Court Ruling Strengthens Landholders' Resolve

Farmers on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales vowed to continue their campaign against the mining giant BHP Billiton after the courts upheld the company's unfettered right to access their properties against their will. But independant federal MP Tony Windsor says the decision will only strengthen the communities resolve, and warned BHP Billiton to prepare for renewed civil disobedience.

"I'm disappointed to say the least," said Geoff Brown outside the Gunnedah court, where the mining warden, John Bailey, upheld a decision by an arbitrator granting BHP access to four properties where Mr Brown and three other farmers had tried to restrict the company. The full decision of the mining warden, as revealed to the packed court house, is available here.

But Mr Brown and his wife said they will not drop their fight against the company.

"We are still not going to give them access to our land," Mr Brown said. "We are not finished yet. We will dig in."

The battle between the farmers and mining companies on the Liverpool Plains, one of the state's richest agricultural regions, is putting political pressure on the NSW Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, who is also responsible for mining.

Mr Macdonald granted the exploration licence to BHP for $99 million several years ago to search for an estimated 500 million tonnes of coal.

At the time, the minister and the company said it had the potential to launch one of the biggest new coalmining ventures in the state. Mr Macdonald later also granted a Chinese coal company, Shenhua, an exploration licence in the area.

Caroona Action Group Responds

Caroona Coal Action Group spokesperson Tim Duddy said the fact that the Chief Mining Warden issued multiple Access Agreements despite what had emerged during the hearings left the community with "no faith whatsoever" in NSW Mining legislation.

The community has said from day one that the current laws covering mining in NSW not only fail to properly protect the environment but also leave landholders with no rights whatsoever to protect their livelihoods, the water systems, or their land.

The Chief Mining Warden’s decision yesterday could not have illustrated that fact more clearly.

It is a disappointing result given that the NSW and Federal governments have already acknowledged the need for an independent catchment-wide water study in this region to map the unique aquifer systems here and properly understand the risks posed by large-scale mining.

Today’s events have only cemented the community’s resolve to ensure no exploration or mining occurs until that water study has provided everyone with the detailed data required to properly assess and understand the risks of any future mining.

Many communities have faced this David and Goliath battle before and been crushed by the might of large multinational companies. We are indebted to the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund  for backing our community in a fight that our children and their children cannot afford us to lose.

Federal MP Says Decision Will Bring on Direct Action

The independent federal MP for New England, Tony Windsor, who was at the court, said the decision would exacerbate tensions on the Liverpool Plains between the miners and farmers.

As Mr Windsor told the Sydney Morning Herald: 

This will strengthen the opposition of landholders. The minister should never have granted the exploration licence to BHP.

BHP has good reason to be concerned. I think the decision will promote civil disobedience.

Windsor has demonstrated a long term commitment to the Liverpool Plains Blockade, which has now been in place for more than 10 months and has had over 3000 attendees.

BHP Jubilant Over Preferential Treatment

Not surprisingly, BHP welcomed the decision yesterday. Stephen David, who is managing the project, said the decision largely upheld an arbitrator's finding handed down several months ago: 

We now have in place a mechanism where we can continue our exploration work on these four properties.

Mr David said the company would have discussions with the landowners before any new work was started. He said the company had already drilled about 130 boreholes in the area and the land of interest had been brought back to about 150 square kilometres.

This story is largely taken from two sources. The first is an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, May 22nd, 2009. It was originally written by environmental editor Marian Wilkinson. The original story is available here. The second is a press release issued by the Caroona Coal Action Group. The release is available here.