Queensland citizens draws to the attention of the House Ballymore Resources Pty Ltd's Dittmer Project in the Whitsundays, Queensland. The project encompasses two mining leases, three exploration tenements, and Mining Lease Application (MLA) 100351, located in the Clarke Ranges and Proserpine State Forest. Dittmer Project lays within the Proserpine and the Great Barrier Reef critical water catchments; and downstream, there are important agricultural lands and nationally significant wetlands. The Dittmer area is high ecological value water and MLA100351 overlays essential habitat for the endemic and endangered Proserpine Rock Wallaby and three other nationally endangered threatened species.

Ballymore’s current 2010 Environmental Authority (EA) lacks groundwater monitoring, baseline water studies, hydrogeological investigations, and crucial environmental assessments (EIA, EIS, SIA, and EPBC referral for MNES). Furthermore, the EA includes an $18K surety bond. Ballymore’s historic ML1041 sits atop the Kelsey Creek underground water table, which supplies essential drinking water for 79 residents, and includes sensitive aquifers that recharge nearby bores.

Ballymore’s predicted deep drilling, extending 1km below ML1041, poses unquantified risks to the Kelsey Creek water regime. Without scientific data to ensure no irreversible harm, the potential environmental and health impacts remain unmitigated.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to do all within its power to halt all drilling in Dittmer/Kelsey Creek under the Precautionary Principle, in accordance with the EPBC Act, Water Act, and Environmental Protection Act 1994 and conduct independent hydrogeological studies and comprehensive EIS, SIA, and public health assessments before further drilling proceeds to protect the community and endangered species.