Showing posts with label coal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coal. Show all posts
Thursday 6 June 2019
Climate change litigation and Australia
Pointing out the potential risks to business and government of ignoring or denying the reality of climate change.....
The
Canberra Times,
29 May 2019:
Since the late 1990s,
Australian politics on climate change has been divisive.
Although Australia
signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1998, it did not ratify it until 2007.
Then, in
2011, the Clean Energy Act purporting to reduce greenhouse emissions was passed,
only to be repealed in 2014.
In 2016, Australia
ratified the Paris Agreement and the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol;
however, any serious action on climate change remains to be seen.
At the same time, some
states and territories also have emissions reduction targets.
The uncoordinated
approach is a problem for at least two important reasons.
First, climate change is
an ever-increasing phenomenon, with tremendous impact on corporate, social and
political discourse. Any meaningful legal framework to govern climate change
requires the development of a legal consensus at the federal level, in line
with international commitments.
Second, there is a
rising wave of climate change-related litigation globally which is headed for
Australia. Climate change litigation 2.0 (targeting companies) and climate
change litigation 3.0 (targeting governments) will sink Australia, unless
drastic measures are implemented.
Under the current legal
regime, company directors may only be liable if found to be in breach of their
duty of care or for failing to address a foreseeable risk. However, guidance
from case law suggests that it is difficult to establish that the actions or
omissions of a particular entity or director caused or contributed harm to be
suffered by another. With the arrival of climate change litigation 2.0, this
will all change.
For one, litigation 2.0
will force companies to assess and report on the risks of climate change and
potentially set out plans for mitigating those risks. The recent tide of
comments from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the
Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Reserve Bank of Australia
are a testament to this.
Companies and their
directors could soon face liability (including personal liability) if they fail
to assess and address risks relating to climate change. Investors, shareholders
and even communities will be able to recover losses and seek damages from
companies and their directors, auditors and advisors, for failing to assess and
mitigate risks.
As major climate change
attribution studies emerge to assist in tracing particular weather events with
greenhouse gasses, causation will be easier to establish. It is likely that in
the future, courts will rely on such studies to conclude that a particular
entity has contributed, at least in some proportion, to a particular harm……
Although unprecedented
and unheard of in Australia, climate change litigation 3.0 will be the next
phase. It will allow Australians to bring action against the government for
failing to mitigate risks.
Claims of this nature
around the world are already proving to be quite successful.
The Urgenda
litigation in the Netherlands is the leading example. In that case, a Dutch NGO
argued that the Netherlands Government had breached its duty of care to the
Dutch people by failing to mitigate the risks of climate change and reducing
greenhouse gases. The remedy ordered by the court was that the Netherlands
Government reduce emissions by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2020….. [my yellow highlighting]
It should be
noted that on 8 February 2019 the NSW
Land and Environment Court in its judgment Gloucester
Resources Limited v Minister for Planning [2019] NSWLEC 7 accepted
that climate change formed part of critical reasons to reject a mine
development.
Gloucester Resources
decided not to appeal this decision and the proposed 830ha Rocky
Hill Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley region will not proceed.
Labels:
climate change,
coal,
Gloucester,
Land and Environment Court,
law,
mining
Saturday 1 June 2019
Photoshop of the Week
Labels:
#ScottMorrisonFAIL,
coal,
mining
Friday 26 April 2019
"Stop Adani" convoy gets good reception as it passes through the NSW Northern Rivers region
Supporters at Ferry Park, Maclean, on Pacific Highway heading north Photo: The Daily Examiner online |
The Daily Examiner, 22 April 2019, p.4:
Protesters came out in
support of the anti-Adani convoy as it made its way through the Clarence Valley
yesterday.
Up to 180 cars, many of
them electric, decorated in “Stop Adani” paraphernalia made their way along the
Pacific Highway as part of a two-week campaign, organised by conservationist
Bob Brown, to stop the proposed Carmichael coal mine.
