NSW Coal Communities

Communities around NSW are actively fighting campaigns against the Government's expansionary vision, its addiction to coal royalties, and the cumulative impacts of mining on the environment and on human health. The Greens use their presence in the NSW Parliament to work with these communities and help them take their fight to the Government.

Regional campaigns:

Western Coalfield

Northern Coalfield

Southern coalfield

Hunter coalfield (Upper Hunter)

Newcastle coalfield (Lower Hunter)

Gloucester region

Duralie and Stratford

Gloucester

Barrington Tops

NSW mining is burgeoning:

According to the NSW Dept of Primary Industries and the Dept for Planning, between February 2006 and December 2008, over 35 coal mining projects were approved under Part 3A, making a total of 60 coal mines and 30 development projects across NSW coalfields.

The Dept of Mineral Resources has an inherent conflict of interest as the key advocate for coal mining in NSW, also having the responsibility for managing the environmental impacts. Recent regulatory reforms are inadequate, community consultation is proving to be a sham, and the Minister for Planning can use the infamous Part 3A to overide community, environmental and heritage concerns.

Community and environmental issues are systematically ignored in favour of the concerns of the mining giants who have a stranglehold on the Government and the Opposition, ignoring all calls for an assessment of the cumulative impact of excessive mining.

Clouds of toxic dust plumes sweep across surrounding towns and rural communities, into lungs and into water supplies. Read all the dirt on dust, follow this link by clicking here.

The Greens are campaigning to:

reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create quality jobs in a clean energy industry,
ensure just transition programs are in place for coal industry workers,
protect the environment, including a 1km buffer zone from longwall mining around water-ways; and
ensure that the coal lobby prediction of a 50% increase in coal consumption by the year 2020 does not eventuate.

Rivers SOS:

An alliance of groups have signed on to support this campaign to protect our rivers from mining damage. http://www.riverssos.com/ or go to our contacts page here
Read the RIVERS SOS report here on the damage already done, and the continuing threats to our fragile river systems.

Essential reading:

NSW Coal Affected Communities pdf report here.
Submission to the Regional and Rural Task Force on the impacts of the expansion of coal mining in NSW
Greens longwall mining motion that the major parties refused to debate in Parliament in November 2006.
Special report into subsidies granted to the coal industry, commissioned by the Greens;
Terms of Inquiry for the Greens Mining and Health Inquiry that failed to gain support from the major parties.
Motions on the Notices Paper.
Strategic inquiry into underground coal mining in the Southern Coalfield

Latest News:

Rudd’s climate rhetoric muffled by bulldozers moving in at Anvil Hill coal mine: Media release - 17 December 2009: Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has urged the Rudd government to make its rhetoric on climate change match reality, as bulldozers are set to begin construction on the Xstrata owned Mangoola coal mine at Anvil Hill in the NSW Hunter Valley.
Farmers rally at NSW Parliament for Greens bill: cross bench MPs hold key to vote: Hundreds of farmers from the Gloucester and Liverpool Plains regions rallied outside NSW Parliament this morning, alongside Greens, National, Liberal and Independent MPs. They were there in support of a Greens bill being debated today that is designed to protect prime agricultural land being destroyed coal mining.
Govt, Nile, Shooters unite against Greens bill protecting prime farming land from mining: Government MPs, the Shooters Party and Rev Fred Nile today indicated they will vote against a Greens bill in the NSW Upper House designed to protect prime agricultural land from mining. Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said farming communities from the Gloucester and Liverpool Plains regions would be understandably disappointed at the outcome.
Liverpool Plains water study welcome, but Greens mining bill still needed: Commenting on unconfirmed reports that the Minister for Mining Ian Macdonald may today announce a catchment-wide groundwater study in the Liverpool Plains region, Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said that she would welcome the study but that the Minister's announcement should not be used to detract from another key aim of the Liverpool and Gloucester farming communities: protecting their land from mining.
Greens move to protect prime farmland from mining – bill up for debate in NSW parliament: Greens MP and mining spokesperson Lee Rhiannon has kicked off debate in the NSW parliament on the Greens bill to stop mining and mining exploration on prime farmland in NSW to protect precious water resources and food production.
Delta Electricity's water woes in central western NSW: A local minewatcher comments on a Prime TV News story about the woes faced by Delta Electricity due to dwindling water levels in Oberon Dam. Delta admitted they are critically dependent on fresh (ie. low salinity) water from the Fish River system to help dilute the toxic pollution they and the mining industry continue to dump into the Cox's River system.
Greens Accuse Dept of Planning of misleading Gloucester Valley Residents: The Gloucester Valley community has been running a strong united campaign to oppose the expansion of the Duralie Coal mine south of Gloucester. In particular they are opposed to any lifting of the ban on discharging polluted mine water into the Mammy Johnson River or Coal Shaft Creek. Hundreds of residents have written letters to council, government and MPs to build the community campaign against the mine. Lee Rhiannon has compiled a background summary of the current situation between the Department of Planning and Gloucester Valley Residents.
Mining stalwart sees no future in carbon plan: Kevin Rudd should meet Graham Brown before he decides to spend billions of dollars on carbon capture and storage. A coalminer for more than 20 years, Brown retired in 2007 and is happy to call a spade a bloody shovel. (Paddy Manning, Sustainable Investing, Sydney Morning Herald - Business section, April 25, 2009)
SMH - Scrap coal plan, says Rudd's man: Former NSW Sustainability Commissioner Peter Newman advises the Rudd Government to move away from coal ..... writes Matthew Moore.
Jackpots all round for NSW mining industry: NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald is standing by the poker machine waiting to pull a jackpot for the coal mining industry. But who will get the prizes? Currently on offer to foreign and local mining companies are 13 coal exploration licences, writes Alex Mitchell in 'Crickey', 3 Feb 2009

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