Jarrod McCracken pleads guilty to illegal clearing

CAIRNS - Former rugby league star Jarrod McCracken has pleaded guilty to illegally clearing protected bushland on his north Queensland property.

The former New Zealand captain turned developer pleaded guilty in the Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday to a string of charges relating to unauthorised clearing and earthworks on his 387ha property at Clarkes Cove, north of Airlie Beach.

Magistrate Athol Kennedy reserved his decision until later this month but McCracken could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Queensland's Department of Environment and Resource Management charged McCracken with eight offences in 2008, alleging he cleared rare bottle trees, damaged native vegetation and caused sediment to run off into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

McCracken played first grade rugby league in Australia for almost a decade before a neck injury forced him into early retirement in 2000.

He has since turned his attention to property development and has been involved in a number of successful projects in north Queensland.

- AAP