The ABC and its Toondah Reporting – by Richard Carew

View across the Ramsar wetlands next to Toondah Harbour in Moreton Bay

It was interesting to see the ABC this week acknowledge, in an online article, that the Toondah Harbour scheme was doomed to fail because there was no urgent national interest justifying the removal of Ramsar Convention protection for the wetlands proposed to be destroyed.  

This is an extract, somewhat buried half way down the article by an ABC environment reporter:

“Ramsar expert and Australian National University professor Jamie Pittock says there’s only two exceptions in Australia for not protecting a Ramsar site.

“One, the loss [of wetland] is required in the ‘urgent national interest’, or two, the site no longer meets any of the nine possible designation criteria,” he says.

No country that is a party to the treaty has ever invoked the urgent national interest clause.”

This acknowledgement of the critical importance of the ‘urgent national interests’ obligation to the proposed encroachment into the Moreton Bay Ramsar site came AFTER the developer, Walker Corporation (Walker) put up the white flag. On 18 April Walker withdrew its application for federal approval. This followed Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek publishing her intention to reject the proposal.

The 2023 7.30 program

Twelve months ago, the ABC’s flagship program, 7.30, ignored the existence of the ‘urgent national interests’ Ramsar obligation and its particular relevance to the planned restriction of Ramsar site boundaries by the Toondah Harbour plan.

This occurred even though the program’s purpose was to measure the Toondah proposal against Australia’s Ramsar Convention obligations.  

Compere Sarah Ferguson’s introduction to the report, on 25 April, 2023, specified its purpose:

“A proposed housing and marina project near Brisbane is shaping up as a test case for Australia’s international environmental treaty obligations. The Toondah Harbour development would encroach on wetlands listed for protection under an international treaty” (the Ramsar Convention).

Back in March, 2023 when reporter Peter McCutcheon was preparing his report, I provided the details of the fatal flaw in the Toondah scheme to him. Dr Chris McGrath, a barrister who is renowned nationally as an environmental law expert provided Mr McCutcheon with the same information.

The fatal flaw in the Toondah scheme has always been straightforward, revolving around these three facts:

• Ramsar Convention Article 2(5) reinforces the protection purpose of the Convention by obliging signatory nations not to restrict or delete a Ramsar site boundary or boundaries unless for urgent national interests (eg defence of the nation);
• Section 138 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act requires that in making a decision on a proposal “the Minister must not act inconsistently with Australia’s obligations under the Ramsar Convention”;
• The Toondah real estate scheme involved destruction of part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site and restriction of site boundaries.

Steve Cannane’s excellent, 2018 ABC Radio ‘Background Briefing’ report on Toondah Harbour did refer to these facts. However Australia’s Ramsar Convention obligations were not the primary focus of his report and so many people missed the significance of them.

But the 7.30 TV program in 2023, which specifically focused on Australia’s Ramsar Convention obligations, left out these fundamental facts. That was a staggering omission.

7.30 report omissions gave Walker Corporation hope

In April last year Walker Corporation was facing over 26,000 objections to its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and many more people had signed the main petition opposing the Toondah scheme. Walker was clearly under pressure from the incredible people powered opposition.

Peter McCutcheon’s 7.30 report gave Walker some hope.

 A timely 7.30 program highlighting the issue which the ABC accepted this week was of critical importance to the outcome, may have led to an earlier end to the Toondah saga.

Unfortunately, when it really mattered, 7.30 chose to ignore the ‘urgent national interests’ obligation, and the Minister’s legislative duty, in much the same way as Walker Corporation and the Queensland Government decided to ignore them.

A private profit real estate development was never going to reach the high threshold of an urgent national interest.

Toondah Harbour PDA should never have been declared

As Tanya Plibersek said in an interview on Tuesday, the Toondah Harbour Priority Development Area should never have been declared by the Newman Government.

Nor should it have been continued by the Palaszczuk Government.

Conclusion

The 2023, 7.30 report was misleading because it omitted key facts directly bearing upon the program’s Ramsar Convention obligations theme. It could only have assisted Walker’s attempt to persuade Tanya Plibersek to ignore the ‘urgent national interests’ obligation.

In the circumstances, 7.30’s audience was entitled to be informed of the ‘urgent national interests’ obligation and the Minister’s legal duty to not act inconsistently with Australia’s Ramsar Convention obligations.

The public is entitled to consistently high standard, independent, and fearless reporting from our publicly funded ABC. The ABC employs some good journalists. They need to be given more opportunities to show their ability. The end of Toondah could have come sooner with public disclosure of key information by the ABC’s flagship information program.    

Richard Carew (retired environmental lawyer)
Secretary,
Stradbroke (Terrangeri) Environmental and Cultural Protection Association Inc.

Redlands2030 – 27 April 2024