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Tour operator lobbies banks not to fund Abbot Point coal terminal expansion

A north Queensland tourism operator says he will lobby Australia's big four banks to rule out funding the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion, unless changes are made to how dredge spoil is disposed of.

Tony Brown runs a tour boat company at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays.

He will travel to Sydney next week to try to persuade the big four banks not to fund the Abbot Point expansion under the existing proposal.

The expansion, which has been signed off by federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, allows three million tonnes of dredge spoil to be dumped in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Mr Brown says the material should be dumped on land.

"I've had several meetings with Greg Hunt and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), their preferred option was certainly land management," he said.

Mr Brown says he is not opposed to the development, just the way the way it will impact on the marine park area.

"Abbot Point and the mines aren't the problem, it's the way they dispose of the dredge spoil, so we're hoping if there is a lot of money being made from our resources, we expect that money to be spent in best practice and best practice, according to GBRMPA's own risk assessment would be to land manage or extend the trestles," he said.

Conservation groups have already claimed victory after Deutsche Bank and HSBC ruled out financing the expansion under the current proposal.

Source: www.abc.net.au