The ABC has reported that a mining company ‘faces possible action after illegally bulldozing a swathe of bushland in central Queensland to build a road through areas regarded as habitat of state significance. Goondicum Resources is building the access road so it can reduce the distance from its Monto ilmenite mine to Gladstone Port by about 100 kilometres.
The company admitted it did not have the required state approval. Its managing director told the ABC he now hopes to gain it retrospectively.
The permit breach only came to light after local landholders Rob and Nadia Campbell complained to the Department of Environment, saying they discovered fur and a dead native bird after the bulldozers had felled hundreds of trees. The Department sent field officers out to investigate.’