Former independent member for New England Tony Windsor has joined farmers from the Liverpool Plains in a media campaign launched today that puts the Turnbull government on notice to cancel the approval of Shenhua’s controversial mega coal mine.
The advertisement will air on Sky News and Prime TV from today.
Mr Windsor stars with local community members in a television commercial where he warns of the dire potential impacts from mining, ‘They are mega mines over the top of the biggest water system in the Murray darling so the risks in terms of those groundwater systems could be catastrophic,’ he says in the video.
Phil Laird, national coordinator for the Lock the Gate Alliance, said, ‘The Liverpool Plains are no place for a massive coal mine that will threaten some of the nation’s best agricultural land that contributes about $332 million to our GDP annually.
‘We do not want to repeat on the Liverpool Plains the mistakes we’ve made in the Hunter Valley allowing industrial-scale mining in farming areas.
‘We’re grateful to Tony Windsor for standing up for communities and defending them from reckless coal projects that jeopardise our good soils and our biggest water system.
A major Harvest Festival is planned for November 6–8 to bring together people from around the north-west of NSW and beyond that have pledged support to the community at Breeza in their efforts to stop the coal mine.
‘It’s not too late for the prime minister to stop the Shenhua mega mine from going ahead. He must urgently revoke approval for the mine to safeguard Liverpool Plains land, water and community,’ Mr Laird said.
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