Keep Baffle Creek running free - protect it as a Wild River

We the undersigned are asking for legislative protection for Baffle Creek (Queensland, Australia).

In February this year sources within Government leaked information to The Wilderness Society that a proposal to dam Baffle Creek was about to be put to the Queensland Cabinet. A Freedom of Information search has confirmed that a document was prepared considering the viability of a dam on Baffle Creek.

This study stated "A dam on Baffle Creek will have potentially significant impacts on the near pristine aquatic ecosystems of Baffle Creek, its estuary and the coastal zone. A dam on Baffle Creek will also have local economic impacts in terms of recreational fishing and tourism." Yet the study promoted the low cost nature of the dam and did not rule out building it.

Although you, Premier Anna Bligh, told reporters after the scandal broke that "There will be no dam built on Baffle Creek for as long as I am premier" there has been no further confirmation of this in writing. The only media release was earlier on from the Minister for Natural Resources and Water Craig Wallace stating "No decisions have been made about putting any new water infrastructure, including a dam, in the Baffle Creek catchment", which provides no guarantee at all!

Protecting pristine and near pristine Queensland rivers by declaring them "Wild Rivers" is an election commitment of the Labor State Government. The Baffle Creek area is recognised as significant in terms of natural heritage, being a near pristine estuarine system according to the National Land and Water Resources Audit 2001. We believe that Baffle Creek should be considered under the Wild Rivers Act 2005 - its crucial location in highly populated SE Qld means that its near pristine nature is under much more threat than the previously nominated wild rivers (all in remote Cape York). Feeding on to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the northern end of the Great Sandy Marine Park is further justification for careful management of the Baffle Creek Basin. The numerous National Parks in the Baffle Basin have allowed fishing and other nature-based tourism activities to prosper, and the declaration of Baffle Creek as a Wild River will ensure the future of these important industries. The natural and cultural values indicative of a "Wild River" are all present, especially if Baffle Creek is considered as part of a "second tier" in the Wild Rivers program, allowing for more human impact.

Please ease the public's fears and provide a guarantee of protection for Baffle Creek, such as under Wild Rivers 2005. Thank-you for your consideration.