Wading in: environmental governance and Queensland's Clean Waters Act 1971

Queensland's environmental regulatory agencies during the Premiership of Joh Bjelke-Petersen remain neglected by scholars, despite much literature on the State's high profile conservation conflicts in this era, such as Fraser Island. This article investigates the administration of the Clean Waters Act 1971 (Qld) by the Water Quality Council from 1970 to 1987. Using the Act as a case study, it seeks to examine different types of environmental governance factors and their impact on the effectiveness of legislation. It concludes that regulatory capture of individual Council members, resourcing constraints, ministerial interference, inspectorate discretion, a narrow conception of enforcement strategies, and limited public participation all conspired to reduce the effectiveness of both the Act and Council. While acknowledging the historical nature of the legislation, it is suggested that these problems remain causes for concern in maintaining robust environmental governance in the present.