The extreme actions of anti-coal campaigner Jonathan Moylan and the Front Line Action on Coal group typify the lengths that some individuals and groups will go to put their case on the national agenda.
The publicity has drawn national attention to the 10.8 million tonnes per annum Maules Creek project and will put pressure on Environment,Water Population and Communities Minister Tony Burke, who is due to make a decision on the project.
Environmental groups and farmers in New South Wales’ Gunnedah Basin have formed an alliance with Lock The Gate to prevent the Maules Creek project from being approved federally after the NSW planning assessment commission gave the project the green light in October.
They claim Maules Creek and the Tarawonga joint venture with the neighbouring Idemitsu-owned Boggabri mine will produce up to a total of 23Mtpa of coal and impinge on the nearby Leard state forest, koala populations and surrounding agricultural land.
Leard State Forest is the largest remnant left on the heavily cleared Liverpool Plains. It provides habitat for up to 34 threatened species including the koala, environmentalists say. More than half of the entire state forest, close to 5000ha in total will be cleared by the three mines.
Maules Creek was the jewel in the crown of Nathan Tinkler’s Aston Resources before the company was merged with Whitehaven Coal last year.
Environmentalists claim Tinkler made donations to the National Party without declaring them before the approval of Maules Creek.
Local residents have also been mobilised to oppose coal seam gas development at nearby Narrabri and have been arguing that the rural quality of lifestyle is being impinged. So have farmers at the nearby Liverpool Plains, who opposed BHP Billiton’s Caroona and the Shenhua Watermark coal projects.
At the time of the PAC approval, Whitehaven managing director Tony Haggarty said an extensive range of stakeholders had input into this process, including local community representatives and interest groups, local government and various NSW Government departments.
“We now have in place detailed guidelines which will allow this project to proceed in both a commercial and environmentally acceptable manner,” he said.
