Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about an issue of great concern to constituents in my electorate and that is a proposed coalmine to be built under water catchment areas in the Wyong shire. In fact, the head of this coalmine is to come up some 1½ kilometres away from a thriving suburb called Blue Haven. This coalmine is opposed by all elements of the community. Today, I have a delegation of nine people from my community—community leaders—coming to this place to meet with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, to put their views on putting greater pressure on the state government to make sure that they do not go ahead with this coalmine.

Amongst those who are coming down this afternoon are David Harris, the state Labor member for Wyong, who is vehemently opposed to the coalmine; Alan Hayes from the Australian Coal Alliance; John Asquith from the Environmental Network; importantly, Mary Doherty from the New South Wales Business Chamber; Kerry Ruffles from Business Central Coast; and council representatives from both Wyong Shire Council and Gosford City Council. They are coming because everyone in our community knows just how important it is to make sure that our water catchment areas are preserved.

There has been no coalmine in the history of coalmining that has not caused subsidence. This would be the first coalmine in Australia that would go underneath a designated catchment area. Water is absolutely precious to everyone in Australia but, on the Central Coast in particular, we had our water supply going down to as low as 13 per cent only a year ago. That this water supply could be put in jeopardy because the South Korean government wants to build a coalmine—one of the largest coalmines in the Southern Hemisphere—in this area is something that the community cannot come to terms with. It does not make sense environmentally; it does not make sense economically. That is why we have the New South Wales Business Chamber and Business Central Coast coming down.

This is also one of the few areas in New South Wales which is actually growing in population. It is growing in population because it is an area that is a designated employment zone. It is an area where businesses are moving to. These businesses—these jobs for the Central Coast—will not materialise if we have one of the largest coalmines being built right on our doorstep, jeopardising the water supply of the Central Coast.

This group of committed citizens is here today. We have a series of meetings, starting with a meeting with Minister Garrett this afternoon, where we will be putting our views very strongly and asking the federal government to put as much pressure as we can on the state government to make sure this coalmine does not go ahead.