By Glenis Green

January 28, 2009 11:00pm

TERRI Irwin has hit back at the company hoping to mine the wildlife reserve named after her late husband, saying the environment is more important than jobs.
Irwin said the permanent loss of unique natural resources far outweighed any short-term gain in mining jobs.

She also said that many people were surprised that the 135,000ha Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on Cape York had not already been "locked in" for protection, especially as the Wenlock River that ran through the reserve had been nominated under pending Wild Rivers legislation.

"From the scientist to the lay person there is a real sense that the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve would fulfil any criteria for protection," Irwin said. "The reserve was originally set aside as a tribute to Steve's legacy and now it could possibly be mined."

Talking tough over Cape Alumina Pty Ltd's push to mine bauxite through the lease it holds over 15 per cent of the reserve, Mrs Irwin said a worldwide petition to "Save Steve's Place" had garnered 94,000 signatures, making it the largest petition ever gathered in Queensland and one of the biggest in Australia.

The Australia Zoo director said she was "not surprised" at last week's boast from Cape Alumina that it had raised $15 million in the lead-up to its stockmarket listing because there had been supplementary prospectuses and extensions of time.

"The real test for the mining company, apart from the world recession, will be to obtain approval to dig up a highly significant environment and to pump massive quantities of water from the Wenlock River," she said.

Mrs Irwin said Australia Zoo currently employed almost three times the staff that Cape Alumina had claimed it would be employing.

Cape Alumina chief executive officer Paul Messenger said his company was not convinced that all the signatories to the Save Steve's Place petition understood "the positives" of the project and the environmental processes it was required to undertake.

"We also believe that in these economic times it is more important than ever that projects such as Cape Alumina's ... are allowed to proceed to generate jobs, royalties, taxes and export income," he said.

Mr Messenger said jobs should be created for at least 12 years for the first Pisolite Hills project and when developed it would create 350 full-time jobs.

"Projects like Pisolite Hills should not be subjected to attacks we believe are based more on emotion and generalised statements than on any hard evidence," he said.
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Jan 19, 2009
Irwin Family Says Fight is not Over

Terri Irwin is protesting a proposal from the Cape Alumina Pty Ltd company to mine the area around the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on the Cape York Peninsula. (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
BRISBANE—Steve Irwin's family has vowed to continue fighting plans to mine bauxite on a portion of the Cape York wildlife reserve named in his honour.

Cape Alumina Limited has attracted about 500 new shareholders and raised $15 million in the lead-up to its stockmarket listing later this month, after winning a court battle to access a portion of the 135,000-hectare reserve.

But an Australia Zoo spokeswoman said the fight to save what supporters call "Steve's Place" was not over.

"This wetland conservation property is a tribute to Steve Irwin, and we will continue the fight to protect it," she said.

"The Save Steve's Place petition gives the people of Australia a voice and it is ringing loud and clear.

"The support has been inspiring, and has confirmed that we are representing the interests of a nation in protecting our wildlife and their habitat."

The petition has received more than 90,000 signatures.

Cape Alumina is conducting preliminary studies for a bauxite mine on its Pisolite Hills lease, which covers about 15 per cent of the reserve the Irwin family company Silverback Properties purchased after Steve Irwin's death by a stingray barb in 2006.

Test drilling revealed a bauxite deposit of more than 100 million tonnes, which could yield about seven million tonnes a year starting in 2012-13.

The company said in a statement on Tuesday its initial public offer (IPO) had closed fully subscribed, raising $15 million and attracting about 500 new shareholders.

The company's shares are scheduled to list on the Australian Securities Exchange by the end of January.

Chairman-elect George Lloyd said he was delighted with the response from the public, mainly north Queenslanders.

"This is a great result in a very difficult financial market and enables Cape Alumina to confidently progress the feasibility study into the development of a significant new Australian resource project in Cape York," Mr Lloyd said.


Cape Alumina Chief Executive Paul Messenger said the company would list with cash in the bank, no debt and an advanced resource project which, subject to feasibility, will make it a major player in the supply of bauxite to the Chinese alumina-aluminium market.

"That market had grown rapidly over recent years and became increasingly dependent on imported bauxite," Dr Messenger said.

