One more blog post – please read to the bottom to find things you can do to help the cause!

Leard Forest, this beautiful piece of Box-Gum Woodland in the northern inlands, is not just the last remnant of natural forest in the Liverpool Plains – it is also a critical link for the biodiversity of the entire western inlands. The destruction of Leard Forest would break the link between the forests of the entire northern inlands, between the Pilliga and Mount Kaputar. What’s at stake here is turning north-western NSW into a dead zone, but our camp and the the community resistance to coal and gas expansion here represents everything that is precious – life, air, water and prosperity.

The last month at camp has seen the forest and farmlands in a whole range of states of life. Fresh rains that soak the soil, filling aquifers, soaking creeks, and relieving flowers, crops and drinking-holes. Dense fogs that bring moisture into leaves, winds that spread seeds through the scrub, and even frost and snow at the top of Mount Kaputar, reviving flows for the Namoi River. The mining and drilling companies pay little heed to the cycles that define the land, their only concern being to remove the coal-seams as quickly as possible at all times, frustrated only occasionally by weather events that make it too risky to strip the earth.

A few kilometres from camp is one of the favourite destinations for country-folk and townspeople alike, and even visitors from further afield – Dripping Rock, a waterhole fed by a waterfall spring that trickles or gushes according to the flows. Normally the waterhole provides fresh clean water to swim and play in, and no doubt in times past it was a vital life-source for the mob. But horrific news had come to us to camp, the water was not right. We quickly sped out to the place that we have been visiting on and off since the camp was set up, but were ill-prepared for what we found. Along the way we saw new exploration drill rigs in the lease area for the Goonbri Coal Project, which is likely to become a mountain-top removal (MTR) coal mine unless the insatiable industry can find its limits. The water was putrid, with a vile stench wafting out from the pool and gunk that looked like sewage collected along its banks. A multi-coloured line that exposed the presence of hydrocarbons stretched a few centimetres above the water’s surface. When a coal or gas company marches into a new area, it always guarantees that so many safeguards are in place that pollution events would never occur. When they do occur, the company protests that the incident only occurred because of human error, mechanical failure or an unexpected weather event. People being people and nature being as unpredictable as it is, such events should be expected. Whatever new measures are put in place, little can undo the damage caused by water pollution, air pollution or damage to lands which people rely on so heavily.

With all of this in mind, our aim has been to allow little excuse for the federal environment minister, Tony Burke, to approve destructive mine expansions in the area. He already has plenty of reasons to knock the industry’s plans back – endangered ecological communities, irreversible greenhouse pollution and (without wanting to insinuate that politicians make decisions for political reasons) the chance to make political capital out of the state government’s horrifying failure to meet the expectations of conservative constituents in this region. To all of these, we wanted to add Australia’s favourite iconic mammal, the koala.

The mine claims to have found only two koalas in Leard Forest – one alive, that was evicted and sent to an unknown location, and one ex-koala, which was probably unceremoniously dumped to return to the earth from which it came. Having easily found more koalas in casual walks throughout the forest, we were convinced that this forest is in fact a koala village, a stop-over in the biodiversity super-highway that stretches across the north-west, and with that in mind, organised a koala surveying weekend to prove our point. We were not disappointed.

Koala lovers came from near and far, from the community of Maules Creek to Tamworth and up and down the NSW coast, and under the supervision of a visiting koala expert, walked straight lines through different areas of the forest to collect objective data to present to the federal environment minister. After two days of hunting, our intrepid auditors found half a dozen new prime koala locations, with evidence of koala presence within the past few weeks, scattered through every corner of the forest. What’s more, each location confirmed the ground-breaking evidence recently presented at the Australian Mammal Society conference in Port Augusta, that Leard Forest shows that the little understood Pilliga Box Gum is in fact a primary food source for koalas. If left undisturbed, this forest could provide researchers with information that could save the koala from its untimely demise. If destroyed, that possibility would be lost forever. Tony Burke may well set aside matters of national significance like the loss of endangered gum communities to appease mining interests, but would he be willing to go down in history as the federal environment minister who cast a fatal blow to the critter our children have sung about for centuries?

Last weekend was play-time for children and adults. After a hugely successful open-sky screening of the documentary Bimblebox to local families on Friday, Sunday belonged to the kids. The forest was transformed into a playground, with treasure-hunts, face-painting and songs. Perhaps in the future, children will return to this forest every year to enjoy themselves in the forests that give us all life.

