Stop Sand Mining on Straddie

Stop Sand Mining on Straddie

The sand mining on Stradbroke Island has long been a heated debate among locals, the mining companies and State Government.

Stradbroke Island is a hugely popular tourist destination for holiday goers from all over Australia, as well as those not so far afield who travel across the water for a day in the peaceful sun, sea and sand. However the tranquillity found in Stradbroke’s natural beauty risks destruction and irrevocable damage to the natural environment on North Stradbroke Island because of the sand mining.  

My weekend tour of Stradbroke Island

There is a long history of sand mining on the island, similar to the mining of Frazer Island. There are three major sand mines on Straddie all owned by a Belgian multinational company, Sibelco Australia Limited. The Enterprise mine, The Yarraman mine and The Vance mine collectively employ over 100 people, about half of whom live on the island.

The mines cover a huge span of North Stradbroke Island and are continually on the move. "Areas in the path of the mines are completely cleared of vegetation, much of which is burned. Then the sand dunes, many of which formed over hundreds of thousands of years and which consist of complex layers are destroyed in the process of extracting the minerals" said 'Save Straddie.com' campaigners.

In recent discussions, despite the campaigning of groups such as 'Friends of Stradbroke Island' and environmental protesters, the State Government bypassed legislation that aimed to end mining, and extended mining contracts for another 9 to 15 years. The sand mining companies, that originally faced a 2013 deadline for closure of mines, are now set for around a decade more of mining should they choose to continue operations.

Much of the debate includes the opinions and campaigning of people living on the mainland, particularly the suburb of Cleveland that encompasses Stradbroke Island in its electorate. However for the locals, the debate hits home for a lot of residents working and living off the varying resources Stradbroke provides.

The immediate impact of job losses of mining employees will affect residents who earn their income working in the mines, of course, but for the miners who do not live on the island, their disappearance will create a significant void in the local business community. Local business owners such as Sonya Bryant will feel the brunt of the loss of miners who worked on the Island. "Even at the moment while we have mining and we have our community and we have people living in all these houses its tough, you know, in business" she said.

The government initiative to end sand mining, although supported by groups who advocate for the environment, is making locals nervous who do not believe the suggested 'focus on increase in tourism' will be enough to fill the hole in the economy.  “I don't see that there's going to be an incredible increase in tourism. I think they're dreaming" said Mrs Bryant.

Mining Company Sibelco has announced plans to close one of their smaller mines prior to the re-drawn deadline of 2019. This comes after policies were introduced to preserve Stradbroke as a series of protected National Parks, a bill introduced by former Premier Anna Bligh. However with this deadline pushing down, there is a collective sense of worry that the Stradbroke community may not be able to boost tourism enough to replace mining income in under a decade.

There are some locals who said that mining has made Straddie what it is today, including making it much more accessible for locals getting to work or tourists sightseeing around the Island. However, as the mining destruction continues, it is certain that the Eco-systems of Stradbroke and the habitats will never be fully recovered. 

A Stradbroke sunset

I have recently spent a weekend on the Island and I was lucky enough to be shown the beauty of the island by a local. I was captivated by what seemed to be a thriving environment as we walked through the Headlands and along the white sandy beaches. However, away from the tourist side of the Island, the mining continues and I have not been able to shake a sense of loss for the beautiful environment that risks destruction. I spoke to local Maddy Humphreys who was kind enough to show me around, to gain more insight into what closure of the mines means for locals.

I asked Maddy, "How do you think the local community feels about ending mining on Straddie? Does the mean justify the end"?" 

"The overall general consensus is everyone is sitting on the fence – everyone is torn and they don’t think either option is either right or wrong" Maddy said. 
"It’s ‘nature vs. nurture’ for most, as the mines nurture the economy, jobs and welfare of everyone."

Maddy, who grew up on Stradbroke Island at Point Lookout, acknowledged the Islander People and the sacredness of the Island environment. She explained that their Native Title should hold strong value in the mining debate as they religiously work to protect their island. 
"If anything were to bring the Islanders together as a unifying community, it would be their love of the island and all its creatures and fernery" said Maddy. 
There are several community initiatives that support the protection of the Island that Maddy has grown up with such as 'Clean up Straddie Days'. Beyond the community support, there are environmental ceremonies (some lasting for a whole month) that the Islander People celebrate such as ‘the whale welcoming ceremony’, ‘green turtle ceremony’, ‘Shark Gully ceremony’. 

Maddy said that in regards to protecting the Straddie environment that she grew up in, she is all for the National Park Project to preserve the Island. However like much of the community, she is torn by the impact she knows the loss of mining will bring to the economy. 

She is concerned that some small business especially in the less tourist attractive areas of Stradbroke will feel the brunt of the change. "Areas such as Point Look Out rely mainly on tourism so closing the mines would be somewhat insignificant. Many people rely on the mining industry for their weekly income. Pretty much most my friend’s fathers I know personally work in the mines and if they lose their job, it would mean they would have to move to the mainland."

Maddy knows only too well the knock on effect of such a huge change in a small community, for example a drop in the number of children who are enrolled into the local school as mining families leave and therefore a cut to teaching positions. This domino effect may not ripple to the mainland but will be significant for the Island community. One local man said to ABC news that "No one really cares about Stradbroke, but the changes for them would be huge." 

For the 'outside world' on the mainland, the problem seems easily fixed. ‘Cut mining and increase tourism’ seems to be the solution to protect what would otherwise be lost. However there is also community concern that, should the mining industry pull out of Straddie, there will be such an influx of tourism that the effects could be as easily detrimental to the environment. The over population of tourism in the Barrier Reef is the example Maddy uses to explain her concern.

Maddy, similar to other opinions throughout this debate, agrees that there are many fence sitters in this argument. For the community she sums up the relaxed, 'take it as it comes' feel of the community that attracts so many of us to Straddie in the first place. "As long as the surf continues to pump – they won’t take action until they see the unfavourable change and by then it’s all too late." 

It is inevitable that change is coming, driven by the stopwatch on the Islands health as mining continues. Maddy knows that people are torn between protecting their beloved island or protecting the lifestyle they have there, a life wrapped in the bubble of beautiful beaches and rolling surf. 

Give Straddie a hug