*1484† Senator Ludlam: To ask the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts-
(1) Why was the proposed Waratah Coal Inc. rail line and coal port for Shoalwater Bay rejected in September 2008.
(2) What potential environmental damage was identified.
(3) Does the Minister consider that the movement of tens of thousands of troops with heavy equipment across this environmentally-sensitive area, conducting live fire exercises, infantry manoeuvres, air combat, ship-to-ship operations and anti-submarine warfare with navy vessels using sonar, will not cause land and marine environmental damage of a similar order, albeit possibly of a different type.
ANSWER
Senator Wong-The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:
(1) The proposal was determined to have unacceptable impacts on the Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area (SCBA), which is a declared Ramsar wetland, and the environment on Commonwealth land within the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area (SBMTA).
(2) Permanent destruction of the wilderness values, ecological integrity and scientific values of the immediate and surrounding area of the SCBA Ramsar wetland, and the SBMTA.
(3) No. The Commission of Inquiry Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, May 1994, recommended that the use of the site by the Department of Defence and for conservation could occur concurrently within the SBMTA. It also found that the use of the SBMTA for military training did not appear to have a cumulative adverse impact on conservation values, with military impacts generally being intermittent and localised.