And through all of this, how are the mines going, you ask? Well, Whitehaven’s managing director, Tony Haggarty, was recently forced to publicly defend the Maules Creek mine’s viability in light of rumours in the local area that contractors have been diverted to other projects. Haggarty falsely claimed that the mine was only doing paperwork and getting ready for the mine to be rubber-stamped by the authorities. It’s a little bit hard to hide from us that the mine is in fact doing commercial-risk exploratory drilling, which we have been watching every day. And as the newspapers report every second week, the Maules Creek mine is a seriously speculative venture. This is even more reason to challenge the approval process, since mining companies often sit on an outdated approval for years or even decades until their financial position recovers or community opposition wanes. As for our favourite ex-billionare, Nathan Tinkler, his woes have increased as the Knight’s stadium orders him to pay rent, other companies commence asset seizure after failure to honour court-ordered debt settlement and his horse collection (including the obscenely-named Tinkler racehorse Maules Creek) is flogged off at bargain basement prices. Whitehaven’s shares have failed to recover from their August crash, and the price of Australian thermal coal has collapsed further to $83/ton. If anybody has an account with the UBS global bank, now is the time to complain to them that their investments in Whitehaven are too risky, to the planet as well as to the pocket. We are more frequently seeing mining trucks at the Boggabri mine sitting idle for reasons that remain unclear to us.

Here are some ideas to keep you busy over the next couple of weeks, for those who want to make a change:

* Tony Burke has to make a decision in the next couple of weeks on the Boggabri expansion and is set to make decisions on the other mines over the next six months. Write to him, call him, visit him, sit in his office and refuse to leave, write letters to the editor, organise events in cities and towns, and call on him to act as the Minister for the Environment at least this time, for the right decision on one of the most destructive projects he has had to consider.

* UBS continues to invest in Whitehaven despite other banks such as Noble balking at the risk. If you have an account with them, let them know how you feel and make your own decision about whether you want to invest in destroying Leard Forest and the Maules Creek farmlands. If you don’t have an account with them, find people who do, or find a way to get them attention that they may not want. We are looking to UBS to make the right decision on socially responsible investments.

* Come to camp! The more people we have here, the more we can do. Time is running short for the viability of the area, and this is potentially the most comfortable protest camp in Australia! (We get to have a lot of fun too).

* Organise events, like a fundraiser, film screening, forum or fun day. More profile on coal expansion in the Liverpool Plains can only be a good thing.

* T-shirts, stickers, badges, patches, banners – the list goes on. What if every community in Australia knew what decisions our politicians are making on “our” behalf?

It’s hard to believe that already 50 days have passed in the Front Line Action on Coal camp in Leard Forest. One Maules Creek resident describes the camp as reviving the lost art of conversation – a gathering place where people can meet each other. Even in this small community there are a lot of people who didn’t know each other before the beginning of the camp, and a firm alliance has been developed between local farmers, residents, supporters from elsewhere in NSW, environmentalists and other interest groups who are willing to take on this David and Goliath stand. It’s a real test of our political system – is it really so weak that a mega-coal-mine complex can be allowed to tear down the last bit of native forest, uproot local community, dig up productive farmlands and use phenomenal amounts of water to the detriment of our own health and the health of our children? Our camp shows that where politicians fail us, strong communities can drive change.

Vigorous community opposition and action have led to comprehensive approval processes where elsewhere the projects would be rubber-stamped. Here, none of the mine expansions have achieved final approval – not Idemitsu for the Boggabri expansion, nor Whitehaven for either its Tarrawonga or Maules Creek projects. Pressure on the banks have led to a couple of major banks deciding not to invest in these highly unethical and dangerous projects. High-profile blockades and actions have catalysed regional attention on these mines and taken steam off the pace of the expansions. Community members have observed that since the camp has started, the mines have started to pay more attention to their dust, noise and safety systems – perhaps not enough, but bearing witness has had its own effect. Rumours have been flying in the past few days about contracts for the Maules Creek mine being put on the backburner, and we have seen drill rigs leave the site. A little early to call, and the NSW government is yet to make a decision on the mine – time to ramp up community pressure!

