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News.com.au
16 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
Native title group condemns ‘anti-social' behaviour after residents chased away from beach
An Indigenous group holding exclusive native title to a strip of land near a Queensland beach has assured locals that the public may use the land, despite claims that residents have been chased away and made to feel unsafe while attempting to cross the area. The long-running stoush over access to a Burrum Heads beach, near Hervey Bay, was addressed at a community meeting held last month. In 2019, the Butchulla people were granted almost 100,000 hectares of native title land on the Fraser Coast in 2019, which includes 17,000 hectares of exclusive use. Part of the exclusive use land includes a strip of 20-metre wide foreshore in front of Burrum Heads residents' homes. In 2022, a small group of Butchulla people established a camp near the idyllic beach and were chasing away residents. This came despite criticism from the Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC), which insisted there was a way for 'all to enjoy this beautiful country'. Following the community meeting held at Burrum Heads Community Hall on May 14, 2025, the BNTAC released a statement on Wednesday reaffirming its position. 'We understand the concerns raised at the meeting regarding the actions taken over the last four years to prevent access to the beach at Burrum Heads through an area of exclusive possession of native title land,' the statement said. 'Our position has always been, and continues to be, that the Butchulla people do not seek to prevent the public from accessing public access routes to the beach at Burrum Heads. 'Butchulla people are collectively responsible for our land and all decisions about how land is to be used. 'No one native title holder is able to make final decisions about how the land is to be used or to prevent people from accessing the land. 'All decisions about how land is used must be made in accordance with Butchulla traditional decision-making processes.' BNTAC urged police to 'take action and protect the Burrum Heads community'. 'We understand that the public have made several complaints to the Queensland Police Service over the past four years to report incidents that have occurred while attempting to access the beach at Burrum Heads through an area of exclusive possession of native title land,' the statement said. 'Our position has always been, and continues to be, that the Butchulla People's exclusive possession does not prevent the police from exercising their powers to respond to anti-social incidents and take appropriate action where people are fearful, in peril, or have made a complaint. 'We call upon the police to use the enforcement powers at their disposal to maintain community safety for Burrum Heads residents. 'We are dedicated to working together with the people of Burrum Heads to achieve a respectful, sensitive, and lasting resolution to the concerns that have been raised. 'The Butchulla Court Determination was brought on behalf of all Butchulla People, not one or a few Butchulla persons.' The statement added that 'one of the aspects of Butchulla Peoples' native title is the right of exclusive possession'. 'Butchulla People have the right to exclusive possession and use of land and waters where it has been determined our native title rights and interests are recognised under our traditional laws and customs,' it said. 'However, the right of exclusive possession is not absolute and it is subject to laws of the State of Queensland. 'Specifically, the State of Queensland passed legislation in 1993 to confirm existing public rights of access to beaches and these are capable of being recognised as an 'interest' for the purposes of our determination. 'Butchulla People do not have the right to restrict such interests, and actions to do so are outside Queensland law as well as our traditional laws and customs.' Fraser Coast Councillor Michelle Byrne said in a statement to The Courier-Mail on Wednesday that council's powers were limited but it was engaging with 'all parties to try and find a positive resolution to the concerns of residents'. 'Council appreciates the efforts of BNTAC and the State Government, who hold the tenure of the land, and is actively working with both parties within the limits of our responsibilities for the land parcels in question,' she said. Former federal MP Keith Pitt previously argued that the best solution for the conflict was for the small stretch near the beach to be removed from the exclusive use ruling. Mr Pitt told The Daily Mail in 2023 that his office had been inundated by 'concerned Burrum Heads residents' who 'contacted my office about an area of land under native title'. 'It has resulted in restricted access to the beach and older constituents being chased off the beach,' he said. 'Every Australian is expected to abide by Australian laws and regulations, without exception.'
