Latest news with #DaveCopeman
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'Go back to drawing board': 2032 planning laws slammed
Controversial laws set to fast track 2032 Olympic projects have come under fire, with a state government told to "go back to the drawing board". An environmental group says the laws to help ensure Games infrastructure is built on time will set a dangerous precedent, detracting from the inclusivity that 2032 organisers hope to create. The clock is ticking for the Games after the Queensland government finally confirmed its venue blueprint in March, more than 1300 days after Brisbane was named host city. A bill has been introduced to state parliament giving the Games infrastructure authority power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts. The laws covering all venues and the athletes villages are set to ensure construction is not delayed by potential legal challenges, with the final planning sign-off given to the state government - not local councils. The bill will also require renewable energy developers to undertake community consultation. In submissions heard on Tuesday, the Queensland Conservation Council took aim at the government's 'blinding hypocrisy'. "It is incredibly inconsistent that this bill is trying to apply greater consultation to renewable energy projects and literally ripping up any process for community and consultation on our existing laws for Olympic facilities", the council's Dave Copeman told the hearing. "The hypocrisy is kind of blinding." Brisbane organisers have targeted inclusivity as a key pillar of the 2032 Games. But Mr Copeman claimed the laws flew in the face of that goal, saying they bypassed not only planning legislation but also First Nations people's concerns. An advocacy group is raising money for a legal challenge exploring the proposed 2032 main stadium's impact on inner-city Victoria Park, saying it will destroy a site of significance to First Nations communities. "It's going to create ... a terrible story to tell to the visitors who are coming - 'Welcome to to this great facility where we got rid of the rights of First Nations people, but we want to celebrate their culture here'," Mr Copeman said. "We've got enough time to build the facilities we need while honouring our existing laws. "I'd take your pencils out ... there's some real work for this committee to do." Louisa Bonner, the CEO of charity Ngaran Goori, said First Nations communities should be consulted about what's happening on country and how it affected them. "We feel like we're being dragged along to have to agree with something," she told the committee. "It's not that we either agree or disagree, it's just we don't have that depth of relationship or consultation or understanding around that, or even consideration." Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Brisbane Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built. Advocacy group, Save the Victoria Park, is raising money for the legal challenge exploring the main stadium's impact on the heritage status and environment at the park, which is celebrating its 150th year. Controversial laws set to fast track 2032 Olympic projects have come under fire, with a state government told to "go back to the drawing board". An environmental group says the laws to help ensure Games infrastructure is built on time will set a dangerous precedent, detracting from the inclusivity that 2032 organisers hope to create. The clock is ticking for the Games after the Queensland government finally confirmed its venue blueprint in March, more than 1300 days after Brisbane was named host city. A bill has been introduced to state parliament giving the Games infrastructure authority power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts. The laws covering all venues and the athletes villages are set to ensure construction is not delayed by potential legal challenges, with the final planning sign-off given to the state government - not local councils. The bill will also require renewable energy developers to undertake community consultation. In submissions heard on Tuesday, the Queensland Conservation Council took aim at the government's 'blinding hypocrisy'. "It is incredibly inconsistent that this bill is trying to apply greater consultation to renewable energy projects and literally ripping up any process for community and consultation on our existing laws for Olympic facilities", the council's Dave Copeman told the hearing. "The hypocrisy is kind of blinding." Brisbane organisers have targeted inclusivity as a key pillar of the 2032 Games. But Mr Copeman claimed the laws flew in the face of that goal, saying they bypassed not only planning legislation but also First Nations people's concerns. An advocacy group is raising money for a legal challenge exploring the proposed 2032 main stadium's impact on inner-city Victoria Park, saying it will destroy a site of significance to First Nations communities. "It's going to create ... a terrible story to tell to the visitors who are coming - 'Welcome to to this great facility where we got rid of the rights of First Nations people, but we want to celebrate their culture here'," Mr Copeman said. "We've got enough time to build the facilities we need while honouring our existing laws. "I'd take your pencils out ... there's some real work for this committee to do." Louisa Bonner, the CEO of charity Ngaran Goori, said First Nations communities should be consulted about what's happening on country and how it affected them. "We feel like we're being dragged along to have to agree with something," she told the committee. "It's not that we either agree or disagree, it's just we don't have that depth of relationship or consultation or understanding around that, or even consideration." Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Brisbane Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built. Advocacy group, Save the Victoria Park, is raising money for the legal challenge exploring the main stadium's impact on the heritage status and environment at the park, which is celebrating its 150th year. Controversial laws set to fast track 2032 Olympic projects have come under fire, with a state government told to "go back to the drawing board". An environmental group says the laws to help ensure Games infrastructure is built on time will set a dangerous precedent, detracting from the inclusivity that 2032 organisers hope to create. The clock is ticking for the Games after the Queensland government finally confirmed its venue blueprint in March, more than 1300 days after Brisbane was named host city. A bill has been introduced to state parliament giving the Games infrastructure authority power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts. The laws covering all venues and the athletes villages are set to ensure construction is not delayed by potential legal challenges, with the final planning sign-off given to the state government - not local councils. The bill will also require renewable energy developers to undertake community consultation. In submissions heard on Tuesday, the Queensland Conservation Council took aim at the government's 'blinding hypocrisy'. "It is incredibly inconsistent that this bill is trying to apply greater consultation to renewable energy projects and literally ripping up any process for community and consultation on our existing laws for Olympic facilities", the council's Dave Copeman told the hearing. "The hypocrisy is kind of blinding." Brisbane organisers have targeted inclusivity as a key pillar of the 2032 Games. But Mr Copeman claimed the laws flew in the face of that goal, saying they bypassed not only planning legislation but also First Nations people's concerns. An advocacy group is raising money for a legal challenge exploring the proposed 2032 main stadium's impact on inner-city Victoria Park, saying it will destroy a site of significance to First Nations communities. "It's going to create ... a terrible story to tell to the visitors who are coming - 'Welcome to to this great facility where we got rid of the rights of First Nations people, but we want to celebrate their culture here'," Mr Copeman said. "We've got enough time to build the facilities we need while honouring our existing laws. "I'd take your pencils out ... there's some real work for this committee to do." Louisa Bonner, the CEO of charity Ngaran Goori, said First Nations communities should be consulted about what's happening on country and how it affected them. "We feel like we're being dragged along to have to agree with something," she told the committee. "It's not that we either agree or disagree, it's just we don't have that depth of relationship or consultation or understanding around that, or even consideration." Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Brisbane Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built. Advocacy group, Save the Victoria Park, is raising money for the legal challenge exploring the main stadium's impact on the heritage status and environment at the park, which is celebrating its 150th year. Controversial laws set to fast track 2032 Olympic projects have come under fire, with a state government told to "go back to the drawing board". An environmental group says the laws to help ensure Games infrastructure is built on time will set a dangerous precedent, detracting from the inclusivity that 2032 organisers hope to create. The clock is ticking for the Games after the Queensland government finally confirmed its venue blueprint in March, more than 1300 days after Brisbane was named host city. A bill has been introduced to state parliament giving the Games infrastructure authority power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation Acts. The laws covering all venues and the athletes villages are set to ensure construction is not delayed by potential legal challenges, with the final planning sign-off given to the state government - not local councils. The bill will also require renewable energy developers to undertake community consultation. In submissions heard on Tuesday, the Queensland Conservation Council took