website, private developers are being offered 30 year exclusive leases on current national park land plus a 30 year option. The government will also fast track the assessment process. In the case of Whitsunday Islands national park the government is also offering private developers a $5 million subsidy to assist with accommodation construction.

Mackay Conservation Group has launched a petition, which has collected over 700 signatures, calling on the state government to scrap its plans.