New Acland mine faces shutdown if hearing is delayed
The New Acland mine in Queensland will be shuttered and virtually all jobs onsite lost before the estimated four-week Land Court hearing in November.
The New Acland mine in Queensland will be shuttered and virtually all jobs onsite lost before the estimated four-week Land Court hearing to determine the fate of its proposed expansion begins in November.
In a directions hearing in the Land Court on Thursday to determine how and when the full hearing would go ahead, miner New Hope urged for the legal proceedings to be dealt with quickly, given its existing coal resources at the open cut pit, near Oakey, west of Brisbane, are expected to run out in October.
The Australian-owned company called for the hearing to take place in the “final quarter” of the year, a suggestion dubbed “crazy” by the Oakey Coal Action Alliance, an alliance of farmers and environmentalists represented in court by the state-funded Environmental Defenders Office, who have opposed the expansion over concerns about its impact on noise, groundwater and natural resources. Barrister Chris McGrath said the matter could not proceed until later in the year because his clients would be required to obtain fresh evidence and consult experts.
New Hope first raised its expansion plans more than 13 years ago and has been awaiting state government approval while the case has been argued in four court jurisdictions.
The High Court last week referred the matter back to the Land Court for a third time.
New Hope needs the Land Court to recommend the state government approve the project before it can proceed.
Barrister Damian Clothier, representing New Hope, asked Land Court President Fleur Kingham to make her orders for the setting down of the new hearing with “fairness, efficiency and expedition”.
Ms Kingham, who oversaw the matter’s second hearing in the Land Court in 2018, said she would be recusing herself from the matter going forward because she had previously formed views about some of the matters being debated.
“I did express some opinions on some matters of merit in the course of the hearing and, as this is intended to be a fresh re-hearing, I think it’s best that a different member hear the matter,” she said.
In a statement after the hearing, New Hope accused its opponents of tying them up in legal action while its coal supply dwindles.
“It is clear the OCAA is doing all it can to bring ongoing objections and delay the process which, for them, is tantamount to a win,” a spokesman said.
“As has previously been stated, by October 2021 all available coal at the existing mine will have been exhausted and operations will be forced to scale down to care, maintenance and rehabilitation activities only,” the spokesman said.
“This is the nightmare scenario not just for our workforce but for the local community and our suppliers.”
New Hope and the Queensland Resources Council have called on the Palaszczuk government to intervene and introduce legislation to guarantee the expansion. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly refused to step in until all court action is finished.
Federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese this week joined a growing chorus of his federal colleagues calling on the Palaszczuk government to ensure “certainty” for the mine and said the legal process had taken “too long”.
“It’s the uncertainty that creates a problem for investment and a problem for the local community,” Mr Albanese said on 4BC radio.
New Acland has already shed 200 jobs and the mine is expected to be put into minimally-staffed mode if its coal supply runs out.