14 November 2017

Media Release

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When trigger-happy is not a dirty word

A BUZZ around the Gunnedah business chamber this week suggested big news about the Shenhua Watermark mine is in the wind. Cynical speculation is that the Environment Minister has decided not to use the Water Trigger as it should apply to the Watermark mine.
CountryMinded candidate Pete Mailler said, of course, the announcement would be held back until after the by-election, to shield the Nationals candidate from any potential backlash.
“When the Prime Minister launched the Agricultural White Paper in 2015, he disingenuously said; ‘One day the coal will have been dug up, the gas will have been extracted, but we will always need food and our land forever,’” Pete said.
“This was meant to infer an understanding of the importance of protecting our land and water.
“Any sentiment held in his statement was completely contradicted just days later, when his government approved the Shenhua Watermark mine.”
Pete said anyone who thinks the mine does not matter to New England because it is now in the Parkes Electorate needs to remember that disaster knows no boundaries.
“If ever there was a need to invoke the Water Trigger, this is it,” he said.
“Shenhua is a great example of why the Water Trigger exists, but groups like Lock the Gate and Liverpool Plains Youth, to name just a couple, are doing a better job of raising the necessary support to block the danger than Barnaby Joyce.
“What is at risk here is the destruction of some of the most productive agricultural soils, landscapes and aquifers in the country, and once destroyed they can never be recovered.”
Pete said Joyce had already declared he is against the mine, but could do nothing about it.
“I say the truth is not that he can do nothing, the truth is he cannot do something and keep his Ministerial office,” he said
“Joyce’s allegiance lies with big coal and the COALition before the needs and wishes of his constituents, who seem to be only relevant to him when he needs their vote.
“I stopped voting for the Nationals when it was clear they didn’t represent me or what I believe my community needed and wanted, particularly around the protection of agricultural land and water. Right now they hold the balance of power and, if they wanted, they could stop this mine in a heartbeat, but they won’t.”
“It’s time we all took this issue seriously and commit to physically stand against this decision. I for one will stand on the line when the time comes, but I suspect Barnaby will not.”

-Ends-

For interviews contact: Pete Mailler on 0427 265 707 or at pete.mailler@countryminded.org.au