January 21, 2015
Anti-mining group “Lock The Gate” says large tracts of farmland in the Nanango electorate are threatened by coal mining.
Lock the Gate Alliance president Drew Hutton said coal exploration permits covered 281,417ha of the electorate, including water catchment areas for Wivenhoe Dam.
“This threat to our foodlands and our water is absolute lunacy,” Mr Hutton said.
“Our agricultural industry employs more Queenslanders than mining and needs to be valued, not ruined for short-term gain.”
A spokesperson for the Esk Community Action Group, Janine Godfrey, said the State Government was favouring mining companies over local residents.
“We have a resource that is far more precious than coal here in Nanango and that’s clean drinking water,” she said.
“It’s about time the government represented the people over the mining magnates.”
Lock The Gate said coal mining was one of the smallest employers in Queensland, with just 1.2 per cent of employment, and coal mining was 80 per cent foreign-owned, meaning profits go overseas.
However, last year coal companies operating in Queensland received around $1.5 billion in taxpayer support, largely in the form of rail and port infrastructure.
