This particular coal mining project below has a long history and each step of the way Liberal and National politicians at state and federal level have supported the interests of foreign-owned mining corporations over those of local communities and ignored the need for intergenerational equity.
The O'Farrell & Baird Coalition Governments went to bat for the coal mining industry in New South Wales in 2014 after Wyong Coal Pty Ltd neglected to gain consent from a landowner, the Darkinjung traditional owners:
Wyong Coal are
not, however, the owners of the land the subject of the DA. Rather, the DA
partially covers land owned by the applicant, the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal
Land Council ("Darkinjung"). Moreover, the DA partially covers land
over which a land rights claim has been made by Darkinjung under the Aboriginal
Land Rights Act 1983…..
The proposed development
is State Significant Development under Section 89C of the Environmental
Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) as it is 'development
for the purposes of coal mining', as specified in the State Environmental
Planning Policy (State and Regional Development) 2011. The Minister for
Planning and Infrastructure is the consent authority for the project. However,
the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) will determine the application under
delegation. In addition to approval under NSW legislation, the project is also
a controlled action requiring assessment and approval under the
Commonwealth's Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Commonwealth will
undertake a separate assessment and determination under its legislation.
The Berejilian Coalition Government in 2018 carried the flag for an amended Wyong Coal development application which bypassed the need for Darkinjung LALC consent:
Environmental Defender’s Office
NSW, November
2018:
Wyong Coal Pty Ltd,
which trades as Wyong Areas Joint Coal Venture, and Kores Australia Pty
Limited, are co respondents. KORES Australia Pty Ltd, a fully-owned
subsidiary of Korea Resource Corporation, is the majority shareholder of Wyong
Coal Pty Ltd.
The case is being fought
on four main grounds: climate change, flooding impacts, compensatory water and
risks to water supply for farmers in the region.
Wallarah 2 involves
construction and operation of an underground coal mine over the next 28 years,
until 2046. It would extract five million tonnes of thermal coal a year. The
total greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the mine will be 264+ million
tonnes of CO2.
In approving the
Project, the PAC chose not to take into account emissions which come from the
burning of coal mined at Wallarah 2. Our client argues that the law wasn’t
followed with respect to climate change impacts. The key ground with respect to
greenhouse gas emissions is that the PAC failed to consider an assessment of
downstream emissions from the project. Under the EP&A Act, the PAC was
required to consider the public interest. ACA argues that in 2018, considering
the public interest for projects such as coal mines mandates the consideration
of principles of ecologically sustainable development, particularly
intergenerational equity and the precautionary principle.
In addition, our client argues that the PAC unlawfully
failed to consider the risks of the flood impacts and the potential loss of
water occasioned by the mining project.
The Project, located within the Central Coast water
catchment, would have significant impacts on the Central Coast water supply and
residents in the surrounding areas.
It would permanently alter the landscape, causing
flooding events that will only increase over time as the impacts of climate
change are realised. The PAC approval proposes dealing with these devastating
flooding events by first requiring the mine to try mitigation measures like
putting people’s houses on stilts, relocating homes or building levees. If
those measures don’t work, then the mine would be required to pay the owners of
the properties for the harm. Our client says this simply is not a lawful way to
mitigate harm from flooding. There is no evidence that the mitigation measures
will work or that compensation is an effective way to remedy harm caused by
flooding.
The mine is also likely to impact upon the Central Coast
water supply and access to water for farmers in the surrounding region.
The mine proposes to construct a pipeline to deliver compensatory water to the
Central Coast Council and provide emergency and long-term compensatory water
supplies to farmers if they lose access to water on their properties. If
compensatory water cannot be provided, the mine can agree to buy those farmers
out. The approval does not cover how the pipeline and the compensatory water is
to be provided. ACA argues that the mitigation measures proposed by the PAC in
the conditions of approval are not lawful, primarily because they go beyond the
power of the PAC to deal with environmental impacts of the Project.
The Morrison Coalition Government by the hand of Minister for the Environment, Liberal MP for Durack and former mining industry lawyer Melissa Price, gave the stamp of approval on 18 January 2018:
This is the second time in the space of days NSW residents have learned that Liberal-Nationals politicians have allowed a new coal mine to progress towards operational capability in New South Wales.
Both of these new coal mines Shenhua Watermark and Wallarah 2 represent threats to regional water security.
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