Farms to be protected from coal mining!

Whilst the news of Clive Palmer's maybe-binding-maybe-not multi million tonne coal deal with China has dominated the news this week and highlighted Queensland's ongoing love affair with the coal industry we have had a substantial win on another front.

Six Degrees has been working with landholders and conservation and farming groups for over a year to push for protection of good quality agricultural land from mining. This week the Queensland government announced a new policy to protect farm land from destructive mining expansion, and are welcoming comments on their discussion paper.

In their words:

The government considers that the best cropping land, defined as strategic cropping land, is a finite resource that must be conserved and managed for the longer term. As a general aim, planning and approval powers should be used to protect such land from those developments that lead to its permanent alienation or diminished productivity."

Currently the only no-go zones for mining in Queensland are National Parks so the addition of good quality farm lands to this list is a significant change in Government policy, and a public statement of the fact that exponential increases in mining are having an impact on the wellbeing of Queenslanders. We congratulate the Government on recognising this important hole in their policy and for encouraging the community to have their say on the issue.

This is a clear win for community action and we want to congratulate the many groups of different persuasions that have pushed for this legislation through a diversity of tactics from letter writing to protests.

One of the key questions now for Government is the definition of 'strategic cropping land' which is in danger of being narrowly defined, making the legislation almost pointless. Now is the time for strong community pressure to ensure that much of the Darling Downs, areas closer to Brisbane and the remaining areas of good quality agricultural lands in the Bowen Basin are protected.

To read the discussion paper and make a submission, no matter how long or short, visit www.dip.qld.gov.au/croppingland Submissions will be accepted until March 12.