Karen von Ahlefeldt said
many in the convoy stopped for a chat and were “boosted” by the show of
support.
“A lot of people
standing there wished they could be on the convoy, this was a good chance for
them to be part of it,” Ms von Ahlefeldt said.
Clarence Valley
Councillor and Greens party member Greg Clancy stood at South Grafton waving on
the cars as they made their way north.
“Politicians are not
listening, and some of the public don’t understand,” Cr Clancy said.
“They think it is jobs,
we need coal, but we don’t, we are phasing it out. Coal is not the future, it
is the past.”
He said it was
unthinkable to “dig up more of the Galilee Basin” and the proposed coal mine
would be “contributing to climate change”.
Cr Clancy said movements
such as the convoy were important steps to making change.
“Bob Brown has said this
is going to be another Franklin River issue,” he said.
“People are not going to
stand by. There will be protests, there will be arrests, it will be big.”
“You just have to look
at how many vehicles have gone past today to know it’s going to be big.”
Mr Clancy called on
politicians to commit to oppose the Queensland mine ahead of the federal
election next month.
Listen up @billshortenmp and @ScottMorrisonMP - we’re heading headfirst for climate catastrophe. @BobBrownFndn leads the #stopadaniconvoy up to Galilee Basin. Here we are at #mullumbimby for the 2nd rally of the day, with an incredible turnout. #auspol pic.twitter.com/fYDwOSDHZZ— Ellen Kirkwood (@Nelled) April 21, 2019
Monday 22 April 2019
News Corp mastheads back Big Coal during 2019 federal election campaign
These were News
Corp mastheads on 18 April 2019.
Images found @JennaCairney1 on Twitter |
Apparently we
voters don’t understand the role mining has in our country and Murdoch journalists
are eager to pressure politicians on the subject of mining jobs and
taxation revenue which they fear are on the line because these same
politicians might “go weak-kneed at the sight of Stop
Adani hashtags, earrings or stage invasions” [Townsville Bulletin, 18 April 2019, p.2].
I on the
other hand think rural and regional areas know the mining industry rather well
when it comes to jobs and taxes.
According
to the Australian Government Labour
Market Information Portal as of February 2019 the Mining Industry in this country“employs approximately 251,700 persons (ABS
trend data), which accounts for 2.0 per cent of the total workforce. Over the past five
years, employment in the industry has decreased by 5.4 per cent”.
Employment
growth in the industry in the five years to February 2019 was in fact minus
14,400 employees.
Projected
employment growth in the five years to May 2023 is predicted to be 2.4 per
cent.
Not
all mining industry employment is new jobs created by a mining venture either. The
Australia Institute points to the fact that economic modelling done by
Waratah Coal in 2011 found that a single Qld mine would displace 3,000 jobs in
other industries and crowd out $1.2 billion in manufacturing activity.
Australian
Tax Office (ATO) data
for 2013-14 to 2015-16 show that almost 60 percent of corporations in
the energy and resources sector paid zero tax in that period.
This
percentage appears to be something of an industry norm as in 2007-08 ATO data indicated there were
4,290 mining companies operating in Australia and 68.3pc of all these companies
paid no tax.
It is worth
noting that in 2007 the Business Council
of Australia (BCA) calculated corporate tax (as a percentage of profit) at
20pc for the mining industry.
Interestingly,
BCA also stated “taxes collected are negative for the mining industry group
because as major exporters survey participants reported a significant GST
refund which more than offset other taxes collected”.
In 2016-17 BHP Billiton Aluminium Australia Pty Ltd with a total income $1.81 billion for that year paid no tax. Neither did Whitehaven Coal Limited with a total income of $2.39 billion, Claremont Coal Mines Ltd with a total income of $1.01 billion and Ulan Coal Mines Limited with a total income of $1.03 billion - to name just a few examples for that financial year.
