The Hon. R. S. L. JONES [10.37]: The high pressures of development, sand mining and weed infestation are threatening the remaining few unspoilt areas of coastal heathlands, coastal eucalypt forest, littoral rainforest and wetlands of New South Wales. To conserve a high diversity of native animals we must make every effort to protect the remaining coastal habitats. Over half the northern New South Wales coast has been sand mined at great cost to our natural heritage. The proposed sand mining at Diamond Beach by Mineral Deposits Limited exemplifies the contempt with which some developers exploit our environment at the expense of the community. The proposal is to rework a strip of 150 hectares of vacant Crown land. This land is reserve number 97782, gazetted for environmental protection by the
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Department of Lands. It is behind a foredune mined in the 1970s and includes new country consisting of prime dry and wet coastal heath and part of a State environmental planning policy No. 14 wetland that borders Khappinghat Creek. This area has been proposed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service as the Khappinghat Nature Reserve. It is one of the few remaining areas of coastal land between Manning Point and Hawks Nest that has not been seriously damaged by sandmining and other developments.

The lifespan of the operation would be four years, 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Studies undertaken by the company rate this site as having moderate to high ecological significance. Subsequent studies by recognised researchers found this rating to be extremely conservative with a number of rare and scientifically significant species occurring within the mining area. Biological surveys undertaken by Mineral Deposits confirm that many significant mammal species exist within the mining path, yet the company apparently has no idea where population centres and migration routes occur and has neglected to propose a strategy plan to provide for the continued survival of native fauna. Mineral Deposits claims that Khappinghat Creek will not be polluted but has not undertaken a detailed water management or flood study to justify this claim.

The aquatic study submitted does not provide a baseline for pre-mining and post-mining comparisons as claimed in the environmental impact statement. It is a one-off snapshot study that has no control sites, no seasonal studies, no replication within sampling sites and no quantification of results. Sand mining will destroy the humic soil layer which supports the water table. Without this soil layer, the re-established vegetation will struggle to survive. Is Mineral Deposits' consultant lacking in scientific knowledge or is it deliberately trying to avoid complex ecological problems? The company's archaeological survey in respect to Aboriginal heritage concerns for the area indicates that there will be no impact as a result of the proposed mining operation. The company initiated no consultations with the Taree-Purfleet Aboriginal Lands Council whose interest was explicitly noted in its claim for the reserve area, and was recognised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the declaration of the Aboriginal place, under section 84 of the National Parks and Wildlife Service Act, over the reserve.

No extensively researched economic impact statement has been initiated by Mineral Deposits to assess the impact of sand mining on the local tourist industry, an industry with a potential capitalised investment of around $30 million. Over 106,000 tourists visited Diamond Beach alone during the past 12 months and it is extremely doubtful that the mining proposal can offset this economic loss to the local community. To view this proposal on the basis of a short-term four-year venture is to jeopardise the future long-term benefits that the natural environment offers to all Australians. It directly threatens both the sustainable fishing and tourism industries of the area. It compromises the specific aim of the New South Wales coastal policy, which sanctions the protection of representative coastal species and ecosystems which are important for aesthetic, environmental, scientific and economic reasons. The EIS
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that Mineral Deposits submitted in support of its case for mining is so lacking in its treatment of basic issues that it is to be expected that the community will be concerned about the behaviour of the company if this proposal is allowed to proceed.

Taree city council has received more written objections to this proposal than any other development application in its history, yet it seems of little concern to the company how the community views this proposal. Will the community benefit in the long term by way of new playing fields for its school? The promise of improved roads is certainly attractive to any community but would existing roads suffice if the mining plan and the deterioration of roads that comes with the use of those roads by heavy vehicles did not go ahead? Mining Deposits Limited has failed to prove that it can restore vegetation to its original diversity following mining. On a number of occasions, Mineral Deposits has been asked to provide both pre-mining and post-mining vegetation surveys for sites it has mined in the past so that its claims to support its ability to effectively regenerate mined areas can be substantiated. In all cases the company has failed to provide the necessary information. The only conclusion that can be reached is that the company is well aware that, once mined, the site will lose its complexity and diversity.

This proposal appears to be a test case by the sand mining company to see just now far it can overstep the mark under the current Liberal Party-National Party Government. This development, if approved, will signal to other would-be developers that the destruction of designated wetlands has the "thumbs up". I cannot see how the Government can afford to ignore the concerns of the community in the light of scientific evidence that shows how important wetlands areas really are in the cycle of marine life. I urge the Government to read the recently released report on coastal development in New South Wales and to act swiftly on its recommendations. The Government, by ignoring the findings of the report on coastal development, will allow irreparable damage to take place on what little of the natural coastal environment we have left, at an immeasurable loss to all Australians. It does so at its own peril.

The DEPUTY-PRESIDENT (The Hon. D. J. Gay): Order! The honourable member has exhausted his time for speaking.