Category: News
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New research shows existing oil and gas activity threatens globally significant Lake Eyre Basin river system
The Western Rivers Alliance is calling on the Palaszczuk government to ban all oil and gas mining in the region after publication of the landmark study in the international journal, Marine and Freshwater Research. KEY RESEARCH POINTS: Ken Griffiths from Hayfield Station near Jundah is a fifth-generation Channel Country grazier. “These rivers are our lifeblood,”…
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Future of Queensland Lake Eyre Basin discussions underway in Longreach
Today representatives of the Queensland Government’s Lake Eyre Basin Stakeholder Advisory Group will meet in Longreach to discuss the future of the Lake Eyre Basin rivers and Channel Country floodplains. Representatives from First Nations, conservation, agriculture, resources, local government, and scientific experts are in Longreach to discuss strengthening safeguards that protect pastoral, tourism, cultural and…
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Conservationists and Traditional Owners concerned as Palaszczuk Government approves production licences for shale oil fracking on Lake Eyre Basin floodplains
Members of the Western Rivers Alliance are today calling on the Palaszczuk Government to honour their repeated election commitment to protect the Lake Eyre Basin’s pristine rivers and wetlands from destructive activities such as oil and gas mining. This comes after news that the Palaszczuk Government has granted production approval to Origin Energy to frack…
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‘Once more into the breach, dear friends’: the ongoing battle for the Cooper.
First published in Queensland Country Life. As any Channel Country resident will tell you, the irregular, but spectacular, floods that flow freely across the floodplains are at the heart and soul of this region. Our floodplains are some of the best cattle fattening country in the world. The rivers support wetlands and water holes that…
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Submission from Western Rivers Alliance to QLD State Government
The Western Rivers Alliance is an informal alliance between individual graziers, Traditional Owners, conservation organisations and scientists advocating for the protection of rivers and floodplains of the Channel Country. The Western Rivers Alliance urges your Government to deliver its election commitment to protect the rivers of the Channel Country by amending the Regional Planning Interests…
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Stories from the Channel Country: Karen Emmott
First published in the Rural Weekly The reality of living in Outback Queensland wasn’t something I could have predicted, growing up as a young girl from the beach town of Mackay. Nestled between the ocean and the rainforest and flanked by cane fields, the air there was always humid, and the weather is torrid and…
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Time to protect our Channel Country once and for all
First published in the Courier Mail Deep in the heart of Australia, the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin is one of the world’s greatest desert river basins. Covering nearly one sixth of the entire country, it is a massive area that holds special significance to the Traditional Owners who have lived in and cared for the…
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Help protect the Channel Country
Covering one-sixth of Australia, Lake Eyre Basin spans four states—Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. As one of the world’s largest internal drainage systems, this expansive, dry wilderness is the site of one of the planet’s most spectacular natural phenomena. Following periodic heavy rainfall, the three river systems comprising Lake Eyre Basin—Cooper’s…
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Join us in protecting the Channel Country
The Channel Country is an iconic part of the Queensland Outback. Situated in Western Queensland, the Channel Country is one of the most extraordinary and beautiful landscapes in Australia. It has a rich and diverse history, ranging from its indigenous cultures to its pastoral heritage. The gas fracking industry could have a devastating impact on…
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Stories from the Channel Country: Leonie Nunn
First published in the Rural Weekly I’m a grazier from Western Queensland and my husband and I have lived at Sunnyside, a 32,000 hectare property southwest of Longreach, for 35 years. We live in an incredible part of the world. In this area — and further west — are three of the last healthy desert…