Tanya Plibersek dismisses ‘secret group’ behind NSW goldmine decision
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has clashed with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce over the NSW goldmine debacle.
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Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce have clashed on breakfast television over the future of a $1bn goldmine in NSW.
The Coalition attack dog on Monday accused Ms Plibersek of consorting with a “secret group” when she decided to block the proposed location for a tailings dam for the mine in Blayney, near Orange, in the state’s central west.
“You can’t have this arbitrary blocking of issues that put the threat of economic prosperity of our nation as it happened in Blayney with the goldmine,” Mr Joyce told Seven’s Sunrise.
“Once you have an arbitrary decision that doesn’t make sense, that is nonsensical, that doesn’t stack up it and it seems like it was plucked out of the thin air for the benefit of a pressure group rather than benefit of the local community.”
A tailings dam is a dump for biproducts of a mine and includes highly toxic chemicals.
Ms Plibersek’s decision to block the mine’s proposed dump site on Indigenous heritage grounds is seen as threatening the entire project and has been met with criticism from the Coalition and even Labor, with NSW Premier Chris Minns saying he “absolutely” disagreed with the call.
Responding to Mr Joyce’s claims, she told Sunrise she was not threatening the mine’s future.
“I had that the goldmine can go ahead but find a new site for the tailings dam,” she said.
“It is a 2500-hectare site and I said that they can’t put a waste dump on 400 hectares of the site.”
The federal minister said the company behind the project told the government it looked at “40 different sites for the tailings dam” and dismissed anything “secretive”.
Originally published as Tanya Plibersek dismisses ‘secret group’ behind NSW goldmine decision
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