EDO Qld Funding Update

As you may have heard on ABC radio, the State Attorney-General has refused to restore our State funding. He however acknowledged that EDOs are the only places where Queensland communities can obtain professional legal advice free of charge when faced with public interest environmental, planning and health concerns from proposed developments.

EDO Qld has had to suspend our general legal advice service.

EDO Qld were advised by email on 4 July 2012, that the State government has ceased all State funding to EDO Qld and EDO-NQ without notice on 30 June 2012. This is half of our recurrent funding.

The Queensland Coordinator General has recommended conditional approval for the Alpha Coal project in central Queensland. 

The Council of Australian Governments meeting in April this year agreed to major reforms of environmental laws. 

EDO’s Jo Bragg spoke on this Bill to the Qld Agricultural, Resources and Environment Committee on June 6. 

Gold Coast environmentalists represented by EDO Qld protected a rainforest site teeming with rare and threatened wildlife by challenging a proposed development. Sometimes, the environment wins even when a court case is lost. 

The landmark Nathan Dam case run by EDO Qld in 2003 (with an appeal in 2004) ensured that federal assessment of a proposed dam in Central Queensland would include the potential for pollution of the World Heritage Area due to agriculture enabled by the dam.

EDO Qld represented Queensland Conservation who sought to have climate change impacts taken into account in the assessment of a giant coal mine. This case was the first step in an ongoing effort to compel governments to account for climate change impacts when assessing carbon-polluting developments.