Green groups sabotage of coal must end

Action is needed to prevent anti-coal groups from threatening the NSW economy by abusing technical loopholes in the Australian legal system to sabotage critical new mining projects.

In today’s The Australian, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has delivered a strong message in the national interest about those who seek to derail important new mining projects by exploiting legal loopholes. 

“If a vital national project can be endlessly delayed, if the courts can be turned into a means of sabotaging projects which are striving to meet the highest environmental standards, then we have a real problem as a nation.” said Prime Minister Abbott. 

Here in NSW, Mining operations use just 0.1 per cent of the land while providing jobs to tens of thousands of families, as well as billions of dollars in royalties to help fund roads, hospitals, schools and emergency services across the state.

“The coal sector is absolutely critical to the NSW economy, delivering over 80 per cent of our electricity needs, and supporting over 100,000 jobs, particularly in the Hunter and the Illawarra regions. More broadly, coal is our State’s most valuable export, contributing 25% of all NSW exports by value, underpinning relationships with all of our key trading partners.” NSW Minerals Council CEO, Stephen Galilee said today. 

“It’s vital that assessment of coal projects is based on science, facts and evidence, and not jeopardised by activists utilising legal technicalities that are turning Australia into a global investment laughing stock.” said Mr Galilee. 

“Our political leaders need to accept their responsibilities and act in the national interest, rather than constantly changing the assessment process to pander to noisy activists intent on stopping any development at any cost.”