Environmental fight heats up as federal approval for controversial Tasmanian mining project looms
A looming verdict on the future of a controversial Tasmanian mining project could trigger a snap protest with activists standing at the ready to mobilise within 24 hours of a decision.
Environmental groups are mobilising for action as a long-awaited decision on a controversial mining project in Tasmania’s west nears.
The Bob Brown Foundation has vowed to intensify protests at the site of Chinese-owned MMG mine in Rosebery if the federal government approves preliminary works for a proposed tailings dam extending into the Takayna rainforest – a vulnerable area of environmental significance.
Protesters have urged the federal government to publicly disclose its decision, expressing concerns that the project may be classified as a non-controlled action under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
This would potentially exempt the project from more stringent environmental conditions.
It follows revelations in Senate Estimates that MMG had known since August about an impending ruling on whether the early works, including road access and drilling pads into the Takayna region, would be given the green light.
Greens Senator for Tasmania Nick McKim said the secrecy was unacceptable.
“Labor has quietly given a foreign-owned mining company the inside running on the Minister’s proposed decision, yet conservationists trying to protect the area get no such courtesy,” he said.
“The Takayna rainforest should be World Heritage listed, not bulldozed for a toxic waste dump.”
It comes after foundation founder Bob Brown told the Mercury the government had been presented with “viable alternatives”, including piping MMG’s waste to the nearby Renison Tin Mine or building a facility on less sensitive land south or west of Rosebery.
Bluestone Mines Tasmania Joint Venture (BMTJV), which owns and operates the Renison Tin Mine, declined to comment on MMG’s operations.
Project director Andrew Fitzgerald said the company was instead focused on meeting its own “approval and design needs” including the “future capacity requirements” of its own operations.
Despite this, Dr Brown said his organisation had done “everything they could” to make Environment Minister Murray Watt aware of the alternatives.
“It’s very important because we don’t want him to say afterwards that the department didn’t know,” he said.
He said if such options were considered protestors would not “physically oppose”.
MMG said their proposed tailings dam, designed to store acid-sulphide waste, was essential to the continued operation of its Rosebery mine.
A spokesperson said the company remained “committed to finding a long-term tailings storage solution” to secure the jobs of its “600-strong workforce and continue to contribute to the Tasmanian economy”.
“We recognise the biodiversity of the region and want to achieve the best possible outcomes for both the community and the local environment,” the company said, adding that its current tailings capacity should sustain operations until 2030.
A federal government spokesperson said the referral process was “being undertaken in line with national environmental law” and that “the process is ongoing”.
More than 3,000 protestors affiliated with the BBF have participated in frontline action against MMG since the project was first proposed four years ago, with around 100 arrests made so far.
The group has vowed to mobilise within 24 hours if works begin on the site.
“If this MMG decision goes the wrong way it will reverberate around Australia like nothing since the Franklin dam,” Dr Brown said.
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