Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister and relates to the mining companies BHP and Shenhua Coal, and their coal exploration licences on the Liverpool Plains in the electorate of New England. The Prime Minister would be aware of the widespread concerns of these potential projects on the enormous groundwater reserves and the alluvial floodplains of the region and the Murray-Darling system. Given recent statements in China that Shenhua Coal would eventually mine under the floodplain and the Mooki River, and given that Shenhua Coal is refusing to await the results of an independent water study, which is partly funded by the Commonwealth government, would you, Prime Minister, visit this area and see for yourself the unique geographical and hydrogeological features of this area and the associated risks to the Murray-Darling system?

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