In 2016-17 BHP Billiton Aluminium Australia Pty Ltd with a total income $1.81 billion for that year paid no tax. Neither did Whitehaven Coal Limited with a total income of $2.39 billion, Claremont Coal Mines Ltd with a total income of $1.01 billion and Ulan Coal Mines Limited with a total income of $1.03 billion - to name just a few examples for that financial year.
So there we
have it.
An
Australia-wide industry sector which in February 2019 employed less people than
sectors such as Health & Social Assistance (est.1,702,700 persons), Retail
(est.1,284,700 persons), Education & Training (est,1,032,400 persons) and Manufacturing
(est. 872,500 persons) and, has a future growth
projection which makes it unlikely to return even 2015 employment levels.
A sector which also regularly takes tax minimisation to an extreme.
Yet for some
reason voters are supposed to ignore the ramifications of continuing to allow open slather to fossil
fuel mining corporations as climate change impacts begin to bite.
The mining
industry has pulled this sort of stunt before when it fought the proposed Resource Super
Profits Tax which would have applied to mining companies involved in the
extraction of non-renewable resources. It talked up inflated figures for mining employment and tax revenue and quoted the same in industry media releases.
The stakes
for present and future generations were not quite as high nor as urgent then as they are now and it’s time the rapacious mining industry is firmly put in its place by concerned
voters on 18 May 2019 – right at the back of the queue along with those political parties and candidates who blindly support Big Coal and Big Oil.
Australia can't afford politicians of that ilk anymore.
Labels:
coal,
election campaigns,
elections 2019,
mining industry,
News Corp
Friday 19 April 2019
In the face of grave concerns Morrison Government pushes through Adani mining consent ahead of the 18 May general election, CSIRO rolls over & Geoscience lets the cat out of the bag
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) attempts to avoid embarrassing the Morrison Coalition
Government on the day it announced a federal election date:
CSIRO Statement, 11 April 2019:
In late 2018 and early 2019 CSIRO and Geoscience
Australia wrote two reports for the Federal Government on specific questions on
groundwater monitoring, management and modelling planned by Adani Pty Ltd for
its Carmichael mine proposal in central Queensland.
This advice was limited to answering discrete inquiries
on whether elements of Adani's proposed plans would be adequate to protect nationally
significant environmental assets.
CSIRO identified inadequacies in the plans and was
subsequently asked to review Adani's response to the recommendations CSIRO made
to address the issues raised, as summarised by the Department of the
Environment and Energy. Adani had committed to address the modelling
limitations identified by the CSIRO and GA review in a groundwater model re-run
to be undertaken within two years.
CSIRO considered that this commitment satisfied its
recommendations, while also acknowledging there were still some issues that
need to be addressed in future approvals, particularly confirming the source of
the ecologically-important Doongmabulla Springs.
CSIRO has provided robust, peer-reviewed science on
specific groundwater modelling-related questions about the plans. CSIRO's role
is to provide scientific advice to inform approval processes, but it does not
have any role in making approval decisions.
The
public broadcaster reports in greater detail and with less reticence when
detailing facts of the matter…….
ABC
News, 18
April 2019:
Handwritten documents obtained
by the ABC appear to directly contradict the Environment Minister Melissa Price
that Adani "accepted in full" changes sought by scientists to limit
the impact of its controversial Queensland coal mine.
Announcing her decision
to approve Adani's water management plans for its Carmichael mine earlier this
month, Ms Price said Adani "accepted in full" advice from the
CSIRO and Geoscience Australia.
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison also maintained the Government would "make all decisions based on
the expert advice from ... Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO".
"We have always
been following the advice of the scientists and we'll continue to do
that," he said.
The advice was provided
in a damning review in February of the company's plans.
But documents provided
to the ABC showed Adani refused to accept key scientific findings and recommendations about its water management plans.
