| Neville —
Five years ago my community had a public meeting and resolved to fight Rio Tinto’s proposed Warkworth coal mine expansion in the Hunter Valley. Why? Because it would wipe out our home – the village of Bulga.
Since then we have beaten Rio in court, twice. We proved that expanding the Warkworth mine would do more harm than good, not only for our community but for all of NSW. We thought that would be the end of our struggle, but we were wrong.
The NSW Government has been working hand-in-glove with Rio Tinto to force this unwanted mine on our community. Government agencies and Ministers have had secret meetings with Rio, helping the company prepare a new development application for the mine. The NSW Government has even changed the law to allow the Warkworth project to go ahead.
Today, the NSW Planning Assessment Commission published its review of Rio’s new development application. The Commission says the mine is “capable of being approved”, because of the changes to mining regulations introduced by the government. My community is disgusted. Our government has abandoned us, and sided with a global mining giant to destroy our town.
We are still determined to win, but we need your help. Today, we’re joining with local businesses and Wonnarua traditional custodians to launch The Bulga Declaration. It’s a statement of intent from our community – and our supporters – that we will use all peaceful means to stop this mine. We have been left with no other choice.
Please join us. Sign the Bulga Declaration here, and share it with your friends.
The Baird government may have signed the death warrant for Bulga, but the people have not. The government and Rio Tinto are colluding against us, but we are united and we will not be subdued.
Regards,
John Krey, Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association
Lock the Gate Alliance
http://www.lockthegate.org.au/ |
