Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Climate Change and Water (Senator Wong) to a question without notice asked today.

I particularly want to refer to exploration for very large-scale longwall coal mining on some of the nation’s most productive agricultural land. The question that was addressed to the minister this afternoon related to the Liverpool Plains region, but she will be very aware that this is a live issue and an extremely contentious issue that is polarising regional communities across New South Wales and Queensland at least. The New South Wales government, as the chamber will be aware, is currently overseeing a very substantial expansion in mining approvals across the state, both in terms of exploration and drilling. Also, of course, companies such as BHP are involved and, as reported quite recently, a Chinese mining corporation has been moving quite aggressively to secure land in New South Wales for proposed coal mining. This is in some of Australia’s most fertile and productive agricultural land.

According to the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, more than 30 coal and 20 metallic and industrial mineral projects and mine extensions are proposed for the coming decade. It is fair to say that the New South Wales government, as the minister rightly pointed out, does have constitutional powers to regulate mining and mining exploration in the states and territories, but there is nothing in place at the moment to prevent the very large-scale devastation, effectively, of some of our key farming communities and some of our most important agricultural areas. Coal exports have surged 17 per cent nationally, to 240 million tonnes a year. In 2008, the New South Wales government approved an additional 32 million tonnes of coal production spread across 12 separate coalmine projects. That was more than was approved in 2007, and nearly double the number approved in 2006. This is not some abstract potential future mining some way down the track that we are considering here; these are live issues that are before us now. The conflict between agriculture and mining is perhaps most stark on the Liverpool Plains, and that was the reason for my question this afternoon.

The minister, unless I read her comments incorrectly—and I am sure she will correct the record if I did, and I will be happy to retract this if it is not the case—said that she certainly thought that before mining of the Liverpool Plains area got underway on a large scale the water studies we were referring to had been concluded and their results validated, so the key strategic water resources in that part of New South Wales would be protected. But my question went the nature of exploration. Very large scale drilling into complex aquifers which have many layers and interconnections which are not very well understood has the potential to effectively contaminate the water resources of that area just through exploration practices and not through potential future mining.

I would just like to firmly put on the record at this point that the farmers and the Liverpool Plains communities have undertaken a spirited defence of their communities, and I congratulate them for that. Their stand not only protects their immediate area and the farming communities that they love and have lived in for generations but also highlights a key strategic failure of the Australian government to see this coming. The government needs to change its approach to mining in fertile areas, and it will not be enough for the minister to stand up in here and fob the chamber off by saying that these are matters for the New South Wales government. With due recognition of the fact that the Commonwealth has put a small amount of money on the table as its contribution to a study on water resources, my understanding at this point is that that funding has not been matched by the New South Wales government and, in any event, it will be well and truly insufficient to provide any kind of robust understanding of the complex nature of the water bodies beneath the Liverpool Plains.

This is, as I said, one of Australia’s most important agricultural areas. It produces 33 per cent of Australia’s pasta wheat. It is a huge producer of sorghum. It produces bread wheat. And, of course, as we know, it is part of the Murray-Darling catchment. This is a very significant underground aquifer in terms of quality and quantity of water. According to some reports, it is second only in size to the Great Artesian Basin. One of the things that often gets left out in these considerations is the very important biodiversity values—remnant bushland remains in that part of New South Wales. We do not have enough for the study from the Commonwealth contribution, we do not have a contribution at all from New South Wales and yet exploration is ploughing ahead. I think this is an issue that the Commonwealth needs to take an active stance on now lest we look back with regret and, not least, to give the communities of the Liverpool Plains region the respect they are owed in the protection of their communities.