Last week a number of eyes were scanning the skies for hint of a drop that the farms desperately need. Two brief downpours allowed currents to flow through this forest, if only for a while. Morning after the rain brought a fog that permeated through the tree-cover, gradually lifting to form glistening white buds of moisture on the outer edges of the plants as flowers of many different colours started to bud. El Nino seems to be coming to an end a little sooner than usual this year – perhaps a warning of what can come if we allow fossil fuel expansion to continue unabated. We are determined that here, at least, community rights, health, the local economy and ecology will prevail.

Today was the first day in court for Russ, Scott and Dan, who were arrested at mine actions at the beginning of September. The biggest pressure on the courts is time, and mentions, short pleas and adjournments are taken through as quickly as possible. The three didn’t enter any pleas and the case has been adjourned until November 27, but the heavy bail conditions imposed by the police, which would ban the men from camping or conducting wildlife surveys in Leard Forest were successfully challenged by the two banner-droppers – not a great surprise. We’ll just let the legal process take its course from here.

We would love to see as many people as possible come for koala surveys on October 6-7 – a great opportunity to learn about koala habitat and surveying, and a fair chance of spotting one of Australia’s iconic mammals! October 13 will be a koala picnic at the camp. We’ll definitely keep you posted about other coming events which are in the works!

If the next fifty days pass as successfully as the first fifty, we are on the right track to seeing the community and forests protected and prosperous… don’t miss out on being part of the change!

Three men who blockaded the Boggabri open-pit coal mine in Leard Forest on September 3 and 4 will appear before Narrabri Local Court this morning, as the Front Line Action on Coal camp marks its 50th day in Leard Forest.

One of the protestors, Russ Watts OAM, 84 years of age, was arrested after a 6-hour long protest at the haul road taking coal from the pit, one day after two men scaled a coal crusher and hung a large banner reading “Stop the Coal Rush: Protect Health, Water, Climate”.

“Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has failed to protect our forests and farmlands from openpit coal mining, and so the survival of Maules Creek and Leard Forest is now up to us,” said Jonathan Moylan, a spokesperson for Front Line Action on Coal.

“While governments pay lip service to climate action our coal exports are tripling,” said Daniel Jones, one of the defendants.

“As the coal industry marches west, I think it’s good for communities to unite to protect our health, water and home,” said fellow defendant Scott Mackenzie.

Japanese miner Idemitsu and Whitehaven Coal collectively plan to slash over 5,000ha of native forest as well as buying out productive farmlands, marking the coal industry’s first major inroads into exploiting the Liverpool Plains.

For further comment:
Jonathan Moylan
Front Line Action on Coal
0431 289 766
http://frontlineaction.wordpress.com

If this latest blog post seems a little late, it is because of how busy the camp has been over the last two weeks!

Visitors to and from camp have been filling the air with the sounds of guitars, didgeridoos, drums and even a trumpet, but without wanting to take away from the atmosphere this brings to camp, no human-crafted instrument can take away from the extraordinarily harmonious tones of the woodswallows, honey-eaters, parrots, warblers, owls, lorikeets, robins, parrots and the gamut of birds spread throughout the thousands of hectares of threat, sometimes making us forget the ever-present drone of mine equipment.

It was those birds that brought 84-year-old birdwatcher Russ Watts, a Member of the Order of Australia, to chain himself to the gates of the haul road leading out of the Idemitsu Boggabri coal mine, stopping output of coal for almost six hours last Tuesday, the 5th of September. Russ told the local newspaper, “It seems that there are no areas that are off-limits to coal mining companies and that even our last, most precious wild places are up for grabs.” Russ was far from alone in his protest – around 20 local community members and supporters joined him in their protest against Idemitsu. The federal environment minister, Tony Burke, will be making a decision at the end of October about whether the Boggabri mine expansion will have an unacceptable impact on the endangered Box Gum ecological communities where these birds roam free and whether the mine should be approved. Seems like a straightforward decision to us.

It was the second day of action here in Leard Forest after two people suspended a large banner from the side of the Boggabri coal crusher the day before, and Wednesday and Thursday brought more actions against the expansion of coal infrastructure in the Hunter Valley. A man perched on top of a high tripod stopped work on the construction of the Hunter8 Minimbah Third Bank rail project, a new rail line being built by the tax-payer specifically for the benefit of coal corporations. Spin doctor Nikki Williams, CEO of the Australian Coal Association, hit back at the protest, saying that the rail line is not taxpayer-funded because the coal industry pays access fees. It’s a bit like saying that a commuter built the CityRail network because they pay for rail tickets. The following day, two climbers climbed a tall crane at the construction site of the third coal terminal expansion project in Newcastle.

