SYDNEY—Coal mining on the rich farming lands of the Liverpool Plains is shaping up to be a major issue in the New South Wales elections March 28.
Approval for the Chinese-owned Shenhua Watermark coal mine was to be finalised March 13, but Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt has delayed the start of the project. He announced Feb 27 an independent study will be completed on the region’s groundwater safety before the final go ahead.
The delivery date for the study’s results is unspecified, prompting Greens Senator Larissa Waters to cry politics after her Senate motion to ban coal and coal seam gas mining on the Liverpool Plains was rejected.
“The vote today indicates that federal Coalition has extended the Shenhua approval date so that it’s after the election, not because of concern about water impacts,” she said in a statement on March 3.
Local farmer Tim Duddy, CEO of the Caroona Coal Action Group which opposes mining on the plains, holds the same view.
“I think that has been done as a straight political move, to move it away from the election,” he said in a phone interview.
Premier Mike Baird has one of the highest approval ratings of any current state or federal politician, but the Coalition has been rattled following the routing of Queensland’s Liberal National Government in January.
Groundwater Critical