aim at the government's 'blinding hypocrisy'. "It is incredibly inconsistent that this bill is trying to apply greater consultation to renewable energy projects and literally ripping up any process for community and consultation on our existing laws for Olympic facilities", the council's Dave Copeman told the hearing. "The hypocrisy is kind of blinding." Brisbane organisers have targeted inclusivity as a key pillar of the 2032 Games. But Mr Copeman claimed the laws flew in the face of that goal, saying they bypassed not only planning legislation but also First Nations people's concerns. An advocacy group is raising money for a legal challenge exploring the proposed 2032 main stadium's impact on inner-city Victoria Park, saying it will destroy a site of significance to First Nations communities. "It's going to create ... a terrible story to tell to the visitors who are coming - 'Welcome to to this great facility where we got rid of the rights of First Nations people, but we want to celebrate their culture here'," Mr Copeman said. "We've got enough time to build the facilities we need while honouring our existing laws. "I'd take your pencils out ... there's some real work for this committee to do." Louisa Bonner, the CEO of charity Ngaran Goori, said First Nations communities should be consulted about what's happening on country and how it affected them. "We feel like we're being dragged along to have to agree with something," she told the committee. "It's not that we either agree or disagree, it's just we don't have that depth of relationship or consultation or understanding around that, or even consideration." Victoria Park in Brisbane's inner-city is expected to become the Brisbane Games hub, with a 63,000-seat main stadium and a nearby national aquatic centre set to be built. Advocacy group, Save the Victoria Park, is raising money for the legal challenge exploring the main stadium's impact on the heritage status and environment at the park, which is celebrating its 150th year.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Blinding hypocrisy': Laws to fast track 2032 Olympic projects come under fire
Controversial Queensland laws to fast track 2032 Olympic projects have come under fire, with the Crisafulli government told to 'go back to the drawing board'. An environmental group says the laws to help ensure Games infrastructure is built on time set a dangerous precedent, detracting from the inclusivity that 2032 organisers hope to create. The clock is ticking for the Games after the state government finally confirmed its venue blueprint in March – more than 1300 days after Brisbane was named host city. A bill has been introduced to state parliament giving the Games infrastructure authority power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation acts. The laws, which will cover all venues and athletes' villages, are set to ensure construction is not delayed by potential legal challenges, with the final planning sign-off given to the state government – not local councils. The bill will also require renewable energy developers to undertake community consultation. But in submissions heard on Tuesday, the Queensland Conservation Council took aim at the government's 'blinding hypocrisy'. 'It is incredibly inconsistent that this bill is trying to apply greater consultation to renewable energy projects and literally ripping up any process for community consultation on our existing laws for Olympic facilities,' the council's Dave Copeman told the hearing.
The Age
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘Blinding hypocrisy': Laws to fast track 2032 Olympic projects come under fire
Controversial Queensland laws to fast track 2032 Olympic projects have come under fire, with the Crisafulli government told to 'go back to the drawing board'. An environmental group says the laws to help ensure Games infrastructure is built on time set a dangerous precedent, detracting from the inclusivity that 2032 organisers hope to create. The clock is ticking for the Games after the state government finally confirmed its venue blueprint in March – more than 1300 days after Brisbane was named host city. A bill has been introduced to state parliament giving the Games infrastructure authority power to override 15 planning laws, including the Environmental Protection, Queensland Heritage and Nature Conservation acts. The laws, which will cover all venues and athletes' villages, are set to ensure construction is not delayed by potential legal challenges, with the final planning sign-off given to the state government – not local councils. The bill will also require renewable energy developers to undertake community consultation. But in submissions heard on Tuesday, the Queensland Conservation Council took aim at the government's 'blinding hypocrisy'. 'It is incredibly inconsistent that this bill is trying to apply greater consultation to renewable energy projects and literally ripping up any process for community consultation on our existing laws for Olympic facilities,' the council's Dave Copeman told the hearing.