All of this information was coming to us through our solar-powered capacity to tap into the Twitterverse, and Thursday brought wild winds to the northwest, with a total fire ban declared for the region affecting our beloved camp. For the first time since day one, the fire had to be put out. Once the fire ban was lifted the fire could be restarted from its ashes and some gentler winds from our bushman Muzz. Thursday was also a day of celebration in the camp as the Land and Environment Court granted an injunction in favour of the residents of Fullerton Cove trying to protect their community and Newcastle’s water supply from coal-seam gas drilling by Dart Energy, who also hold a Petroleum Exploration Licence for the Maules Creek area.

Friday was Threatened Species Day and by this day our numbers had swelled to over a dozen campers. As night fell, the spotlights came out for a bit of koala-spotting. It was a bit of a stab in the dark because the mine claimed that only two koalas had been found in the Forest, one of which was relocated. The other koala was allegedly found dead. Perhaps it was a bit of a lesson in not trusting everything you hear from mining companies because shortly after the search party went out, their beams scanning the forest canopy, a ray of light hit a male koala munching on Pilliga Box Gum leaves, not too far from a Barking Owl, known to catch koala pups. The koala looked weary and contemplative from its perch high in the forest canopy, where the noise of the approaching mine grows louder every day. One weary koala, and yet – if we could find one koala after a brief scan in the bush, perhaps many more were to be found?

On Saturday, our visiting koala expert taught us about koala habitat and scat identification and we quickly moved off to the site of our male koala, who by that stage had moved to some unknown location, perhaps deterred by the peering eyes and photo lenses. We found more high-use scat areas, but our hopes of finding a second koala were quickly dwindling. Had the rest of the koala colony already moved away?

Undeterred, we returned to koala hunting on Sunday morning and after an hour of hunting, we came across another Barking Owl. Maybe this Owl would lead us to find another koala… Sure enough, within a hundred metres of the Owl, a koala was perched high up in the tree. Not just any koala, but a female koala – a Nutsy to pair with Friday’s Blinky. The local newspaper dropped by on Monday with Associated Press in tow and sure enough, we were able to quickly find the female koala again for a couple of shots. The koala must have wondered whether it had become a local celebrity – or maybe it was being snapped by intelligence officers.

Monday afternoon brought a new visitor to a camp, but a bit thinner and longer than most of the other campers, and a better tree-climber at that too. Goannas roam all around Leard Forest and don’t seem shy about hanging out next to the pit either.

This week the NSW Government finally released its strategic regional land-use planning policy. Before the last election, the government promised to protect parts of NSW, including prime agricultural land, Tier 1 biodiversity, strategic industries and sensitive aquifers from fossil fuel expansion (coal and coal-seam gas). This week the government broke that process by introducing a weak gateway process that doesn’t kick in until after exploration and is likely to lead to almost all proposed developments going ahead. Santos also managed to get its exploration license for coal-seam gas in the Pilliga renewed.

Forty days after setting up camp, we haven’t been deterred in any way from our purpose – to protect our health, communities, farmlands, forests and climate from coal expansion. Whether it was because of excessive faith in government, lack of hope, courage or moral fibre, only a small minority of people in generations past took action to stand up to the coal industry. What we are doing here is only part of a movement building around NSW, Australia and the world to stop the expansion of the coal industry, and in fifty years’ time, we hope to be able to look our grandchildren in the eyes and tell the story of how we helped to avert catastrophe. We hope that you can come out here and be part of it too. In the meantime, get together with some friends and find a creative way to pressure Tony Burke to knock back the Boggabri expansion!

Two activists have scaled the coal-crushing plant at the Boggabri Coal Mine and are currently suspended about 20m above the ground with a banner saying ‘Stop the Coal Rush: Protect Health, Water, Climate‘.

The NSW Government has recently approved a fourfold expansion of the Boggabri Coal Mine and last week the NSW Planning Department recommended approval for the adjoining Maules Ck Coal Project, east of Narrabri.

The two mines form part of an open-cut coal complex planned for Leard State Forest and surrounding farmland and the Boggabri mine is the first major mine approved by the NSW Coalition Government in the Gunnedah Basin.

