Clarence Catchment Alliance petition gets its day in NSW parliament

A group fighting for a ban on mining in the Clarence region has got its foot in the door of parliament after three years of gathering community support. Here’s how they did it.

Karen Von Ahlefeldt, Elizabeth Parker, Greg Clancy, Shae Fleming of the Clarence Catchment Alliance

Anti-mine group co-ordinator Shae Fleming says her Clarence Valley team of surfers, fishers, farmers and concerned citizens is a true cross section of the Clarence community.

They are the Clarence Catchment Alliance, an amalgamation of smaller groups from Lawrence, Grafton, Yamba and Ewingar who banded together as mining exploration licenses flooded into the region.

After more than three years of doing the hard yards gathering signatures, they have reached their first goal - to spark debate in the lower house of state parliament for mining to be banned in the Clarence catchment.

“It was all hand-signed and to spark debate you need 10,000 signatures,” Ms Fleming said.

“We’ve been pounding the pavement, at local markets, had the petition hosted by businesses and members of the public.

“It’s been a long slog, but that was our goal.”

The petition on a trip to the headwaters of the Clarence River.

The group wants the Clarence to included in schedule 1 of the NSW Mining State Environmental Planning Policy, which would ban exploration and mining in the area.

“There’s already moratoriums on Lake Macquarie, Gosford and others – they’re listed and we want to be listed,” Ms Fleming said.

She said the group was excited to see the debate come through after Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin presented the petition and spoke on its behalf.

“We have Tamara Smith from Ballina and also Helen Dalton from the Shooters Fishers and Farmers speaking for it,” she said.

“Although she’s not local she’s been fighting for water security in the Murray Darling.”

Federal Member for page Kevin Hogan also offered his support to the group.

The focus of the group’s campaign had been to highlight the social and economic cost they believed mining would have on the Clarence.

“It’s really grabbed people’s attention because it’s not just seen as a green issue,” she said.

“It’s a bunch of people who are rallying for their community.”

Ms Fleming said arguments that mining increased prosperity and employment for areas was just playing industries against each other.

“If a tailing dam fails and poisons the river, it will kill all the jobs we have here,” she said.

However, Sons of Bavaria Investment managing director Hans-Werner Kummerow, who has exploration licenses for copper in the Ewingar region, said mining activities had helped to carry Australia through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The wealth of minerals in the New England Fold Belt may provide well-paying jobs for several generations of miners if they are mined and processed in a responsible manner,” he said.

Sons of Bavaria Investment managing director Hans-Werner Kummerow says mining has helped to carry Australia through the pandemic.

Mr Kummerow said miners and regulators had learned their lessons from previous accidents and would focus on avoiding any threats to environmentally sensitive areas like the Clarence River Headwater Catchment.

“There is a huge difference in the way metals have been mined and processed in the past and will be mined in the future,” he said.

“Ores that are mined in the upper Clarence, can be trucked to locations outside the Clarence Headwaters for further treatment and processing.

“Open cut mines that are exposed to heavy rainfalls in Northern NSW can be replaced by underground mines with a very small footprint at the surface.”

Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis is also expected to speak on the debate, however deferred comment on the issue until after his speech.

However, Mr Gulaptis has been previously quoted on the issue, stating the calls for a moratorium were “rash and ill-considered”, which Ms Fleming said was disappointing.

“He’s not representing his constituents,” she said.

“Not in the way that 11,000 signatures suggest he should be.”

Clarence Catchment Alliance co-ordinator Shae Fleming wants a ban on mining in the Clarence area.

Ms Fleming said the group understood it would be a lengthy process to enact a ban on mining in the area.

“We’ve had a really positive meeting with Ron Stokes and the planning department,” she said.

“They’re not going to ban it on Thursday, we’re not naive, but we hope it generates healthy debate and gets us a good standing to have another positive meeting.

“We want them to see our point of view.”