One of the common ideas about rural and regional perceptions of coal and gas issues is that while farmers tend to defend their land, townspeople don’t care because they don’t have to deal with the impacts. That idea was put to bed last Monday at the Crossing Theatre in Narrabri that brought around 150 people to a standing-room-only forum on property rights and mining.

The meeting, called by Narrabri councillor Bevan O’Regan, heard from barrister Peter King, originally from Bingara, talk about the existing rights of landowners and the need for a complete re-write of the Mining Act, which is based on laws from the gold-rush era where impacts of mining were lower and there was less freehold land.

The question on everybody’s lips was why farmers don’t have the right to say no to large coal and coal-seam gas projects on their land. The answer was that they already do – Clause 23, Section 1 of the Mining Act says that mining leases cannot be granted over agricultural land without the consent of the landowner. The reason that this clause has been little help to landowners is because of a loophole that says that the landowner doesn’t need to be notified that a mining lease has been applied for over their property (except buried in the pages of the newspaper) and if they don’t object within 28 days, they can’t object later on. Not surprisingly, the result is a mixture of shock and betrayal from people who expect that governments are looking after their interests. (As far as we know, the only time a landowner was not caught off guard and managed to object was when Moolarben Coal objected to Ulan’s claim for a mining lease over the first company’s “agricultural land” – ironic but true).

The meeting resolved to run a political campaign and nominated a steering committee to take up the fight and organise a bigger meeting in Narrabri next month. A number of the steering committee members are Maules Creek residents.

Boggabri Coal has been exposed as the only coal mine in the Hunter and Liverpool Plains with 457 visa workers on their books, despite laying off 106 people several weeks ago. 457 visas were introduced so that temporary foreign workers could be brought in if no local workers are available. The visas have generated outrage because they allow mining companies to replace award or permanent contract workers with temporary workers and undermine conditions of people who work long hours in dangerous jobs. The CFMEU has expressed outrage at Boggabri’s use of 457 workers. Despite the company claiming that no local workers could have done the job, the union said that the company was lying, and that there were dozens of mechanical fitters including among those laid off who could have done the job.

Mining companies promise jobs and growth to quiet concerns about environmental destruction, water depletion and damage to health, but now that the company has approval to expand it doesn’t need community support anymore and is happy to sack workers and undermine their conditions.

The more people out there on the line, the more forest we can protect – please come out and stand up for public lands!

NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said approval of the mining projects show that responsible mining, rigorously assessed and properly managed, can continue to deliver jobs, investment and economic growth for NSW.

A couple of weeks ago, a visitor dropped into our bush camp stationed on the edge of the Leard State Forest. “It’s very difficult to go from $1500 a week to nothing,” he told us.

The visitor, who used to be a truck driver at the Tarrawonga coal pit, also told us that the workers had been warned not to litter on the side of the roads, at least until the mine expansion gained approval. It makes us wonder if the lay-offs at Whitehaven’s Tarrawonga mine were also held off until after approval.

Our visitor was one of 30 people who lost their jobs at the Tarrawonga mine, with no warning and just a white envelope handed to them – the only logic about who lost their jobs seeming to be about who spoke out. From what we’ve heard, there are a lot fewer issues being raised among the workforce now – everybody is keeping their heads low.

Two weeks later, the Boggabri coal mine also slashed 106 jobs. Neither mine will be reducing their production levels, but instead bringing in machines to replace human beings. It seems that the mining companies are just as committed to employment as they are to protection of natural assets like water and forests.

Anecdotally, public sentiment in Narrabri has started to change as well. A lot of people have been opposed to coal and gas expansion because of serious impacts like depopulation of farms, destruction of landscapes, deterioration of air quality, increased costs and depressurisation of the water table. Some accepted the new mines because of the promises made of jobs and growth. Now the narrative is starting to fade and reality is starting to kick in. What the future of the area will be like in twenty or thirty years’ time when the mines are gone is anybody’s guess.

In the forest, Idemitsu is fencing off more public land as they prepare to slash and bulldoze more forest. This time, the buffer zone around the area marked up for clearing is so large that it will be invisible from outside the fence. Perhaps it’s a form of mitigation – if nobody can see it, where’s the problem?

Our camp has had a visit from Japanese campaigners and ideas have been thrown around about ways in which a Japanese-Australian alliance can help protect our land, Japanese health and the global climate. We can see clearly how we can stop the Maules Creek mine, but the Boggabri expansion is a bit more tricky – now, a plan is being developed.