The ABC has obtained
notes taken by three attendees of a phone hook up on April 5 involving senior
officials from the Department of Environment and Energy and staff from
Geoscience Australia.
The documents show the
government science agency was concerned the water plans could allow Adani's
mine to breach the conditions of its environment approval.
However, Adani would not
accept the need for corrective action if that occurred.
The notes said that
Adani refused to:
- acknowledge the scientists' key finding that the model Adani used to estimate the mine's impacts was not fit for purpose;
- accept that a new model could show that the mine's impacts would breach environmental approvals; and
- commit to corrective action if the new model showed greater impacts on the environment than Adani had claimed would occur.
The ABC requested the
meeting notes under freedom of information (FOI) laws, but Geoscience Australia
took the unusual step of releasing the documents immediately instead.
The briefing happened
after the Department of Environment and Energy had already advised the Minister
to approve the plans, which had been finalised the previous month.
One set of notes was
taken by Geoscience Australia chief Dr James Johnson, another by head of
environmental geoscience Dr Stuart Minchin, and the third by senior executive
Dr Richard Blewett.
A handwritten note by Dr
Blewett mentions concerns held by Jane Coram, the head of CSIRO's land and
water division.
She complained the
science agencies had "not seen the revised plan" set to be approved,
and that they were expected to take the summary of it at "face
value".
After the meeting, Ms
Price published a statement announcing, "Geoscience Australia and the
CSIRO have provided written assurances that these steps address their
recommendations."
A spokesman for Ms Price
said she was not present at the meeting.
"Decisions were
made between the department officers, Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO on the
proper scientific assessment of the issues and no other factor," the
spokesman said.
But the notes show the
scientific agencies were asked by the Minister's department to give formal
assurances that Adani's commitments met their concerns in language acceptable
to the Government.
"Gov[ernment] is
keen for assurance," the notes taken by CEO of Geoscience Australia, James
Johnson said.
"Ideal for
gov[ernment]: letter from me to [Mr Finn Pratt] saying based on extensive
briefing from [Department of Environment and Energy] on Adani addresses the
concerns raised."
Fin Pratt is the head of
the Department of Environment and Energy.
In his handwritten notes
of the meeting, Mr Johnson said the Government was keen for an assurance
"based on discussion briefing" from the department, but he scribbled
that out and changed it to "based on extensive briefing".
The Minister
subsequently published a letter from Mr Johnson to Mr Pratt saying: "Thank
you for the extensive briefing ... Based on this briefing Geoscience Australia
is of the view that Adani have addressed the issues and concerns raised in our
recommendations."
Ms Price's spokesman
told the ABC no pressure was placed on the science agencies.
"Any suggestion of
pressure in that process is rejected in the strongest possible terms and is
insulting to the integrity of the experts concerned," he said.
Adani said in a
statement it could not comment on the content of the documents.
"Adani was not
privy to internal briefing documents or discussions that the Federal Department
of Environment and Energy may have provided to Geoscience Australia and CSIRO,
consequently we are unable to comment as to their contents."
'Advice to Adani that
they refused'
The briefing notes
listed in point form the "advice to Adani that they refused".
These included a
recommendation Adani acknowledge their modelling "is not fit for
purpose" and that a "new model could revise impacts [to be] greater
than [what] has been approved".
"So told Adani — if
new model shows greater impact than current model, they have to sort it out
[with] corrective [actions]", the notes said.
"They
refused."
Before the verbal
briefing to Geoscience Australia, the Department Environment and Energy
prepared a summary of Adani's response to concerns raised by Geoscience
Australia and the CSIRO, which was provided to the two agencies.
The summary was
published by the Department of Environment and Energy.
That document shows
Adani declined to commit to a reduced mine plan, or to cutting back coal
extraction, as suggested by the Department Environment and Energy in response
to the damning report on its groundwater management model and plans by
Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO.
It also shows Adani
negotiated compromise outcomes in response to some of the scientists' concerns
and rejected other measures that the two agencies sought.
