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Taxpayer funded EDO circus continues
The involvement of the NSW Environmental Defenders’ Office (EDO) in appealing the approval granted for Whitehaven’s Maules Creek project is another example of the absurdity of a government providing taxpayers’ money to fund legal challenges against its own approvals decisions.
Just over two weeks ago the federal Attorney-General announced $300,000 of funding to the NSW EDO.
Cashed-up with this fresh injection of taxpayer’s funds from the federal Attorney-General, the NSW EDO has now launched a legal challenge against the decision of one of his colleagues, former Environment Minister Tony Burke.
It’s an absurd situation where one federal Minister is funding an organisation to mount a legal challenge against the actions of another federal Minister.
The taxpayer-funded EDO also has a history of supporting extreme anti-mining activists like Jonathan Moylan, whose ‘hoax’ financial announcement relating to this project directly impacted on the investment savings of workers and retirees with shares in Whitehaven Coal.
The Maules Creek project has received all necessary state and federal approvals after one of the most rigorous environmental assessment processes ever undertaken in Australia.
The project is also one of the most significant developments underway in regional NSW, with 340 jobs in construction and approximately 470 during ongoing operations.
It is an important project for the region and should be allowed to proceed.
Contact: Lindsay Hermes I
I 0409 758 734