ABC News
01-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Queensland government commits more land to national parks, but still a long way short of target
The Queensland government will expand protected areas for the state's endangered species and "get serious" about managing the land with more rangers, Premier David Crisafulli has announced. About 8,700 hectares will be added to national park conservation areas, with about a quarter set aside for new nature refuges on private land under deals with landholders. While Mr Crisafulli conceded the numbers announced on Sunday were small — Queensland covers 172 million hectares — he said it was a start. "If we can increase that threshold of protected areas, it sends a strong message about how much we value the environment," he said. The Queensland government has set an "ambitious" target to protect more areas at a greater rate in one term than the previous government did in the past 10 years. Mr Crisafulli said the plan would include hiring 150 more wildlife rangers and committing more funding to groups that manage their resources. The announcement comes just days after environmentalists blasted the government's decision to open tenders for nine new areas of gas exploration. Queensland Conservation Council director Dave Copeman called that decision "devastating and deceitful" and said it covered a much larger area than the total amount of protected land. About 8.59 per cent of the state — a total of 14.55 million hectares — is protected, a long way short of the government's target. "The Queensland government's protected areas strategy says we need to get to 17 per cent," Mr Copeman said. "We can't get there if we keep granting exploration permits for mining leases and gas over all of Queensland." Asked how the government's new gas exploration sat with its land protection strategy, Mr Crisafulli said it was "about balance". "Gas is going to become a really important part of our energy mix as part of the transition to a more renewable future," he said. He added that gas exploration would only be allowed in areas where there is "minimal environmental impact." Mr Crisafulli and Environment Minister Andrew Powell made their announcement at the Daisy Hill Koala Centre, south of Brisbane. Koalas are endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT, where threats to them include habitat loss, disease, car strikes and dog attacks. "We've got some major populations of koalas that are in real threat if we don't do something," Mr Crisafulli said. The 18 new nature refuges include several that seek to protect koala habitat, partly by forming corridors to larger national parks. They include 184.3 hectares of land at Quad's Nature Refuge in Mackay and the new 21.4 hectare Rowlands Nature Refuge, west of Gympie. The largest of the protected parcels designated for koala habitat is the 1,372.49 hectare Parrattamow Creek Nature Refuge north-west of Augathella, north of Charleville. Koala conservation groups say valuable koala habitat is being destroyed by developers, who they claim are knocking down mature trees to build new infrastructure. Rebecca Larkin, from the Ipswich Koala Protection Society, said humans and koalas needed to co-exist and good planning could allow both to thrive. "All the scientists agree that if we keep going the way we're going, there aren't going to be any left in south-east Queensland," Ms Larkin said. The government will announce its 20-year tourism vision on Monday, with one eye on the Olympics in 2032 and the huge influx of visitors expected to visit the state. Promoting the state's natural beauty is expected to form part of the tourism strategy.
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Proposed Queensland nuclear power plants risk contaminating water supplies in event of disaster, research finds
Proposed nuclear power plants in Queensland could strain water supplies, even under normal operations, and risk contaminating them in the event of a nuclear disaster, critics warn. Analysis by the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) has found that one of the two nuclear reactors proposed for the sunshine state, under the energy plan that the Coalition will take to the upcoming federal election, could require double the water currently used by the existing Callide coal-fired power station. The other, Tarong, could use 55% more water than its existing coal station. Tarong's primary water source is the Boondooma Dam, from which it is allocated 30,000 megalitres a year, and which also supplies drinking water for the nearby town of Kingaroy and irrigates the rich agricultural land along the Boyne River. But Tarong also has a pipeline to the Wivenhoe Dam, the main supply of water for Brisbane and Ipswich, which – due to substantial premiums – it only uses when Boondooma Dam levels are low. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The QCC report also raises concerns about additional water that would be required to prevent a meltdown in the event of disaster. About 1.3m tonnes of seawater was required to cool Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactors and prevent a complete meltdown in 2011 – water which has been stored on site for more than a decade and which began being gradually released into the ocean through an undersea tunnel about one kilometre long in 2023. The report has been described as 'flawed and highly politicised' by the Coalition. But the director of QCCC, Dave Copeman, said there 'simply is not enough water' available to run nuclear facilities in the proposed locations and 'no plan for where to store irradiated water required for heat reduction in the case of an emergency'. Tony Irwin, an Australian National University honorary associate professor said modern nuclear power plants would not need to draw on external water supplies in the event of catastrophe. Irwin is the technical director at SMR Nuclear Technology Pty Ltd, a consulting company established to advise on the roll out of small modular reactors in Australia. 