Environment Group Welcomes LNP's Policy to Protect Prime Agricultural Land From Mines

Six Degrees has formally welcomed yesterday's announcement from the Liberal National Party to protect prime agricultural farming areas from mining.

“The policy announcement from the LNP demonstrates a commitment to protecting our local food bowl from coal mining. Six Degrees and Friends of the Earth are now urging the ALP to better the policy by also protecting nature refuges and potential wind energy sites from mining. This would show a commitment to long-term sustainability in Queensland in the face of challenges such as climate change, decreased water security and global food shortages” said Six Degrees spokesperson Eleanor Smith.

At present there are a number of coal mines in various stages of approvals on good quality agricultural land in southern Queensland, including mines in the Felton Valley, near Toowoomba, Haystack Road, near Chinchilla and Kunioon, near Kingaroy. However, as burning coal is the largest contributor to greenhouse emissions globally, our government needs to start decreasing Queensland’s dependence on the coal industry.

“The recent floods in north Queensland and the bushfires in Victoria should be serving as a warning of what climate change will mean for Australians. The first step towards reducing Queensland’s dependence on coal while also reducing our contribution to global greenhouse emissions is to protect those areas that are most important for Queensland’s long term food security, energy security and biodiversity” said Ms Smith.

The LNP has announced that if it wins government that the proposed coal mines in Felton Valley and Haystack Road will not go ahead. However, they have not announced that the proposed coal mine at Kunioon, 10 kilomentres from Kingaroy will be cancelled.

Landholder Wendy Buttsworth is set to lose the property her husband’s family has owned for over 100 years to the planned coal mine at Kunioon. Mrs Buttsworth says “While farmers and graziers of Kunioon are delighted that the LNP has publicly pledged to protect the Felton Valley and Haystack plains from mining, they are bewildered as to why the same level of commitment has not been given to preserve the equally iconic and irreplaceable food producing land of Kunioon.

”Local landowners at Kunioon have had personal guarantees from individual LNP representatives, but are waiting for the same level of public commitment to be announced before March 21st” said Mrs Buttsworth.

On Thursday, 23 groups including landholders, faith groups, conservation groups and climate change groups wrote a joint letter to all the major political parties calling for:

1. a ban on mining on prime agricultural land, nature refuges and potential wind energy sites
2. a legislated moratorium on coal fired power stations in Queensland; and
3. a redirection of subsidies from the fossil fuel industry in Queensland into funding for renewable energy and green jobs.

The full text of the letter can be seen here.
 

7th March, 2009