There is no realistic prospect that environmental concerns raise...

There is no realistic prospect that environmental concerns raise any issue. How a wharf can realistically have any effect on echidnas I'd be fascinated to hear more about. The occasional ship docking on an island with hundreds of kilometres of coastline can scarcely be expected to have any impact on Southern Right Whales either.

There is of course always some prospect NIMBY types could make this a long, costly and drawn out matter, but that has been the same with virtually every form of economic progress in the history of mankind.

I would suggest that it is such types that have led to the EPBC referral, in the forlorn hope that they can make life difficult for those who favour economic progress.

I have a friend who works in the abalone industry and he thinks the issues raised in respect of the coexistence of the abalone farm and the wharf are an extraordinarily long-bow to draw, but that's not to say that if they are so inclined they couldn't make life needlessly difficult.

Such is the life of an investor. You (and any non-owners) have the distinct advantage of being able to sit on the sidelines and do nothing until the wharf gets approved (or not as the case may be).

In the event it is approved, the economic growth for KI will be truly epic. It will be a step-change in the economy that would bring awesome positive change for the residents.

It's hard to conjure anything that anyone with a reasonable and objective view of the impact of the costs and benefits of this project could realistically say it shouldn't proceed, but there are always people who will come at such matters from an ideological rather than pragmatic angle - Eternalgrowth