There were gaps between
what was included in that document and what was apparently outlined in the
verbal briefing to Geoscience Australia staff.
The notes of the verbal
briefing the department gave to the scientists said that Adani committed to a
"maximum timetable of three months" for conducting an investigation
if water use limits were triggered — a demand of both CSIRO and Geoscience
Australia.
In fact, the response
Adani formally agreed to is less watertight: "If the groundwater level
thresholds exceedance is because of authorised mining activities, the
investigation will be prioritised and, depending on the nature of the impact,
completed within three months."
Adani told the ABC it
was not provided directly with the advice by CSIRO and Geoscience Australia
until after the Government approved the plans. Instead it responded to summaries
made by the Department of Environment and Energy.
Minister faced intense
pressure to approve mine
Ms Price faced intense
pressure from her own side of politics to approve Adani's water management
plans before the federal election was called.
Queensland LNP Senator
James McGrath warned he would publicly call for Ms Price's resignation unless
she did the "right thing" by Adani, and Queensland's LNP executive condemned what it called her
"delay" in approval.
In the wake of the
Federal Government's sign-off on the water management plans, Adani is pressing
the Queensland Government to complete a series of other, state-based approvals
that are needed before mining can commence.
When Ms Price announced
that she had approved the water management plans — just one working day after
CSIRO and Geoscience Australia were briefed on Adani's responses to their
concerns — the Environment Minister said:
"I have accepted
the scientific advice and therefore approved the groundwater management plans
for the Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Infrastructure project under the
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
"Both CSIRO and
Geoscience Australia have confirmed the revised plans meet strict scientific
requirements."
The Queensland
Government is yet to approve construction as it seeks to protect a colony of
black-throated finches around the mine site.
Even if construction is
fully signed off, the project still requires more approvals to be granted from
the Queensland and Commonwealth governments before coal can be dug out of
the ground.
In an official statement
to the ABC, a spokesperson for Geoscience Australia said it stood by their
earlier statement that Adani's actions addressed the concerns raised in their
technical advice.
"Adani did not
acknowledge our advice that their groundwater model was not fit for purpose,
and indicated they would not revise the model in the short term," the
spokesperson said.
They said despite that,
additional monitoring and mitigation Adani did agree to do satisfied their
concerns.
Geoscience Australia
said it was not pressured to provide the Government assurance.
A request the Morrison Government saw fit to ignore.
Labels:
#MorrisonGovernmentFAIL,
coal,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
science
Sunday 10 February 2019
And now for some good news......
David Morris, CEO of EDO NSW: Our argument was based on science, economics and – we argued - the
proper application of the law. The climate contention as a ground for refusing
this mine was innovative; the first time climate change has been addressed this
way in an Australian court using the concept of a carbon budget as its basis.
Like so many great ideas – its strength was its
simplicity. While there was lots of necessary evidence and discussion about the
carbon budget, geopolitical climate policy and Australia’s legal framework for
climate change, ultimately our argument was simple: if you accept
the science, then the local legal framework compels you to refuse the mine
because it’s clearly not in the public interest to increase emissions.
As Professor Steffen said “it’s one atmosphere,
it’s one climate system, it’s one planet - and so we need to start thinking
more carefully about the net effect of wherever coal is burnt, or oil or gas…
The project’s contribution to cumulative climate change impacts means that its
approval would be inequitable for current and future generations”. [EDO NSW, media release, 8 February 2019]
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
8 February 2019:
When Planning
Minister Anthony Roberts intervened a year ago to give a coal miner
the unusual right to challenge its project's refusal in court, neither would
have countenanced Friday's outcome.
Instead of settling the
future of Gloucester Resources' controversial Rocky Hill coal mine near
Gloucester, the NSW Land and Environment Court just cast a cloud over coal mining
in general.
The miner had thought it
was merely challenging the Department of Planning's rejection of the mine's
impact on visual amenity in the bucolic valley around Gloucester.