'Post-Fukushima there was a lot of improvements and design changes, so that a modern reactor would survive even a Fukushima-type of accident,' he said. 'Modern power stations, like a Westinghouse APS 1000, is all passive cooling, it's all with its own containment so it doesn't withdraw water from anywhere else to keep itself cool … in an emergency situation, it's completely self contained'. The Callide coal-fired power plant has an annual water allocation of 20,000 ML from the Callide Dam, which is fed by the Awoonga Dam. As of Wednesday, Awoonga – which supplies the city of Gladstone's water – was at 46% capacity, and Callide – which supplies drinking water to Biloela – was at 16.5% capacity. Callide Dam is also used to replenish aquifers that irrigate crops in the Callide Valley. Callide would have to find an additional 27,000 ML of water to power the kind of power plants implied by the Coalition's nuclear plan, the QCC report found – with Copeman saying there was simply 'not enough water available'. The renewable energy engineer for the QCC, Clare Silcock, who crunched the numbers on the report, said the Coalition's nuclear proposal was scant on details. Instead she drew upon the Frontier Economic's modelling that the opposition has relied upon to argue its nuclear vision for seven reactors across the country would be 44% cheaper than the government's renewables-led plan. That report models just over 100,000 gigawatt hours of nuclear electricity in the National Electricity Market (NEM) – which covers Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia – by 2050. Six of the proposed nuclear sites are within the NEM, and so the QCC report assumes the generation would be spread equally across those sites. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Ian Lowe, emeritus professor at Griffith University's school of environment and science, said that a rule of thumb was that a nuclear power station needed about 15% more water than a coal-fired power station of the same capacity. '[But] if we were to build the amount of nuclear power proposed in the Frontier Economics report as part of the Coalition's long-term approach for 2050 electricity, there would not be enough water for Tarong and Callide to provide the proposed share of power,' he said. That meant that the Frontier report was 'implicitly assuming that the nuclear power program would be expanded' beyond the sites already identified by the Coalition. 'So it would be reasonable to ask the question: if the much larger nuclear program proposed in the Frontier Economics report were to go ahead, where would all the extra power stations be sited?' Lowe said. Irwin said that the water required to make steam to generate electricity under normal operations of a thermal nuclear power station with indirect cooling towers, such as at Callide and Tarong, would draw on 'slightly more' than a coal-fired plant to generate the same amount of electricity. 'But if you are worried about water consumption, you can go to dry cooling,' he said. Irwin said that using fans to blow air through a large radiator in a closed circuit, or dry-cooling, was, generally, slightly less efficient, cost more and decreased electrical output – but by requiring a fraction of the amount of water, would enable power stations 'to be built practically anywhere'. The shadow energy minister, Ted O'Brien, described the QCC report as 'flawed and highly politicised' criticising it for making assumptions about water usage based on a 2006 feasibility study into the possibility of establishing a nuclear power industry in Australia commissioned by then prime minister John Howard. 'The Coalition has embraced a world's best practice 'coal to nuclear' because it allows us to leverage existing infrastructure – including water, transmission and a local workforce,' O'Brien said. The Coalition minister pointed to the Palo Verde Nuclear power plant in the Sonoran desert, one of the United State's largest power producers and the only one in the world not near a large body of water as it uses treated wastewater from nearby cities. Associate professor Martin Anda, with Murdoch University's centre for water, energy and waste, said US comparisons were 'not relevant to Australia'. Anda said he was not '100% against nuclear' – and that it would 'probably be a good solution' in the Arctic regions of the US and Europe, for example, where water abounds, renewable energy opportunities are more limited and the nuclear industry is established. Australia, though, not only lacked for an abundance of water, but also the kind of regulatory frameworks and safeguards that could take years to establish. The headline and text of this article were amended on 24 March 2025 after the Guardian was notified of a significant calculation error in the Queensland Conservation Council research. An earlier version said the dams that supply the proposed Callide and Tarong nuclear plants 'could not access enough water' to cool them in the event of a meltdown; our article has been amended in line with the organisation's revised analysis.