The mines will clear 5,000 hectares of bushland, extract 23 million tonnes of coal per annum and the coal when burnt will emit over 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year.

“Expanding open-cut coal mining poses a severe threat to human health and the environment” said Phil Spark, farmer and spokesperson for the Northern Inland Council for the Environment.

“The NSW Government is pushing full steam ahead to convert the Gunnedah Basin into a gigantic industrial mining zone just like the Hunter Valley.

“It is clear that the lessons of the past have not been learnt because detailed cumulative impact assessments have not been conducted and the human health risks have not been properly assessed.

“The approval of the Boggabri Mine and the recommendation in favour of the Maules Ck Mine show that the NSW planning system is broken and that even the most precious environmental assets are not safe from the mining boom.

“The NSW Government has deliberately removed the rights of community groups to mount legal challenges against these damaging coal mines leaving people with little option but to pursue peaceful protest” he said.

For comment or high resolution images or video: Phil Spark 0427 642245

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE35ZAQ2Q20]

Photo: Namoi Valley Independent

The third week of the Leard Forest blockade marked a major victory as Nathan Tinkler spectacularly failed to buy out the rest of Whitehaven Coal, who own the Tarrawonga mine and the vexed Maules Creek Coal Project. As Noble Group was being courted by the Tinkler camp, Front Line Action on Coal sent them and other investors an open letter reminding them that not only was the mine project marginal, but that we are here to stay. The bank was not willing to support a project whose approval process has been heavily delayed due to the Maules Creek community’s submissions to the process. Whitehaven’s shares have now plummeted to half their April peak.

Here at FLAC, we’ve been busy working with local community to collect signatures against coal and gas expansion at Gunnedah’s Agquip field days. Passions on coal and coal seam gas run high in the Gunnedah basin, with a lot of people very keen to sign. The event was relieved on Thursday by two homeless koalas who had strayed in front of the stall of Leard’s destroyer, Downer EDI mining. Like the two koalas found in Leard Forest before the mines came in, the koalas were quickly relocated.

Note the locked gates and stopped trucks

We’ve returned several times to Boggabri’s haul road to count trucks from the side of the road, but yet again our truck-counting efforts have been thwarted by the mine locking their own gates and stopping output of coal from the mine. So far, then, the total truck count is zero trucks over eight hours, but our statistics may be distorted by the mine’s self-imposed blockade.

Back at camp it was time for a bit of environmental creation in the midst of environmental destruction with the erection of an imposing greenhouse ready to feed hungry blockaders with fresh silver beet, parsley, celery and lettuce. Today’s food was topped off with an amazing cake and cookies dropped off by active locals. The camp furnishings and provisions from the local community makes FLAC Camp a contender for one of the most comfortable and gourmet blockade camps in Australian history!

We woke up this morning to a sound a little different to the usual birds and mine noises – a black helicopter containing a moping ex-billionaire scoping out what could have been his empire.

Hi all,

This blog entry is by guest bloggers Alana, Daniel and Alex from Sydney. We left Sydney after class on Friday and made it here by about 9pm- a bit of a spur of the moment trip after realising we all had a free weekend to come and visit.

Arriving in the dark we could see the lights from Boggabri mine from a few kilometres away, and the noise of it is non-stop. We’d been warned about crossing over the private haul road on the way in, where the coal trucks come by every 7 minutes, and lo and behold we were stopped at the crossing to let one pass. We arrived to a friendly fire, tea, pumpkin soup, Dubi the dingo and a tee-pee, and caught up with the others on what they’d been up to for the past (almost!) two weeks.

It wasn’t until morning that we realised how close to Boggabri coal mine we were camped; across the road and a few hundred metres through the bush the tailings are piled high. Murray drove us round to have a look at the mine, but mounds of dirt have been piled up along the fence line to obstruct the view since the last photos were put online- which only added to the feeling that they don’t want the truth about the mines to be seen. We were still able to get a pretty clear idea of the scale of the mine; what was originally proposed as a small project has grown to be massive. What was even stranger was that as we continued to drive through the forest we realised the bush surrounding us would soon become  like the mutilated land we’d just seen, if the expansion goes ahead.

We drove out along the ridge towards the community of Maules Creek, and had a clear view of the forest sweeping out below us on either side, gaining an even more sobering understanding of how much forest is at stake if the Maules Creek project and Boggabri expansion are approved.