The project is expected to create around 350 permanent jobs.
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January 9TH 2009

In About a week I am going to try and contact Wes Mannion (Director of Australia Zoo and Steve's best mate) and Terri Irwin about the intentions of the blockade and to let them know that people all over the world want to help save Steve's Place and that there is a backup to if the petition fails.

If i don't get a reply as a last resort i will Contact John Stainton (the director of Croc hunter) as he may(im not saying he will ) want to turn the the whole event in to a documentary (you never know)

the reason I am contacting them in a week is so we can firstly know when its going to happen and secondly find out if Terri is OK with a Blockade,if Terri comes back to me and says she doesn't want the Blockade to happen we will have to close the group (hopefully this wont happen)

Joe
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Irwin family vows to fight miner
September 4, 2008

The family of the late Steve Irwin, who died two years ago today, has vowed to fight a company planning to mine on Cape York, likening the plan to tearing down Uluru.

Queensland Land Court yesterday ruled that Cape Alumina could access a portion of the 135,000-hectare Bertiehaugh Station leased by the family and renamed Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve.

Cape Alumina will now conduct an environmental impact study for a bauxite mine on its lease, which covers about 15% of the reserve the Irwin family company Silverback Properties purchased after Steve Irwin's death by stingray barb in 2006.

Test drilling revealed a bauxite deposit of more than 100 million tonnes, which could yield about seven million tonnes a year starting in 2011.

Irwin's widow Terri today vowed to continue the legal battle.

"There cannot be any compromise on this,'' Ms Irwin said in a statement. "Destroying an ecosystem that has yet to be described is simply wrong.''

Her spokesman, Australia Zoo director Wes Mannion, said bauxite mining was "environmental vandalism'' and would destroy the Wenlock River - one of Australia's last wild rivers.

"What the mining company are trying to do is to portray this as just a dirty, old, overgrazed cattle property that's burnt out and degraded,'' Mr Mannion told AAP.

"The reality is ... the area they want to mine is going to affect one of the most incredible areas in Australia.

"It's like mining an area in the Northern Territory and then saying: 'Oh, by the way, we want to knock over Uluru'.''

Cape Alumina says documents show the Irwin family plans to graze cattle and develop the area for tourism, including an airstrip.

The family's development includes plans for 31 dams and 100 kilometres of barbed wire fencing.

Cape Alumina chief executive Paul Messenger challenged Ms Irwin to explain how she would protect "the important Bertiehaugh dry vine forests from potential land degradation, overgrazing, erosion, changes to vegetation and surface water run-off caused by her intensive cattle grazing plans without any detailed environmental impact assessment''.

But Mr Mannion said Ms Irwin was not interested in expanding cattle in the area and was fencing off areas to protect the environment from cattle already there.

He said Cape Alumina was trying to put up a "smokescreen'' to fool the public.

An environmental impact statement relating to the bauxite project is expected to be presented to Queensland's Environmental Protection Agency late next year.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh today said Cape Alumina still had a number of environmental hurdles to overcome before a mine could go ahead.
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Terri Irwin achieves petition record to save Cape reserve


The battle to Save Steve’s Place has set a new record for petitions in Queensland and possibly Australia with more than 73,000 people signing up.

Almost six weeks after vowing to secure the highest number of signatures for a petition, Australia Zoo’s Terri Irwin appears to have realized her objective, with 73,260 supporters signing on.

That’s 13,000 more than early last month when she said she was counting on people power to prevent bauxite mining in the Cape York reserve named in her late husband’s memory.

Mrs Irwin said then that the most signatures ever obtained for a petition against a mining operation was 20,000 and the most signatures she could find on anything in Australia was 72,000 in Queensland on the daylight saving issue.

Mrs Irwin has pledged to “fight to the end” to protect the 135,000ha Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve - a wetland conservation property and tribute to the late Crocodile Hunter - which she said was being threatened by mining lease applications lodged by Cape Alumina Pty Ltd.
After a loss in the courts, Terri Irwin is relying on people power to Save Steve's Place.


by Glenis Green

December 14th 2008





WELL DONE TERRI AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT HAS SIGNED THE PETITION