Reason, sanity and the democratic process prevailed in the Legislative Council and prevented the Minister for Mineral Resources from fast tracking an amendment to the Mining Act which would overturn the Supreme Court ruling on access agreements. While the Labor party has the numbers to pass legislation in the Legislative Assembly, it has been postponed to the 11th May for debate in the Legislative Council.

It is best summed up by Mr Andrew Stoner in his address to the Legislative Assembly.

‘Given our concerns about the appalling removal of the rights of people concerned with Caroona and about the Government’s lack of transparency in not allowing us to properly examine this legislation, we are left with no choice but to oppose the bill today. In the Legislative Council the Opposition will ask that the bill be adjourned ………. to allow us the … Read More »

We’ve just heard that the government is due to introduce the Mining and Petroleum Legislation Amendment (Land Access) Bill 2010 in the NSW Legislative Assembly thursday (22nd April).

This clearly shows Minister Macdonald has no regard for the law or the Supreme Court of this State.

The court uncovered a regime in NSW where miners have for years been allowed to enter private land, flout the law and take short cuts with the environment and landholders rights. Now that they’ve been caught out, the government’s reaction isn’t to uphold the law but instead to totally rewrite it to benefit the powerful mining lobby.

The Minister’s changes would legalise the very behaviour from miners which the NSW Supreme Court found not only threatened the environment but undermines the rights of landholders, financial institutions and many other parties.

The message from Minister Macdonald is clear – … Read More »

Finally recognising concerns over Coal Seam Gas extraction heavily impacting water supplies, the QLD government has announced new regulatory trigger levels which will stop CSG producers from draining aquifers with impunity (as has happened in other parts of the world).

The new trigger thresholds will be a 5m drop for consolidated aquifers such as sandstone, a 2m drop for shallow alluvial aquifers and 0.2m drop for springs.  When trigger thresholds are exceeded, the CSG operator will have to investigate and report to the bore owner and QLD Water Commission. Whilst the devil is likely to be in the detail, it is at least a start in protecting precious water supplies and QLD is to be congratulated for pioneering sustainable development. 

We ask what is the NSW government doing in this regard?Why is it still dragging its feet over Water Study … Read More »

ABC’s 4 Corners brought home to Australia this week the high cost Hunter families are paying for the NSW’s government’s addiction to coal revenues.

Respiratory problems are rife, cancer clusters coming to light and people advised to move out of the area to save their and their children’s health.  Calls for an independent health enquiry and more 2.5PM dust monitors have been arrogantly dismissed by NSW’s Health Minister.  Yet again the cumulative health and environmental impacts of massive mining expansion have slipped through the regulatory cracks because dust containing toxic metals and other chronic disease initiators is not mine specific.

What price people’s health?  What happens when the Hunter Health bill outstrips the coal royalties? And is this happening already?

BHP announced today that it will appeal the Supreme Court ruling, so that it doesn’t have to do what the Mining Act requires of it during exploration.

BHP says “The Court decision creates significant practical difficulties, not only for resource companies but for landowners and banking institutions as well.”  

So, all of a sudden, BHP has concerns for the landowners over whose freehold they thought they had supreme trampling rights? Why doesn’t it have concern for the food production capabilities of this State? Or for the water contamination mining causes state wide?  Or for the communities in which coal mining causes poor health?

We say that BHP only has concern for its own rights and all the rest is surely an April Fool!