ABC News
15-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
With an uncertain future of native logging in Queensland, a forest home to endangered greater gliders could be cut down
Without seeing them fly, you'd be forgiven for confusing a greater glider with a possum. In the dark, the cat-sized marsupial uses webbing between its limbs to sail silently from gum to gum, dropping its metre long tail like a rudder just before impact. The endangered species sleeps during the day and eats leaves at night, almost never touching the ground. They're incredibly hard to find, without the right technique. Three hours north of Brisbane, a group of locals have found a community of them living in the St Mary State Forest, near the Fraser Coast town of Tiaro. At night they go spotlighting, holding huge torches at eye level to look for the glider's eye-shine in the canopy. The reflection looks like two stars peeking through the foliage, but with binoculars the animal takes shape. With big ears, a pink nose, tiny hands and an absurdly long and fluffy tail, gliders will stare back at you as long as the spotlight shines on them. Found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, southern and central greater gliders were upgraded from vulnerable to endangered in 2022, due to a 50 per cent population drop over 21 years. The hollows of gum trees they live in take between 150 and 300 years to develop. Logging, clearing for agriculture and bushfires have ravaged their habitat. Tina Raveneau, who discovered the group in the St Mary State Forest, has fallen in love. "I can recognise their little faces and start to realise there's so many different ones [with] different colouring," she says. But despite protections, Ms Raveneau is worried the forest these gliders call home will soon be logged. Three things dominate the land around Tiaro — paddocks, pine plantations and state forest. In 1999, a deal was struck between government, conservationists and the timber industry to end logging in all state forests south of Gladstone by the end of 2024 in a decision known as the South-East Queensland Forest Agreement (SEQFA). In 2019, the Palaszczuk government redrew the area, meaning logging was only ceased in state forests south of Noosa. The practice was allowed to continue in the Eastern Hardwoods — which includes forest around Tiaro — for "at least another two years". Logging licenses in the Western Hardwoods, further inland, will continue through to at least 2034. Dr Tyron Venn, an expert in forestry and a natural resource economist, says by 2019 it was clear elements of the SEQFA deal had not been met. He says a commitment to develop long rotation plantation hardwood to replace the output from the native forest industry never got off the ground. "Only a fraction of those plantations were established and many of those have already been cleared for other land use," Dr Venn says. He says the government also promised support for private native forestry but did not deliver. "As a result, in the 2020s we are producing as much timber as we were in the 1990s," he says. "We've had no increase in timber production, but our population has grown a whopping 64 per cent." That shortfall is made up by imported timber, often from places with less regulation, he says. "This is bad for global climate and biodiversity conservation outcomes," he says. Logging licenses in the Wide Bay Burnett end in 2026, but the Queensland government is yet to determine whether the practice will continue. A statement from the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), who are responsible for logging in state forests, says the government's new plan for the use of state forests will be released later this year. The regulations Dr Venn believes make Queensland timber sustainable, are laid out in the state's native timber production code of practice. When it comes to greater gliders, loggers are duty bound to protect the species by leaving six "habitat trees" per hectare, as well as two "recruitment trees" for future habitat. If there aren't enough habitat trees, more recruitment trees are left standing. Trees that should be left behind are marked with a spray-painted H. A DPI spokesperson says within their habitat range "timber harvesting is authorised on the basis that gliders may be present anywhere at any time". Research scientist Dr Norman Patrick says these measures are "not good enough". He says studies show 85 per cent of the basal area — essentially the total amount of trees — needs to remain for gliders to thrive and 20 per cent of that prime habitat is in state forests. "Areas that are degraded will likely see localised extinctions," he says. Nicky Moffat from the Queensland Conservation Council says after more than a century of logging, many trees that could have become gnarled and hollowed are not there anymore. "Some of these trees with an H on it, they're actually a really young tree, and they've got no hollow," she says. That impact can be seen on the eastern side of Tiaro in the Bauple State Forest, where locals say they have also seen greater gliders. Large swathes of Bauple State Forest have been logged within the past year. At one site, an area on the side of the road is cleared and covered in bark — a landing area where the harvested trees were left to dry out. While there are habitat trees marked with yellow Hs, most of the remaining trees are young and straight. Weeds and thick undergrowth cover the ground. Yellow Hs have started to appear on trunks in the St Mary State Forest where Tina Raveneau spotted the gliders. "My heart sank," she says. Dr Venn argues any short term damage for local species populations must be thought of in the grand scheme of conservation efforts globally. "We really need to be thinking about the broad landscape level, not simply the site level at which the harvesting takes place," he says. He says selective native logging done right can trap carbon, supply Australia with needed building supplies and create jobs. Ms Moffat says the 1999 agreement needs to be honoured. "A deal is a deal and we hope the Crisafulli government will honour that and protect these forests," she says. "At the moment, signs are not great. They are rushing through a timber action plan and they are planning on getting that out in October but we haven't had any consultation so far and we're not seeing very encouraging signs. "We're worried it's going to be a smash and grab before these licenses end." The Crisafulli government's roundtable for the Queensland Future Timber Plan, made up of industry stakeholders, met for the first time yesterday. "Investment security for both the plantation softwood and native forestry sectors will be critical to bolster growing, harvesting and processing activities across the supply chain," a statement read.