Instead, the
Environmental Defenders Office, acting for residents opposed to the mine,
grabbed the opportunity to join the appeal.
In what EDO chief David
Morris describes as a "delicious irony", the court got to hear about
the project's detrimental impact on climate change and the town's social fabric
- despite Gloucester Resources arguing such intervention would be a
"sideshow and a distraction".
Future generations will
wonder why it took so long for any court in the land to hear such evidence when
considering a coal mine project.
But Justice Brian
Preston didn't just allow the EDO to provide expert evidence of the role
greenhouse gas emissions play in driving climate change. He also accepted it as
part of the critical reasons to reject the mine. "The decision forms part
of what
is a growing trend around the world on using litigation to fight
climate change," Martijn Wilder, a prominent climate lawyer from
Baker & McKenzie, says. "While early on some of this litigation was
not successful, increasingly it is."
Gloucester
Resources Limited v Minister for Planning [2019] NSWLEC 7, 8 February 2019 judgment here.
Labels:
Berejiklian Government,
climate change,
coal,
court,
law,
mining,
New South Wales
Thursday 24 January 2019
Hard right ideology has so blinded the Morrison & Berejiklian Coalition Governments that water sustainability is at risk in yet another part of New South Wales in 2019
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.
Wednesday 16 January 2019
Another thing for NSW voters to remember as they cast their ballot in the 2019 state and federal elections
The Shenhua Group appear to have first approached the NSW O'Farrell Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government in 2011-2012 concerning its plans to mine for coal on the Liverpool Plains, a significant NSW foodbowl.
This particular state government was the subject of not one but two investigations by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) - Operations Spicer (2014) and Credo (2014).
After he was found to have misled the independent commission Premier O'Farrell resigned as Premier in April 2014 and as Liberal MP for Ku-ring-gai in March 2015. Similarly the then NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for the Central Coast, Special Minister of State and Liberal MP for Terrigal Chris Hartcher resigned as government minister in December 2013 after he was named in ICAC hearings and left the parliament in March 2015.
On 28 January
2015 the NSW Minister for Planning and Liberal MP for Goulburn Pru Goward granted development consent
for a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Shenhua Group, Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Ltd, to create and operate an open cut mine on the Liverpool Plains.
On 4 July 2015 then Australian Minister for the Environment and
Liberal MP for Flinders Greg Hunt ticked off on the Abbott Government's environmental approval for Shenhua Watermark Coal to proceed with its mining operation.
Glaringly obvious environmental risks associated with large-scale mining in the region and vocal local community opposition had led to a downsizing of the potential mine site, for which the NSW Berejiklian Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government paid the Shenhua Group $262 million in compensation.
ABC News, 31 July 2015, projected new mine boundaries |
However, in July 2018 the Berejiklian Government renewed Shenhua’s mining exploration licence.
Given that on the successive watches of the O'Farrell, Baird and Berejiklian governments instances of mismanagement and/or corrupt conduct in relation to water sustainability, mining leases and the environment have been reported one would think that an abundance of caution would be exercised.
Instead we now learn
that that Shenhua Watermark Coal has been allowed to vary development consent
conditions for the open cut mine on the edge of the flood plain and, it is looking increasingly like pro coal, former mining industry lawyer, current Australian Minister for
the Environment and Liberal MP for Durack, Melissa
Price, will wave through these variations on behalf of the Morrison
Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government.
Thereby placing even more pressure on the already stressed
surface and underground water resources of the state.
The Liverpool Plains are said to be a significant groundwater source in the New South Wales section of the Murray-Darling Basin.
The Liverpool Plains are said to be a significant groundwater source in the New South Wales section of the Murray-Darling Basin.
Lock The Gate
Alliance, 8
January 2019:
The NSW Government has
allowed mining company Shenhua to alter its development approval for the
controversial Watermark open cut coal mine in the Liverpool Plains, near
Gunnedah, which will enable work on site to begin without key management plans
being approved.
