Australian Workers’ Union launches withering attack on Tanya Plibersek over Blayney gold mine ban

The country’s biggest union has slammed Tanya Plibersek for her partial ban on a proposed NSW gold mine, saying the reasons behind it were unclear and lacked evidence.

Exclusive: The country’s largest union has launched an unprecedented attack on Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek over her partial ban on a NSW gold mine, accusing her of blocking the project “without a shred of evidence”.

Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) members voted to condemn the minister’s section 10 ban on the McPhillamys gold mine, near Blayney, at their national conference in Perth on Tuesday.

The union;s NSW secretary Tony Callinan accused the minister of a lack of transparency over the ban, which was issued using Indigenous heritage legislation and impacts a proposed dam site that mine proponents Regis Resources say will make the entire $1 billion project unviable.

“The Environment Minister’s discretionary powers to save an area from ‘injury or desecration’ is an important protection, especially for First Nations communities, but … the decision to block McPhillamys without a shred of evidence is an insult to the workers of Blayney and every community that depends on mining,” Mr Callinan said.

He said the decision-making process behind the ban was unclear.

AWU NSW branch secretary Tony Callinan. Picture: Aymon Bertah

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“When 600 livelihoods are on the line, the least the government can do is be transparent. AWU members and the entire mining community deserve better than decisions made in the dark,” he said.

“The AWU stands with the people of Blayney and demands a fair process. The minister should put all the evidence on the table for all to see. The workers of Blayney deserve far better.”

“The AWU won’t stand by while 600 jobs are lost because of political games played behind closed doors.“

In their motion, union members agreed: “The minister’s declaration relies on a little-used provision that affords the minister wide discretion to make a decision regarding an area after receiving a report seeking to preserve that area from ‘injury or desecration’”.

“However, in issuing the declaration blocking the McPhillamys mine, the minister failed to produce any evidence used to justify the decision,” their resolution stated.

The specific area where the section 10 ban will impact, where the Belubula River intersects with Dungeon Road. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“This amounts to a lack of transparency, and gives rise to questions around rigour and fairness in the decision-making process.”

The union also backed the NSW Minns’ government for their support of the project.

The company behind the McPhillamys proposal, Regis Resources, last week launched legal action over the decision, in a bid to have the section 10 ban thrown out.

A spokeswoman for Ms Plibersek said the minister’s “statement of reasons for the decision have been available on the department’s website for some time”.

In the statement of reasons, the minister said the “proprietary and pecuniary impacts to the proponent and others do not outweigh the irreversible damage and permanent loss to the Aboriginal cultural heritage in the declared area”.

She also cited the blue-banded bee dreaming story, which was submitted as evidence by a small local Indigenous group, as a reason for blocking the dam site — although the legitimacy of the story has been doubted by the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council.

“The minister has made extensive public comments about the reasons for her decision,” Ms Plibersek’s spokeswoman said.

“As legal proceedings have commenced, it would be inappropriate for the Minister to comment further.”

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