McPhillamys gold mine: Move to ditch ban as Greens slammed

The environmental impacts of the proposed mine were discussed in depth at a Greens-moderated online meeting this week, the reasons behind the Indigenous heritage laws being triggered were barely touched.

A final effort to torpedo a ban on a new gold mine is being mounted in a bid to save the $1bn project.

Coalition environment spokesman Jonno Duniam told federal parliament he’d move a private Senator’s bill to repeal the section 10 ban issued on the McPhillamys gold mine by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

“The introduction of this bill is aimed at providing a sensible response to a nonsensical decision,” Mr Duniam said on Thursday.

“The introduction of this bill provides an opportunity for Australia’s Federal parliamentarians to try to reverse that dreadful decision.”

It came as NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann earlier this week hosted a webinar criticising media coverage of the gold mine saga at Blayney, which erupted after Ms Plibersek last month used obscure Indigenous heritage legislation to ban the mine’s proposed tailings dam.

Senator Jonno Duniam wants to repeal the ban on McPhillamys gold mine. Picture: Martin Ollman

But while the environmental impacts of the mine were discussed in depth at the online meeting, the reasons behind the Indigenous heritage laws being triggered were barely touched.

Their omission prompted an email from Ms Faehrmann’s office after the event, claiming “a decision was made to adjust the direction of the webinar to mitigate against any further attacks or misrepresentation”.

“When the time is right, we will put on a dedicated session with First Nations representatives that will be solely focused on the cultural significance of the area and the impacts that the mine will have on cultural heritage,” the email stated.

An email sent out prior to the webinar advertising the event said the Greens MP was “(pulling) together an urgent forum so you can hear from people who will be genuinely impacted by this mine”.

NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann hosted a webinar earlier this week focusing on the environmental impacts of the mine, despite it being blocked on Indigenous heritage grounds. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Mr Duniam said the focus on environmental impacts — when the section 10 was based on Indigenous heritage grounds — was telling.

“That the Greens were purely talking about environmental grounds in their webinar, despite the mine gaining every federal and state government environmental approval, shows the shallow nature of their discussion and their political party,” he said.

“The gold mine was approved by the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council.

“The Coalition will do all we can to get this overturned this term of government, and have committed to getting McPhillamys gold mine up and running should a Dutton government be elected.”

Ms Faehrmann said the webinar “was a success with 115 attendees, including many people from the Central West, including residents of Blayney and Kings Plains” where the mine is proposed.

This is the specific area that has been blocked from a tailings dam due to it being of cultural significance. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Mr Duniam’s move comes after his disallowance motion last week — which would have axed the section 10 — was narrowly killed off in the Senate, 31 votes to 29, with Labor, the Greens and independent David Pocock voting against it.

Ms Plibersek has pledged to share a statement of reasons for her decision to issue the section 10 on the proposed mine’s tailings dam site with Regis Resources, the company behind the proposed gold mine, with that document understood to be shared with the company in the coming weeks.

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Originally published as McPhillamys gold mine: Move to ditch ban as Greens slammed