2015–16 Activity Statement—Environment

Preserving our environment is essential and Queenslanders recognise their role as stewards of our unique natural assets, particularly the Great Barrier Reef. Queenslanders’ vision for the environment includes being world leaders in renewable energy and sustainable business practices. To do this, we need to ensure new urban developments are eco-oriented and sustainable, harness our natural power, preserve our unique heritage and have the infrastructure to support growing industries.

Protecting the environment is one of the Queensland Government’s objectives for the community. In 2015–16, the Queensland Government:

Creating jobs and a diverse economy

• commenced investigating a Shared Services Hub model to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander local governments and Registered Native Title Body Corporates to undertake land tenure, land use planning and the associated administration matters
• released a discussion paper, Advancing Climate Action in Queensland: Making the transition to a low carbon future, to seek input from the public on developing the right strategies to achieve a low carbon future
• provided access to the State’s data archive of more than 100,000 soil descriptions and land resource reports through the Soils Globe
• continued to deliver Regulated Vegetation Management Maps freely online for user specified properties, with more than 5000 maps provided each month
• developed an interactive statewide land use map for Queensland, allowing users to zoom into places of interest and toggle between different base maps

Protecting the environment

• facilitated the delivery of the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce final report, outlining 10 recommendations for improving reef water quality and investing an additional $100 million over five years
• increased the protected area estate by 421,449 hectares, with protected areas covering 7.92% of Queensland and nature refuges declared more than 4 million hectares of privately-owned land
• established the Wet Tropics Healthy Waterways Partnership to provide vital information on the health of waterways in the Wet Tropics. The new partnership is one of four regional report card partnerships which are an action under the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan
• led the development and passage of the Sustainable Ports Development Act 2015 to implement key port-related actions of the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan ensuring the Outstanding Universal Value of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is an intrinsic consideration in future port development, and requiring master plans be developed for the priority ports of Gladstone, Abbot Point, Townsville and Hay Point-Mackay
• established a Local Government Coastal Hazard Climate Adaptation Fund ($4 million a year over three years) to assist local councils with the development of coastal hazard adaption strategies and projects
• committed $1 million a year over three years to develop and implement a Queensland Climate Adaptation Strategy in collaboration with local governments and key stakeholder groups
• revised and declared new erosion prone areas and coastal management district mapping to re-introduce a projected sea level rise factor of 0.8 metres to 2100 to inform planning and development assessment decisions
• led the development and passage of the Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Act 2016 to ensure related parties with a significant interest or influence can be held accountable for environmental obligations
• undertook the largest and most complex environmental prosecution ever undertaken, with Linc Energy Limited committed to stand trial on charges of wilfully and unlawfully causing serious environmental harm at its former Chinchilla underground coal gasification site
• purchased Springvale Station—a significant investment that protects critical habitat for Queensland’s unique fauna and flora and boosts the efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef
• established the Waste Industry Compliance Investigation Taskforce to stamp out unlicensed waste activities, with 100 investigations completed resulting in 27 enforcement outcomes
• worked with industry, community and environmental groups and local governments to investigate a possible state-based container deposit scheme and the possible introduction of a lightweight plastic bag ban
• reviewed the way wastes and waste activities are regulated and managed with the aim of providing a more streamlined approach
• developed a new heritage database, Living Heritage Information System, which provides online access to digitised documents and images about Queensland heritage registered places
• released a new guideline, Financial assurance under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to clarify which activities may need to pay financial assurance, give greater flexibility for industry on providing third party rates, and remove the need to calculate GST
• delivered Round 3 of the Everyone’s Environment grants program, which supports communities and volunteers to help preserve their local environment
• established the Offset Project Management Committee to effectively manage funds derived from financial settlement offsets and provide recommendations for outsourcing strategic on-ground offset projects—28 offset payments have been received, totalling $2,317,653   
• launched the Queensland Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger Prospectus, which aims to attract corporate and philanthropic investment to expand the program
• released the final report of the Queensland Biosecurity Capability Review, along with the government’s interim response for a sustainable the biosecurity system
• established the new Animal Welfare Advisory Board, comprising technical, community and industry representatives, to provide advice on animal welfare matters.
• continued to implement the sustainable fishing policy by establishing three net free zones in central and northern Queensland
• released the Statewide Land and Tree Study (SLATS) 2014–15, providing an analysis of the total changes in vegetation and clearing rates across the state
• mitigated key threats to the Great Barrier Reef and national park islands, delivering $12 million in conservation and compliance actions as part of the $17 million 50:50 funded State-Commonwealth Joint Great Barrier Reef Field Management Program, including responding to coral bleaching and Cape Upstart oil spill events
• delivered improved fire management in national parks with the launch of the new FLAME fire management system, spending more than $1.5 million to upgrade and maintain high priority urban interface fire lines in key locations in South-East Queensland
• saw significant improvements to turtle hatching success in program sites—on average from 30 per cent to 89% in some locations—through the $7 million joint State Commonwealth Nest to Ocean Turtle Protection Program
• introduced plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to the State Government fleet
• finalised the Environmental Impact Statement for the Abbot Point Growth Gateway project to ensure the required port expansion can proceed while protecting the Great Barrier Reef and other surrounding ecosystems