At Maules Creek we visited Cliff, a farmer who has been opposed to the mines since he saw them coming fifteen years ag,o and has been vital support for the blockade from the start. Cliff showed us photos of the ridge along the back of his property where Myrtle trees are growing- the second most endangered tree in the state after the Wollemi Pine- and which will be crowded out with the advance of the coal mines.

From Cliff’s place we drove out to see the Tarrawonga mine site. The tailings piles have been growing taller and edging closer to the road- at the edge of the mound we spotted a tree being buried alive as the tailings grow. In the shrinking strip of land left between the tailings and the road was a startled roo; later at camp we spoke to locals who remember how the roos flooded out of the forest onto the properties when the mining began, and there have been less and less seen in the forests ever since.

Back at camp we got to meet some more locals, who brought us scones with jam and cream and stories of how the area has changed since the mining began.

The night ended with fireside chats about what we can do when we get back to Sydney, how we can help more Sydney folk get up here to learn more, and what’s next for us now that we’ve seen first hand the extent of the damage.

To whom it may concern,

We are writing in relation to Whitehaven Coal’s operations in Leard State Forest, New South Wales, Australia and the proposed takeover bid by Aston Resources. Whitehaven’s coal projects are the Maules Creek Coal Project, an expensive, marginal and controversial new open-pit coking coal mine, and the Tarrawonga Coal Mine, an existing coal mine a few kilometres away in the same forest which is applying for a proposed large expansion and continuation. The Tarrawonga mine is 30%-owned by Idemitsu, which wholly owns a large open-pit mine between Tarrawonga and the Maules Creek Coal Project, which is also expanding its impact.

The mines and mine expansions have been heavily opposed by the Maules Creek Community with the support of a number of environmental organisations, including the Lock the Gate Alliance, the Northern Inlands Council for the Environment, the National Parks Association and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW. A permanent blockade camp has been set up directly next to the mines after several high-profile mine actions1.

The mines have also been iconic in the debate around the NSW Government’s Strategic Regional Land Use Planning Policy, which was set up to protect prime agricultural lands, high priority biodiversity lands, aquifers and significant industries from coal and gas extractive industries. We believe that that Whitehaven’s proposed mines and mine expansions may not obtain approval. We note that the Maules Ck Coal Project contains large areas of a nationally-listed critically endangered ecological community which will require approval by the Commonwealth Government.

In the event that the expansions are approved, we are alarmed that 5,500ha of Tier One biodiversity forest would be cleared, at least a quarter of the local community on prime agricultural land would be displaced, and over 5 metres of water draw-down in the aquifer would likely occur to make way for mines for little purpose, given that the marginal mines could fail in the context of a falling price of coal.

The mines do not comply with the Equator Principles for Financial Institutions in relation to cumulative assessment, biodiversity conservation, health, occupational safety, cultural heritage, land conservation and the promotion of renewable energy.

We urge your company not to invest in, finance or work with Whitehaven Coal, and to divest from the company until it withdraws from these marginal mines.

Busy camp, belated blog – Front Line Action on Coal is still camped in Leard Forest!

Saturday was community day at camp with about a dozen locals turning up (more than we expected at short notice). The kids made a banner “No Mining Forests” which everybody got the opportunity to sign. We will be having community lunches every Saturday, but of course everybody is willing to come at any time.

So far the camp has brought together farmers, environmentalists, shooters and even a couple of people who work at the mines but nevertheless support the campaign. The scale of devastation and impacts of mining is so great out here that the only interests that aren’t affected are those of the shareholders in the mines (like Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s richest man, whose palm oil company Welmar has been accused of serious environmental and human rights abuses including the violation of indigenous land tenure, the burning of rainforests and illegal logging).

One of the big questions for the local community is about the Shooters Party, who hold the balance of power in the NSW upper house. Where is Robert Brown in all of this? Leard Forest is a popular location for recreational shooters who hunt feral pigs and goats, but the mining company has locked the public out of much of the forest. The Nationals Party has also been notable in their silence about Maules Creek, which explains the big shift towards independents in mining-affected farming communities.

Monday was interrupted by a massive bang that reverberated through the forest and send birds flying in all directions and chirping in fright for the next five minutes. The mining company uses explosives on Mondays at midday to blast gaping  holes in the forest floor, exposing coal seams before the coal is mined and hauled off to port.

More people are arriving over the next week to support the camp – hopefully you will be one of them!