Foe FNQ in the Kuranda Paper August 2017
Mareeba Council Fails Kuranda Community Again
At the July 2017 council meeting, it took just nine minutes for council to pass more than four motions, two of which allowed assessment of high density, rural residential developments in an environmentally fragile area (Myola Valley, Kuranda) under the old, 2004- and now superseded planning scheme.
The high density. rural residential development applications are for the Kuranda vets' land (subdivision into approximately 48 blocks of around 2 acres in size) and the Barnwell road property (site of the ambitious and possibly fictional KUR-World project) of 176 blocks also of around 2 acres each.
These subdivisions would not be deemed appropriate according to the Mareeba Shire Council 2016 plan, the FNQ2031 plan and the State Planning mapping (Matters of Environmental significance). Hence this extraordinary tactic of trying to have the developments assessed under the old plan, which was rejected a decade ago by the Kuranda community and eventually by the State Government.
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Industrial Chemical #SprayDrift in Residential Koah
In previous articles we mentioned the dangers associated with conventional agriculture as bores have turned up with too high levels of arsenic in Koah possibly due to the use of arsenic during tobacco farming times. Conventional farming uses many dangerous chemicals. Some insecticides, for example the much used Methomyl and Chlorpyrifos are anti-cholinesterases(nerve poisons) just like Sarin. In fact it was only after some potent insecticides were developed that armies also saw their usefulness in chemical warfare.
It follows that keeping conventional agriculture as far away as possible from environmental values and populated areas is a safe precaution.
What you can do:
Ring MSC on 1300 308 461 or 07 4086 4500
Email info@msc.qld.gov.au
Ask them: "put the old 300 metre buffer zone back into the new MSC2016 plan to protect against dangerous spray drift. This will help to avoid 'accidents' like we saw in Mareeba last year, in future."
Use social media to say Stop #spraydrift [#spraydrift is the globally used hashtag for this issue which effects communities across the world]
Pushing for Renewables

Friends of the Earth FNQ Meeting - First for 2017
Come along to the Friends of the Earth FNQ meeting for January
Informal dining atmosphere - think coffee, pizza and politics.
Lift from Cairns around 4:30pm.
Lift back after the meeting.
call 0403214422
We have this monthly OPEN meeting to discuss HOW the different campaigns and affiliates might support each other. How do we leverage and sync operations and resources so that we get SYNERGY! How do we COOPERATE!!
Another Great Year- Best Wishes from FoE FNQ - News December 2016
Best wishes for this end of the year season!
We wish you a restful and safe holiday and hope to see you involved in the new year. We know that having people active and participating is what gets campaign outcomes. Please see our newsletter below for many ways to get involved.
We hope that, in 2017 we'll meet you face to face in the plazas and markets.
For a safe, healthy and ecological North Queensland.
Yours in peace,
Jonathan Glue
Consider a Non-Consumer Gift This Year
Donate, and send a set of these beautiful colouring in sheets to your young nieces and nephews this year.They will receive a colourful CERTIFICATE as well to print out. With their name a seasons wish from you.
All drawn by our own Cate Adams of Reduce Reuse Recycle Mareeba Shire
[Remember! Their parents will be so glad you haven't sent another consumer thing to sit around the house!]

Southern Cassowaries: loss of habitat, attacks from roaming dogs, road vehicles.
Kuranda Tree Frog: threatened urban development of their habitat
Spectacled Flying Fox: paralysis ticks, orphaned babies, removal of nursery trees.
...and more to come.
The Way it Works
When you donate to FoE-FNQ through 'Friends of the Animals',
- your receipt will contain a link to the page where ...
- you can enter the details you would like on a Friends of the Animals certificate.
- we will email a certificate when we receive your preferred greeting, and the name of your friend or loved one
- and the link to download the colouring pages.
We are not bots, so please allow 24 hours for their email to arrive. :)
Donations ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE
Bores, Arsenic, Drinking Water and Subdivision in Koah
FOE Questions the Subdividing of KOAH until Issues of Water are Resolved
see Cairns Post Article Nov 19 2016
Mareeba Shire Council continues to subdivide Koah region without solving water issues. Mareeba Shire Council is giving different messages regarding its responsibilities regarding safe drinkable water.
Planner Brian Millard wrote to Kuranda Region Planning Group that
“In terms of planning requirements for subdivisions outside of a reticulated water supply network, the developer must show an adequate water supply.”
He suggests it’s up to the owners to test and treat their own water. But this appears to contradict other advice and regulations attached to subdivisions.
It’s true that Council is not directly responsible for bore water quality. However when the Planning Department of the MSC makes a subdivision subject to potable water (“each lot must be provided with potable water”) this surely means that the water is drinkable and not just available.
Foe FNQ is assuming that the definition of “potable” is drinkable according to particular Standards. Who's responsibility is it?
Read moreNewsletter October 2016 - What's Happening in FNQ
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Articles in Chain Reaction from FoE FNQ
Chain Reaction is the journal for Friends of the Earth Australia.
The August 2016 edition had the following two articles written in the Far North by FoE FNQ president John Glue and Margie Pestorius.
Will militarism block the climate change movement?
by Margie Pestorius
Militarism and climate change are closely linked and joining anti-militarism to the climate justice discourse is an important move that was visible during the UN COP21 climate conference last December. It is becoming evident that militarism will block the goals of the climate change movement if these links are not addressed.
Militarism is defined as: "The belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests."
A recent inquiry of climate justice activists and academics in Melbourne threw up the following connections.
Sacrificing the Reef with militarism, mining, censorship and tokenism
by John Glue
At the start of the election campaign Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt visited Cairns to re-announce $50 million in new projects to boost water quality, including efforts to keep sediment, fertilisers and pesticides off the Great Barrier Reef. This re-announcement was partly to allay concerns over research showing 93% of the Reef had been bleached and dire predictions that the Reef will be terminal in as little as 5 to 20 years.
Paralysis Tick Season for Flying Foxes 2016
WILDLIFE RESCUE: Paralysis Tick Season for Flying Foxes
October to December is Paralysis ticks season. The ticks kill 100's of Spectacled Flying Foxes every year.
Please DONATE to purchase much-needed anti-toxin and to help care for the babies while the parents recover.
Flying Fox Baby Season Alert
From September to January during the birthing seaon sometimes Flying Fox babies can be found on the ground or hanging low in or near their colonies for differnt reasons!