09/09/2026
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BOOBYALLA SAND MINE PROPOSAL
We are calling on the Dorset Council to reject a development application which would see 770ha of North-East Tasmanian coastline mined over the next 40 years.
“This area is not only rich in cultural heritage, but a mining operation of this scale has the potential to materially alter the landscape beyond repair,” Mr Harriss said.
“The proponents want to extract vast amounts of sand, ship it off for processing via a 700m wharf facility, and then turn the hole they leave behind into a man-made lake. This is being driven by economics and politics, with limited defined means of rehabilitation at this stage. The reality is, once sand dunes have been extracted and removed, nothing can rehabilitate that sort of damage to a dune system.
"The dunes slated for mining are a tapestry of ecological brilliance that have taken tens of thousands of years to create and are an ongoing living landscape. To destroy these inside 40 years, then flood the area and walk away is simply not acceptable and not in the community’s interest.”
Mr Harriss said Aboriginal communities had not been adequately consulted about the project and its potential impacts.
“This area is significant to Aboriginal people beyond modern concepts of being. It not only contains our lived history and our stories and lore, but it will almost certainly contain the ancestral remains of our families. Assessing a site for Aboriginal heritage is an imperative but it should not be mistaken as a substitute for meaningful, deliberate and comprehensive engagement with Aboriginal people who have a lasting, strong and unbreakable connection with this country.
“Proper engagement must be given a chance to occur. Aboriginal people need to be embedded as key stakeholders before critical decisions are made – not as a tick-box exercise once the sand is already extracted, loaded and heading for an overseas interested party.
Mr Harriss said MTWAC and other members of the Tasmanian Regional Communities Alliance (TRACA) are hopeful the Dorset Council will put a pause on the mining proposal and an associated wharf development to allow proper consultation and scrutiny to occur.
“To ensure the integrity of the process, all regulatory steps regarding the proposed Boobyalla silica mine must be halted until a framework of genuine consultation is established that respects the Tasmanian Aboriginal people’s right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), a core collective right enshrined in international law under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).”
“People need to be given a chance to understand the true size, complexity and impact of what’s being proposed. It must be a transparent and honest conversation with everyone involved – particularly those who have a strong connection to this place.”
THIS IS COUNTRY, NOT EMPTY SAND.
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