Court gives thermal coalmine green light after 14-year fight
A mothballed thermal coalmine in southern Queensland has been given the legal go ahead to expand operations almost 15 years after it first applied to the state government.
A mothballed thermal coalmine in southern Queensland has been given the legal go ahead to expand operations almost 15 years after it first applied to the state government.
The latest win for mine owner New Hope Group in Queensland’s Land Court will revive pressure on the Palaszczuk government to grant final approval for its New Acland mine on the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane.
New Hope has been locked in a legal stoush with Oakey Coal Action Alliance, a coalition of farmers and environmentalists, since 2016 when Queensland’s Land Court recommended against the environmental approval.
More than 200 workers have lost their jobs in the past two years as approvals stalled, and just weeks ago the mine was put into care and maintenance as the last of the reserves were exhausted.
The mine expansion would produce up to 7.5 million tonnes of thermal coal each year until 2029, which the OCAA claims will seriously impact groundwater and prime agricultural land.
After years of legal challenges in four courts, the Land Court on Friday recommended the environmental authority amendment application be granted, subject to conditions.
New Hope now needs the Palaszczuk government to grant it mining and water licenses before construction on the $900m expansion can begin.
At the 2017 election, Ms Palaszczuk promised to accept the decision of the courts but on Friday Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the state needed more time to consider the judgment. Ms Palaszczuk has been criticised by unions and federal Labor frontbenchers over her insistence on delaying final approvals until the mine’s legal position was settled.
Greens MP Michael Berkman, a former environmental lawyer who represented the farmers fighting the Acland expansion, said the state government should not grant approvals until the courts considered the impact on groundwater.
“The Land Court’s initial recommendation to refuse the mine was based largely on groundwater impacts, so it would be absurd now for the state to approve the mining lease before they get their groundwater approval,” he said.
“If Queensland Labor doesn’t refuse this thermal coalmine expansion, they’re sacrificing some of our best agricultural land, precious groundwater resources, and any shred of credibility they have left on climate change.”
Federal Liberal MP Garth Hamilton said the state government has a small window to give final approvals before the OCAA launches new legal action over the groundwater impacts of the expansion. “They have everything they need to grant those approvals today,” the Toowoomba-based MP said. “Federal Labor has said no coalmining jobs would be lost, so Anthony Albanese needs to step in now.”
Mr Hamilton said many of the 200 workers made redundant were still living in the nearby town of Oakey. “We can recover reasonably quickly, the mine is well positioned to ramp up again, the supply chains have taken a hit but they are still there.”