Front Line Action on Coal released this statement on May 10.
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Fifteen protesters from the Maules Creek coalmine blockade have taken their campaign to the other end of the coal chain, stopping a coal train in Newcastle on May 10.
Protesters approached the stopped train as it entered the Kooragang Island coal terminals from where Whitehaven Coal intend to ship coal mined at Maules Creek.
A protester suspended herself from the railway bridge, blocking access for the train.
The protesters say that the Maules Creek coal project has been implicated in the corruption scandal sweeping New South Wales politics, and that construction on the project should cease pending a judicial inquiry. They have also called for a broader inquiry into the political influence of the coal lobby in NSW.
Spokesperson for Front Line Action on Coal, Helen War, said: “There is a cloud of corruption over the NSW coal industry.
“Two mining ministers of the former government were found corrupt last year. The government’s mining minister, Chris Hartcher, resigned after his offices were raided by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). These men presided over the granting of scores of coal mining and exploration licences in NSW.
“Three coal exploration leases were cancelled in the wake of last year’s ICAC inquiries, with Maules Creek named in the Operation Spicer inquiry currently under way.
“Evidence before ICAC alleges that Nathan Tinkler was making illegal donations to NSW politicians at the same time he was aggressively lobbying for the approval of the Maules Creek mine. This is a scandal, and just the latest episode in the long, dodgy history of this mine.
“Last year two former directors of Tinkler’s mining company were prosecuted for not disclosing National Party donations at the time the application to mine Maules Creek was being assessed by the state government.
“The Maules Creek coal mine should never have been approved. It would destroy thousands of hectares of irreplaceable endangered bushland. It is unwanted by local farmers, whose health and livelihoods stand to be irreversibly impacted.
“We have always suspected this mine could only have been approved with special treatment, and there is now more evidence of that being the case. We call on Premier Mike Baird to restore public confidence in the approval process for the Maules Creek mine, and commit to a judicial inquiry.
“A broader inquiry into the political influence of the coal lobby in NSW is also needed. Coal is corrupting our democracy, and it’s time put a stop to it.”