We’re hoping to have another forest gig at the end of June, but don’t wait until then to come and help stop mining on public land! We’ll definitely keep everyone posted – if you want to help out, drop us an email.

Hi all muzz here ,

April 19th, 20th, 21st we had 21 people on the Pilliga and Leard  State Forest  Coal & Coal Seam Gas tag along tour starting at at the Pilliga hot bore baths, a great place to camp the night. In the morning we headed of to the  Forest Discovery Centre in Baradine after looking around we where give a talk by the park Ranger about the significance of the area. Then off to the Baradine Local Aboriginal Land Council to look at the significant collections of battle axes,grinding stones, emu callers, rain sticks, clapsticks even a scar tree.

From there we had Lunch at sculptures in the scrub @ Dandry Gorge located in the Pilliga Forest.

The Sculptures in the Scrub are the most recent addition to Pilliga Forest’s landscape.
These amazing artworks are made from bronze, stone and stainless steel, with the
largest creation standing up to 3.5 metres tall. The sculptures were developed by
Australian artists Brett Garling, Col Henry and Ken Hutchinson and Aboriginal artist
Badger Bates, and were funded by Gawambaraay Pilliga Co-management Committee.
The sculptures were developed by Australian artists Brett Garling, Col Henry and Ken
Hutchinson and Aboriginal artist Badger Bates, and were funded by Gawambaraay Pilliga

After Dandry Gorge we spent the night at the Pilliga Pottery enjoy fine food and fine company, the morning took us to the  gas field with local farmer Tony Pickard : tour of the coal seam gas: visit rehabilitation areas of the coal seam gas well sites; site of serious spills; gas pipeline; pilot production wells; discussion on poorly remediated, previously unlined produced water ponds,contaminations, water treatment plant, evaporation ponds.

The Santos proposed leasehold in the Gunnedah Basin includes plans for 50 well sets in the
Pilliga section of the leasehold over the next 3 years. Santos are to reassess the reserves claimed
by Eastern Star Mining in PL238.

Then over to the Leard State Forest to see two Open Cut Coal Mines, one in the State Forest!!! Every one one was quite taken back by the big hole, and the clearing of the forest for more mining, when you see an Open Cut mine first hand you get a good understanding of ” Open cuts don’t heal ” We also had two Japanese forest campaners to see Idemitsu’s ecocide face to face.

The week end just past we had 4 Japanese students living   in Sydney stay for the weekend looking for Koala’s in the Leard State Forest and  at Watermark, near Breeza NSW where another coal mine is dew to start !!!!

The Campane to stop the Open Cut Coal Mines is going very well with Whitehaven looking very shaky with low share price’s. The Boggabri Coal ” Idemitsu ” is harder to read with the sacking of 106 workers but still clearing the Forest for more mining.

So if you can come out and support the Leard State Forest please   do not hesitate, we all ways need more numbers in camp.

Stand and Protect

Love and Respect

there where trees in the back round a few days before

Whitehaven Coal’s recent behaviour towards their workforce – telling 40 workers that they had to go home without a job with no warning – is probably yet another breach and will probably land them in both the workplace tribunal and the Federal Court. Boggabri Coal will also be sacking workers – about seventy, if rumours are correct – but unlike Whitehaven, the company is laying off workers legally in consultation with the CFMEU as per their enterprise agreement.

It’s starting to get a bit predictable – every time something unexpected happens to the two companies, Whitehaven Coal breaks the law and Boggabri Coal does not.

