Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014 at 10:51
Hi Tess,
Took you a while to find my post :). I'll answer one point at a time:
Firstly if you read our FAQ you would know that we are against mining Lake Eyre. You would also know that we are making public our theory (based on Arabunna comments) that Lake Eyre has been given to the Arabunna in exchange for their consent to mining in the area.
How long have you known that Lake Eyre National Park is being downgraded to a "Nature Reserve" to remove recreational aspects of the park and streamline mining? If you did why haven't you publicly taken a stand?
Secondly there is only one group of "locals" who have their back up and that is because we have refused to pay a third party in order to recreate within a Park that belongs to all Australians. We pay our National Park fees every time we recreate within the park. Do you pay national park fees when you take your sponsors on your boat down to the Lake? Does the AWC need a tourist operator licence?
Thirdly you only have to look at our support within the tourist industry to see how much we have contributed to the local economy. We bring 100's, sometimes thousands, of visitors to
Marree every year who patronise every business in the town. Businesses as far away as
Burra have thanked us for helping South Australian tourism. How much does the Australian Wildlife Conservatory contribute? Not much more than zero. You even illegally deny access to your pastoral lease for tourists.
Fourthly if you read our proposal, we are offering to build the
camping area we feel is required for proper enjoyment of OUR (that is all Australians) national park, at our expense with willing donations from our sponsors. You may also have noted that it is not within the National Park and we wish any
infrastructure to be minimal and non intrusive.
Furthermore, if you read further you may be aware, as most locals are, that Lake Eyre in its entirety never belonged to the Arabunna. It is not their country! This is common knowledge amongst locals and eminent scientists alike. Corruption is rife in South Australia.
Tess, you are not a good ambassador for your organisation.
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