It’s no secret that the Noosa community is incredibly environmentally conscious, with over 45% of our land zoned for environmental conservation, an internationally recognised UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status and ‘the environment’ ranking at the top of nearly every community consultation.
This is a community that fought against the development of Noosa National Park, commercialisation of the Great Sandy National Park and a host of inappropriate developments that threatened the Noosa Plan and our lifestyle. But tucked away in the Hinterland, far from the daily view of coastal residents, the Kin Kin Quarry continues to wreak environmental and social havoc.
The latest development? A referral under the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, seeking approval to clear almost 10 hectares of critical Noosa habitat for a large-scale quarry expansion.
Habitat categorised as ‘Matters of National Environmental Significance’. Habitat recognised in the ecological assessment as “Critical to the Survival of the Koala”. Habitat for EPBC listed species including the Grey-headed Flying Fox, Greater Glider and several species of migratory birds. Habitat which includes both core koala habitat and a critically endangered ecological community.
Despite overwhelming community opposition, Cordwell Resources presses on relentlessly, determined to push its quarry higher up the ridge, deeper into the forest and closer to full capacity. The company has successfully resisted almost every attempt to regulate its operations, including drawn out enforcement action by Noosa Council. It now proposes to clear habitat situated up a steep 45% gradient hillside, roughly 250 metres above sea level.
With historic approval from Noosa Council, there is little standing in the operator’s way, except for a desperately vocal community and a significant piece of Federal legislation. If Environment Minister Senator Murray Watt approves the referral, Cordwell Resources will be free to proceed, not just with this clearing, but toward realising the so-called “mega quarry” locals feared from the beginning – the full extent of the original approval granted by council decades ago. If completed, it’s believed the quarry face could become the tallest in Queensland.
This is a critical turning point and the most significant since the original quarry approval. If this expansion proceeds, its impacts will extend far beyond the 10 hectares of habitat. It will mark the beginning of a rapid escalation toward full production capacity, a truck through our Hinterland townships every few minutes and lay the groundwork for something even more alarming, a potential extension of the quarry’s development permit beyond 2033.
Council has repeatedly assured residents that the quarry’s 2033 development permit expiry would mark its end. Now, that promise is faltering. Council has recently stated that if Cordwell Resources succeeds with this EPBC referral, the company may well apply for a permit extension and the Council now says it cannot commit to rejecting it.
What’s more troubling is that this would not trigger a new application process with impact assessment and community consultation. Instead, it would be a continuation of a decades-old, inadequate approval that was never subject to proper scrutiny, community input or current day impact assessments. It would merely extend a flawed and outdated approval into the foreseeable future.
The community would once again be excluded, just as it was during the original approval process and again when the Key Resource Area designation was quietly imposed on the site.
And that speaks to the deeper truth, the system is broken.
It does nothing to protect the wider community or the environment, but everything to serve entrenched economic interests. At every level of government, the regulatory framework surrounding the Kin Kin Quarry has failed.
The State Environmental Authority applies only to the quarry site itself. It contains no provisions to address off-site impacts such as haulage, dust, traffic hazards or noise, all routinely endured by surrounding residents. Despite years of complaints, neither the State nor Noosa Council has taken meaningful action to address the significant dust emissions affecting neighbouring properties.
As for OH&S? Quarries are exempt from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland oversight. Instead, they’re regulated by Resources Safety and Health Queensland under outdated mining legislation, and only workers or authorised site personnel are permitted to lodge safety complaints. Local residents, despite living metres from the blasting and heavy machinery, have no right to be heard.
Even our environmental laws offer little refuge. The State Government’s assessment of a previous clearing application determined that no consideration would be given to the koala, as its endangered status came after the original quarry approval. A ruling that utterly ignores the purpose of conservation law.
Then there’s the planning system itself. While ordinary residents are bound by the zoning laws and planning rules of the day, the Kin Kin Quarry continues to operate on a 30 year old development approval, a so-called “zombie DA”, without the constraints of modern assessment standards. This outdated approval remains the foundation for every expansion attempt, every legal defence and every community impact.
What kind of system lets this happen? One that is designed, not to protect communities or ecosystems, but to shield industrial interests from scrutiny and accountability.
Further exacerbating the issue, council’s recent failed court action revealed a troubling fact – the council is in a legal bind to regulate the quarry into the future. Due to condition changes granted by council vote in 2016, the quarry no longer must operate ‘in accordance’ with the quarry management plan, rather ‘generally in accordance’. A short sighted decision that has rendered it extremely difficult for council to regulate the quarry effectively in court. So much so, that over $160k in council issued fines were thrown aside by Noosa Council.
Worse still, the EPBC system itself is deeply opaque. Roughly one year ago, a neighbouring farmer stumbled across the referral to clear 10 hectares of habitat, by accident, with only three days remaining for public comment. There was no letterbox notice, no community alert, no signage. Just a quiet listing on a government website.
Unlike Council development applications, EPBC referrals are not subject to public notification requirements. There is no alert system. No one is told. Unless you’re scouring the Federal database every day, you won’t know what’s proposed in your own backyard. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of EPBC referrals are approved. In fact, a National Audit found that from the commencement of the Act to 30 June 2019, 6,253 proposed actions were referred, 5,088 were approved, and just 21 were refused.
And even now, Cordwell Resources has submitted a “variation plan” to change the referral, a significant amendment that will not be made public until after it is assessed by the Department. In other words, changes to a nationally significant environmental application are being reviewed without any public visibility or right of response.
Despite this stacked process, our community fought back. In just three days, we mobilised over 100 submissions, including from leading environmental organisations, MPs, Senators and the wider community. For the past year we have continued to campaign and have also submitted a Federal e-petition with approximately two thousand signatures against the proposal.
But now we stand at the final gate. The decision by Minister Watt will determine whether this expansion goes ahead, whether this habitat lives or dies and whether Cordwell Resources gets one step closer to operating at capacity.
The future of Noosa Hinterland will be decided by July 15th 2025.
It will also determine what kind of legacy we leave for the next generation of Noosa residents. One defined by environmental degradation and regulatory cowardice, or one where the system is finally held to account.
Noosa has fought hard to protect its coast and national parks, now we must fight for the Hinterland. Kin Kin is part of our Biosphere, our community and our story. If we allow this destructive expansion to proceed, we risk losing more than habitat, we risk eroding the very values that define Noosa. We must speak up, as we have so many times before, and demand better. The environment doesn’t stop at the coastline and neither should our defence of it.
We need every Noosa resident to write to the Environment Minister Hon Murray Watt and call on him to reject the proposal under the EPBC Act, deem it a controlled action requiring full assessment and release all variation plans submitted by Cordwell Resources.
Referral Number: 2023/09594
Project Name: “Kin Kin Quarry vegetation clearing for ongoing operation”
Email: minister.watt@dcceew.gov.au
