After many months of failing to address the elephant in the wilderness, the State Government finally abandoned the controversial Cooloola Great Walk ecotourism project last week.
In a statement released on 31 May, the departments of Tourism and Sport and Environment, Science and Innovation announced: “The Cooloola Great Walk Ecotourism Project aimed to enhance one of Queensland’s national park long distance walking experiences by establishing low-impact, best practice ecotourism facilities along the Cooloola Great Walk. It was decided in May 2024 that this project will not be progressing at this time.
“The State is disappointed not to realise the original vision, but our shared commitment to protecting and showcasing the distinctive beauty and ecology of the Great Sandy National Park and the unique tourism opportunity it presents to the region and Traditional Owners remains strong.”
The Cooloola Great Walk project, announced in 2019 as part of the Queensland Ecotourism Trails program, with the state seeking proposals from the private sector, was to include multiple eco-cabins at five sites along the existing 102km Cooloola Great Walk in the Great Sandy National Park, and was described at the outset as “a non-invasive boost to tourism in the region”.
According to its website,”The primary objective of the Queensland Ecotourism Trails program is to collaborate with Traditional Owners and regional communities to deliver new tourism opportunities for Queensland, founded on social, environmental and economic outcomes,” but the state soon found that in relation to Cooloola it was being asked difficult questions relating to all three pillars.
From 2020, the government had worked closely with the preferred proponent, South Australia-based CABN, and the Traditional Owners, the Kabi Kabi, to move the project forward in the face of rising opposition from environment groups, such as Keep Cooloola Cool and Protect Our Parks, as well as the park-loving public.
Initially conditionally supportive of the project, mainly for the management and training opportunities it offered the Kabi Kabi, independent Noosa MP Sandy Bolton and Noosa Parks Association, the leading environmental advocate in the region for more than 60 years, had in recent times distanced themselves from it, citing lack of evidence of a sustainable footprint from the proponent and a cone of silence on the delicate matter from the state.
As is her wont, energetic Noosa MP Sandy Bolton threw herself wholeheartedly into a mission to gather community opinions and then pressure the Miles Labor government to rethink the project.
Last Friday her office issued the following statement:
The Independent Member for Noosa, Sandy Bolton MP has announced a positive outcome to her request for no commercially built structures in the Great Sandy National Park. Following this advocacy, the Queensland Government is no longer proceeding with the Cooloola Great Walk Ecotourism Project (CGWEP) and have also reassured that they remain committed to working with Kabi Kabi to realise their aspirations.
“What started in 2020 with an invitation to visit the proposed sites for a project to assist our Kabi Kabi realise their aspirations for better management of Country and provide tangible social and economic benefits, fast became a hotbed of environmental concerns for residents and groups,” she said.
“After much research, meetings with advocates, requests to ministers and departments for changes, and ultimately a Noosa-MP-dedicated survey that saw respondents in the majority opposed to elements of the project, I stood in Parliament and requested that the proposed commercial accommodation structures not go ahead. The response from the Queensland Government has been welcomed, and I thank both Ministers Healy (Tourism and Sport) and Linard (Environment) for listening to our community,” said Ms Bolton.
“The Cooloola Great Walk and its campsites from Noosa North Shore to Rainbow Beach will remain an iconic hiking and camping experience for all to enjoy… [but] this very long journey is over, demonstrating how credible, respectful and knowledgeable advocacy is much more powerful and effective than those based on misinformation.”
Veteran Noosa Parks Association policy wonk and current vice-president Dr Michael Gloster walked NPA away from the GCW last April, telling Noosa Today: “After five years, despite the aspirations of both Kabi Kabi peoples and NPA that there would be a genuine partnership between Kabi Kabi peoples, the state and CABN, the potential operator, with built assets transferred to Kabi Kabi peoples after 25 years, regrettably there is little prospect of this happening. A condition for support has not been met. Hence NPA no longer conditionally supports the commercial walk.”
Dr Gloster added: “The past five years have provided a superb learning opportunity for Kabi Kabi peoples, and they are quick learners. They are now exploring a number of interesting commercial opportunities in Cooloola, some based on re-purposing existing infrastructure within the park.”
