Oakey Coal Action Allicance said election results boost argument against New Acland Coal Mine Stage 3
When opponents of New Acland Coal Mine meet with the Resources Minister they will show him the new Federal electoral map and point to the growing tide of voters who are demanding action on climate change.
Toowoomba
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Opponents of the New Acland coal mine hope the strong result for pro-environment candidates at the federal election will convince the state government to reject an application for a new coal pit.
The final proposal for the New Acland Coal Stage 3 expansion is now before the Department of Water and pending a decision on whether it will grant a water licence.
It comes after the Queensland Coordinator General accepted a recommendation to the NAC application handed down by the Land Court in 2021 (see right).
Oakey Coal Action Alliance secretary Paul King, who has fought the expansion for more than a decade, said the amended application was irrelevant.
“It does not represent an approval,” he said.
“Stage 3 still has to be approved by the Resources Minister and obtain the associated water licence.”
Mr King hopes to meet with Resources Minister Scott Stuart later this week.
He said he would highlight the federal election results in the hope that they motivated Mr Scott to reject the new pit.
“We fully expect that he will respond to the evolving mood for change in the electorate,” he said.
“I will talk about the support voters gave to policies that respond to the challenges of climate change and the need to preserve good agricultural land.
“We think those signals will be ignored by the state government at its peril.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was pressed on the decision while in Rockhampton yesterday and said there was still a lot of work needed.
“The government is working through those issues with different departments, and of course normal processes will be followed, just as they are with any other application,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was keen to work with the new federal government to implement policies around climate change and the renewables sector.
“We know that a progressive Labor government can do both – we look at job across all industries and to jobs in renewables,” she said.
“Most of the new jobs in the renewable industry are happening across regional Queensland.”
NAC Stage 3 is estimated to employ up to 600 workers during construction, 400 when operational and be worth about $1 billion to the local economy.
But those jobs are a long way off. The lease must first obtain a water licence, and it is here that Mr King said the OCAA case was strongest.
“New Hope has already been denied approval on that basis, and we believe that any new application will be scrutinised and it found that the mine cannot proceed without damaging the groundwater that is currently available to farmers,” he said.
If the water licence and mining lease were granted, Mr King said OCAA would not hesitate to appeal the case.
“We are fully prepared to challenge any approval,” he said.
OCAA’s resistance would come as no surprise to the NAC as the two groups have been fighting over the mine for more than a decade.
New Hope Group CEO Rob Bishop called on the Queensland Government to approve Stage 3.
“(It) has been extensively reviewed, assessed and scrutinised,” he said.
“The Land Court process and the Coordinator General’s consultation process has allowed everyone to have their say about the project.”
“This historic development is a green light for finalisation of the approvals process and means we can now focus more on plans to reopen the mine and recruit our workforce.”