AUSTRALIA

Tanya Plibersek rejects two Queensland coalmines over failure to provide detail on environmental impact


Lisa Cox
Fri, 5 May 2023 

Photograph: PR IMAGE

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has struck off two proposed coal projects in Queensland after the developers failed to submit requested information about impacts on threatened species and water.

The two projects are Macmines’ China Stone coalmine in the Galilee basin and Stanmore Resources’ Range Coal project 35km south-east of Wandoan, in central Queensland.

Related: Mining dust and bird poo: how clean is the rainwater Australians drink?

Both projects had stalled after applications were submitted nine years ago by Macmines and 12 years ago by Stanmore Resources.

Activist groups welcomed the decision, with the Lock the Gate Alliance saying it ended uncertainty over “zombie” applications for projects that had not progressed but caused concern for communities.

The group also called for the minister to reject other coal projects that remain in the pipeline, such as the Isaac River coal mine.

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In 2018, the environment department sought further information from Macmines about threatened species and water. The same was done for the Stanmore Resources proposal a decade ago in 2013.

In July 2020, both developers indicated they wished to progress with the developments and would submit the information – but this did not occur.

The minister issued lapsed notices this week. The companies can reapply but would have the start the assessment process from scratch.

“I’ve been clear I will have zero tolerance for businesses who refuse to provide adequate information about the impact their projects will have on nature,” Plibersek said.

“If companies aren’t willing to show how they will protect nature, then I’m willing to cancel their projects – and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

Ellen Roberts, national coordinator at Lock the Gate, welcomed the decision.

“Zombie projects like these cause stress and uncertainty for regional communities who would be impacted while company bosses in city offices far away weigh up whether or not to proceed,” she said.

“We congratulate minister Plibersek for ending this uncertainty.”

She said the decision was another sign that increasingly there was no business case for new coal projects in a world that was decarbonising.

“But there is also a role for the Australian government to play in speeding up this decarbonisation. We call on Tanya Plibersek to reject the many other fossil fuel projects that are still in the pipeline, awaiting assessment.”

Kelly O’Shanassy, the chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, welcomed the decision.

“For too long companies have been able to ignore government requests for vital information about how their proposals will impact on water resources and wildlife – and still be able to go ahead with their nature-wrecking proposals,” she said.

Related: Queensland faces ‘significant’ wellbeing decline if it doesn’t quickly transition to renewables, report says

“It’s good to see an environment minister cancelling a coal project when a company fails to provide information about impacts on water and wildlife, but it again highlights the need for a strong, independent environmental protection agency that can make these sorts of assessments and decisions at arms’ length from executive government.”

In a statement to the ASX on Friday, Stanmore Resources confirmed the Range Coal project had been declared as lapsed.

The company’s chief executive Marcelo Matos said it was a legacy project and “while it remains in our portfolio of reserves and options, our current focus has been on developing our metallurgical coal assets”.

“Since our last discussions about the project with the Commonwealth in 2020, we have prioritised approvals and progressed development of our Isaac Downs project which was successfully brought into production in 2021,” he said.

“We have also been focused on the continuation of operations and potential incremental expansions at our newly acquired South Walker Creek and Poitrel mines.”

He said the company was open to resubmitting the project for assessment at an “appropriate time”.

Macmines was contacted for comment.