• In 2011, both mining companies dumped contaminated pit water into the Namoi River after a flood. Boggabri Coal asked for permission to do this, but Whitehaven just went ahead and did it anyway and copped two measly $1800 fines. A local farmer’s crop was destroyed, and when he complained, he was told by the company that it was just “something you’ll have to get used to.”
• Last December, a derailment on the Cox’s creek bridge occurred, preventing both Whitehaven and Idemitsu (Boggabri Coal) from getting their coal to port. Both companies asked for permission to transport coal by truck, causing a lot of concern among residents about the traffic and noise impacts of an intensive trucking operation. Whitehaven openly broke the law by putting the trucks on the road before getting permission to do so, calling the operation a “trucking trial”, before FLAC complained to the Department of Planning, who soon told Whitehaven to stop their illegal trucking operation. Boggabri Coal waited and did not break the law. The Department acknowledged in a letter to us that the trucking operation was illegal, but said it was “not in the public interest” to fine Whitehaven, adding that the company “has been warned that further breaches of this nature may attract enforcement action.”
• Boggabri Coal has been blockaded at their haul road gates during peaceful protests. They can’t take the trucks up Leard Forest Road because it would be a breach of their development consent and illegal. Last month, Whitehaven’s Tarrawonga mine was also blockaded. It is also illegal for them to use public roads like the Goonbri road to take coal trucks, but they went ahead and did it anyway. This time the Director of the Department of Planning, David Kitto, called us in relation to the breach and said he would be taking the matter seriously. However, he then wrote back and said that the trucks were diverted at the request of the police (which seems odd and irrelevant – the police can’t overrule the law) and added “I can assure you that any further breach of the project approval by Whitehaven Coal would be fully investigated by the Department, and enforcement action be taken if it is warranted.”
• Whitehaven lied to both the Department of Planning and the federal environment department (SEWPAC) about the quality of their offsets, misdescribing some vegetation types as other vegetation types and calling degraded wheat paddocks “White Box Gum Woodland”. It took an investigation by local residents and North West Ecological Services to report the breach, and the federal environment department is investigating – this would be a crime under federal environmental law. We haven’t found any major issues with Boggabri’s offsets (not that any amount of offsets justifies destroying critically endangered forest).
• When Whitehaven’s Maules Creek Mine was first proposed (at that time by Aston Resources, which has since become part of Whitehaven), owner Nathan Tinkler failed to disclose a $50 000 donation to the NSW National Party. This is a very serious breach of a law intended to prevent corruption. Boggabri Coal did not fail to report any disclosable political donations.
• Whitehaven Coal negotiated access agreements to build a private haul road. As part of the negotiations, they agreed to minimise their impacts by only allowing their coal trucks from Tarrawonga on the road. Soon their contractors, Boggabri’s contractors and members of the general public were using the road as Whitehaven had not maintained their gates and the fed up landowners blocked the road. Whitehaven then injuncted the landowners from blocking the road. Boggabri Coal does not allow other vehicles on their haul road, which also goes through private farmlands. It causes a nuisance – but it’s legal.
• According to four separate reports we have heard, Whitehaven Coal let off a blast at the wrong time at their Tarrawonga mine which wafted over into Boggabri coal mine, affecting workers in scissor lifts who could not leave in time – around 18 workers were sent to hospital for observation. We are not aware of any enforcement action about this.
• Finally, Whitehaven have failed to consult the union about lay-offs as required in their enterprise agreement, where Boggabri has been consulting.

Nobody should be allowed to mine in a state forest, push farmers off their land or create massive open-pit coal mines at this point in history that would depressurise the water table and create huge amounts of greenhouse gases. Governments continue to fail to apply appropriate regulation to mining companies.

But this track record from Whitehaven Coal, a recidivist and serial offender, shows that it has complete contempt for even the laws that exist to protect people, the environment and their workers. They just don’t care about anything except profit.

When we peacefully protest against these injustices, we expect to be charged if we calmly but determinedly break a law to highlight something wrong. The question is – why shouldn’t the same standards apply to Whitehaven Coal? The laws that apply to them are much more serious and breaking them have much higher impacts on people, the environment and their workers. Whitehaven should not be allowed to behave like pirates all through the Gunnedah Basin and the Liverpool Plains.

A month ago things were looking grim for the campaign to protect Maules Creek and Leard Forest from massive coal expansion, with the Maules Creek and Boggabri expansion gaining federal approval as the last hoop they had to jump through before being able to rip into this area. Now things are looking up, with a court case being progressed against the Maules Creek mine that has good prospects and is likely to tie the mine up in the courts for years. The expansion of the Tarrawonga mine seems unlikely to proceed due to market conditions, and unfortunately this comes at a human cost – thirty coal miners, hired with promises of long-term high incomes, have had their jobs axed like hundreds around the country as the coal boom starts to slow. The decline of coal around the world seems inevitable, and it’s important that state and federal governments support transition projects so that ordinary people are not made to pay for the reckless and unsustainable expansion that has driven so many farmers, manufacturers, tourism and education workers out of business.

Here in the forest the campaign is gathering steam. The Leard Forest Listen Up brought a dozen people from Maules Creek, Barraba, and Boggabri as well as fifty other people from further afield, including the Northern Rivers, Sydney and Bathurst. Local farmer Phil Laird spoke passionately about the need to keep up the pressure as the court challenge proceeds, and NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon spoke about the need to support people all up and down the coal chain in campaigning against the proposed fourth coal terminal in Newcastle, where much of this coal is destined. The night was filled with folk music, comedy and even a bit of punk rock, as well as an inspiring march down to the haul road gates of the Boggabri coal mine.