Despite the NSW deal,
Shenhua is still not able to commence work under the Federal environmental
approval until two important management plans, including the crucial Water
Management Plan, have been approved by the Federal Government.
Now local farmers are afraid that the Federal Environment Minister, Melissa Price, may be about to follow the NSW Government lead and vary the approval to allow Shenhua to start pre-construction for their mine without the management plans that were promised.
Liverpool Plains farmer John Hamparsum said, “We’re disgusted that the NSW Government has capitulated to Shenhua yet again, and amended the development consent to let them start pre-construction work without the crucial Water Management Plan in place.
"They have repeatedly stated that the best science would apply to this mine before any work was done, and now they’ve thrown that out the window.
"We’re calling on the Federal Environment Minister, Melissa Price, and New England MP, Barnaby Joyce to now step up and promise that not a sod will be turned on this mine until the full Water Management Plan has been developed and reviewed by independent scientists.
"This mine represents a massive threat to our water resources and our capacity to feed Australia, and if the National Party has any respect for agriculture they need to act now and deliver on their promise that the best science will be applied.
"We won’t accept creeping development of this mine and weakening of the conditions that were put in place to protect our precious groundwater," he said.
Lock the Gate Alliance spokesperson Georgina Woods said, "It’s been four years since the NSW and Federal Governments approved Shenhua’s Watermark coal mine on the Liverpool Plains and there are still no management plans in place.
"Instead of upholding the conditions of Shenhua’s approval, the NSW Government has watered them down so that Shenhua can start work without these crucial plans in place.
"The community has a long memory and will not accept Governments changing the rules to the benefit of foreign-owned mining giants over local farmers," she said.
The former Federal Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, made a strong commitment that a Water Management Plan for the project would not be approved unless the Independent Expert Scientific Committee was satisfied with it.
The amended NSW approval can be accessed here.
Now local farmers are afraid that the Federal Environment Minister, Melissa Price, may be about to follow the NSW Government lead and vary the approval to allow Shenhua to start pre-construction for their mine without the management plans that were promised.
Liverpool Plains farmer John Hamparsum said, “We’re disgusted that the NSW Government has capitulated to Shenhua yet again, and amended the development consent to let them start pre-construction work without the crucial Water Management Plan in place.
"They have repeatedly stated that the best science would apply to this mine before any work was done, and now they’ve thrown that out the window.
"We’re calling on the Federal Environment Minister, Melissa Price, and New England MP, Barnaby Joyce to now step up and promise that not a sod will be turned on this mine until the full Water Management Plan has been developed and reviewed by independent scientists.
"This mine represents a massive threat to our water resources and our capacity to feed Australia, and if the National Party has any respect for agriculture they need to act now and deliver on their promise that the best science will be applied.
"We won’t accept creeping development of this mine and weakening of the conditions that were put in place to protect our precious groundwater," he said.
Lock the Gate Alliance spokesperson Georgina Woods said, "It’s been four years since the NSW and Federal Governments approved Shenhua’s Watermark coal mine on the Liverpool Plains and there are still no management plans in place.
"Instead of upholding the conditions of Shenhua’s approval, the NSW Government has watered them down so that Shenhua can start work without these crucial plans in place.
"The community has a long memory and will not accept Governments changing the rules to the benefit of foreign-owned mining giants over local farmers," she said.
The former Federal Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, made a strong commitment that a Water Management Plan for the project would not be approved unless the Independent Expert Scientific Committee was satisfied with it.
The amended NSW approval can be accessed here.
A legal perspective on the issues surrounding water management by Dr Emma Carmody, Senior Policy and Law Reform Solicitor, EDO NSW and Legal Advisor, Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, is included in the December 2018 issue of Law Society Journal, Managing our scarce water resources: recent developments in the Murray-Darling Basin.
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