| “The sale of our farm land, and the destruction of our farm land, must stop,” Professor the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir, former Governor of NSW.
Neville —
We are less than three weeks from the state election and the destructive impact of coal mining is firmly on the agenda.
Today the widely respected and much-loved former Governor of NSW, Professor the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir is on the cover of the Sydney Morning Herald making an impassioned plea that our farmland be protected from coal mining.
We know Premier Mike Baird and his colleagues in the NSW Government listen when Dame Marie speaks, so the significance of this bold call cannot be overstated. Take a look:
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You might like to watch Dame Marie’s full speech (it’s inspirational!), you can check it out here.
This comes just a fortnight after leaked reports1 revealed that mining companies have prepared plans for as many as 16 new or expanded coal mines in the NSW Upper Hunter Valley. These are plans that our government knew about but kept secret from our communities.
Mining companies often talk about rehabilitating land once mining is done but now the devastating truth has been revealed2: mining in the Hunter Valley could leave a legacy of more than 10,000 hectares of land consumed as ‘final voids’ (giant holes) and could cost $15 billion to clean up!
Further north, the NSW government gave the green light to Chinese state-owned mining company Shenhua to put a massive new open-cut coal mine on the Liverpool Plains. But local farmers are fighting back.
Never before have we seen open-cut coal mining on such a scale. The mines are getting bigger than ever before and closer to our homes, farm land, forests, and water catchments. But right around the state communities are standing up to say enough is enough.
Let’s make sure as many people as possible hear our call to protect land and water. Share today’s news far and wide — on Facebook, on Twitter or forward this email to your friends!
Now is the time for change,
Holly and the Land Water Future team.
PS: Does your MP know how you feel about coal and gas? Click here to send them an email today.
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1. Revealed: Major new coal mines planned for the Upper Hunter
2. Hunter’s mining moonscape: 10,000 hectares of holes
3. Hunter facing $15b legacy of coal mine voids: Lock the Gate
4. NSW state election 2015: Marie Bashir lashes out at loss of farmland for mining_ |