The following Monday a valiant woman stopped output of coal from the Tarrawonga coal mine for 14 hours by remaining in a tree platform attached to the front gates of the mine. Whitehaven, true to form, snuck a few empty trucks through by deviating from their legally approved access route, but a quick call to the Department of Planning and a call back from the Director-General of Planning kicked off yet another investigation into whether Whitehaven broke the law yet again.

The protest called on the federal government to not make the same mistake as with the other two mines by deciding to approve before looking at the impacts, and for election candidates around the country to make their positions known on Lock the Gate’s Call to Country.

Astonishingly, Tony Burke approved the Tarrawonga expansion the very next day, only a few hours before announcing that impacts of coal and gas projects on water would be introduced into federal environment law. Apparently the government didn’t want the impacts of mining on Maules Creek’s water supply to be a reason to knock the mines back – little surprise, since the mines would draw down the surrounding aquifers by more than 5 metres.

Nevertheless, outgoing Whitehaven manager Tony Haggarty spat the dummy at the campaign against the mine, claiming with no evidence that the local community was supportive of the mines. Clearly Haggarty hasn’t set foot in Maules Creek in a while, and his claims were met with an indignant response by Phil Laird.

The Boggabri mine has announced that it will begin its infrastructure projects for expansion within the next few weeks, including a rail spur and transmission lines. Heritage surveys for the rail spur have already begun, and a significant area of Leard Forest has been marked up for the expansion of a top soil dump.

The last several days have brought a welcome gift of rain, with a gentle fog rising off the forest this morning to a relatively clear day. That this little oasis could become the largest coal field in NSW seems incredible, and the more people are involved, the easier it will be to permanently protect this area from insatiable mining companies.

Don’t miss out – come and join the movement!

All coal output and worker access to Whitehaven’s Tarrawonga Mine this morning has been stopped as a protestor sits in a tree platform attached to the main gate and twenty other people have gathered in support.

Front Line Action on Coal is backing the “Call to Country” campaign, calling for a federal moratorium on new coal and coal-seam gas projects and a Royal Commission into state government coal mine approval processes.

“State and federal governments are rushing coal projects through before finding out the impact on our water, our health and our climate,” said spokesperson Jonathan Moylan.

“Will the federal approval process for Tarrawonga’s expansion be just as shambolic as the other two mines which are ripping up our forest and our farming communities?” Mr. Moylan said.

“If governments continue to put coal companies ahead of the long-term prosperity of the community, more protests are inevitable.”

A national alliance of coal and gas affected communities, Lock the Gate, launched the “Call to Country” website and campaign demanding federal intervention into coal and gas approval processes last week.

Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton received a surprise visit this morning from local residents and supporters at the Boggabri MAC Village who handed him a “Call to Country” as part of a Lock the Gate National Day of Action.

Every electorate office in the country will receive Lock the Gate visits today and a press conference is being held at Parliament House in Canberra to launch a nation-wide call for national reforms on coal and gas ahead of the federal election.

“There have been near-unanimous votes against coal-seam gas in communities throughout the Parkes electorate but Mark Coulton is still toeing the party line,” said Jonathan Moylan, a spokesperson for Front Line Action on Coal.

Speaking from Parliament House, Lock the Gate President Drew Hutton said that the movement’s membership would be mobilised ahead of the election to ensure its policies were supported.

“We have mobilised many thousands of Australians in the struggle against coal and coal seam gas and we intend to use this support to pressure parliamentarians and the political parties to support the Call to Country,” Mr. Hutton said.

http://www.calltocountry.org.au/

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4-dUKBvwrY]

Our story today begins with former Whitehaven managing director Tony Haggarty telling national media that nobody is making money on coal at the moment after the company posted a $47 million quarterly loss. It makes us wonder why the company wants to evict part of a community and destroy a large forest to make way for more coal. Perhaps these selfless coal companies are thinking about the jobs they can add to the community. Although it can’t be that either, with a new report by the Australia Institute that shows that new mines take jobs away rather than creating them. In just the agricultural sector alone, $65 billion has been lost since the start of the mining boom, not to speak of all the other industries impacted by infrastructure strain and inflation caused by the coal rush.

A tough job it is too, being a miner. Front Line Action on Coal has heard reports that eighteen miners at Idemitsu’s Boggabri Coal Mine had to be taken to hospital the Friday before last after a blast at the neighbouring Tarrawonga Mine. Two days earlier, FLAC reported the company to the Environmental Protection Authority when three of us developed strong headaches and nausea after a rotten egg smell wafted over camp following a blast. Apparently Whitehaven told the EPA everything went fine and they had pictures to prove it. We’re sure they do.

Our prospects for healthy aquifers, communities and a safe climate look a little better after a lawsuit in the US forced an American coal company to settle by agreeing to close three coal-fired power stations and replace them with renewable energy by 2015. The Maules Creek community’s legal action to stop the Maules Creek mine is looking good too, with lawyers telling us there are strong prospects for success in what looks to be a landmark court case. Please consider giving to the legal fund if you haven’t already done so.

Gomeroi elders, councillors, residents and local politicians such as Tony Windsor held a forum in Gunnedah last night to discuss the impacts of coal and gas on the region. Willala farmer Alistair Donaldson (who has lent a solar panel to our camp) presented Windsor with a certificate to commemorate the 8,375 local residents already producing energy from solar panels on their roofs, two days after FLAC participated in a nationwide Solar Barbecue to celebrate the use of renewable energy across Australia.

The critters must be feeling a little happier too – we found yet another koala – this time, a brown female koala.

There is still a lot of work for us to do. The Boggabri coal mine continues to expand, and both it and the Maules Creek mine could begin as soon as they lodge a water plan with the federal environment department. We need to make sure they can’t start until the courts sort out the mess. On the 9th and 10th of March we’re expecting dozens of people to come to the Leard Forest Listen Up gig, featuring Golden Orb, Pauman, the Sufferjets, Paul Spencer and the comic stylings of Hannah Gissane, among others. In mid-March we’ll need more people at camp to allow people who have been here long-term to take a short break.

Please keep spreading the word among your networks, keep up the heat on the banks and keep coming along to camp. Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of history.

Breaking news – Whitehaven has lodged an application to mine Vickery Forest, less than half an hour from camp (maybe they need to hedge their bets if Maules Creek falls through). Submissions open on March 5. We’ll keep you posted.

One week ago, Tony Burke hoaxed the nation by pretending he wasn’t really approving the Maules Creek Mine and the expansion to the Boggabri Mine. His approval conditions are online, so you can decide for yourself, but if he says he can still knock them back, we’re more than willing to hold him to it.

As we all now know, Burke snubbed Tony Windsor’s Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal-Seam Gas and Large Coal Mines, which was touted as an extra layer of assessment which would ensure that impacts on aquifers would be minimised in deciding on projects like the ones which would destroy Leard Forest and threaten the viability of the small farming community of Maules Creek. The committee found that the mines would drop the water table by two metres in the alluvial aquifer and ten metres in the hard rock aquifer, which could drain the alluvial aquifer.

The committee did not support leaving a final void, or pit lake, which would drain the water table for a thousand years. They also recommended that dryland salinity be considered as a potential impact on offset areas, that there be flood modelling on the impact of the rail crossing over the Namoi River, and that impacts of water drawdown on matters of national environmental significance be taken into account when making a decision.

Burke failed to mention most of the issues raised in the committee’s report in his conditions of consent. The report was issued on the 20th of December, and one day later, Burke wrote to Barry O’Farrell to say he was planning to approve the mines.

The reaction to Burke’s decision was immediate. Twelve hours after his decision, a FLAC activist climbed into a tree platform attached to four logging machines, dramatically halting clearing for the day. Maules Creek farmers slammed the decision and started fundraising for a legal challenge to stop the mines. Gomaroi elders are organising a march for country through Gunnedah on the 28th of March. A day of action against HSBC, the biggest investor in ANZ Bank, took place over the weekend. Organisations like the Wilderness Society and National Parks Association wrote to their members urging them to contact Burke and step up the campaign.

We’re getting ready to put ourselves on the line and stop the construction of the new mine. It’s up to us to show the kind of courage Tony Burke should have shown. Please come out to our “Listen Up for Leard Forest” gig on March 9-10, march against coal expansion and a fourth coal terminal in Newcastle on March 16 (10am at Civic Park), and chip in to the legal fighting fund.

Once a couple of boxes are ticked, Whitehaven can start building the mine any day. We need you out here to stand up for our forests, farmlands, health, water and climate. Because, you know, we kind of need them.