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Maules Creek mine halted as protesters chain themselves to bulldozers Maules Creek blockade: coal company says protesters will not stop mine
(about 3 hours later)
Work at a controversial coalmine in northern New South Wales has been stopped by protesters who say the project will destroy a forest and its sacred Aboriginal cultural and burial sites. A coal company developing a new mine in northern NSW says protesters blocking access roads are a "nuisance" but will not stop the project going ahead.
More than 120 people have blockaded four entries at Whitehaven Coal's $767m Maules Creek project, near Boggabri, and attached themselves to 13 bulldozers. More than 120 people on Tuesday morning blockaded entries to Whitehaven Coal's $767m Maules Creek project, near Boggabri, and attached themselves to bulldozers.
Protesters from Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and the Hunter Valley have joined locals in the protest, among them blind 91-year-old Kokoda veteran Bill Ryan and his 65-year-old son. Protesters said just before midday that one of their group had been arrested by police.
"We need to remain here to stop Whitehaven and their contractors getting access to the forest to clear it," spokeswoman Georgina Woods said."We need to remain here to stop Whitehaven and their contractors getting access to the forest to clear it," spokeswoman Georgina Woods said.
"We're quite happy to stay here as long as we can." Clearing the forest for a road and railway line to service the open-cut coal mine would destroy valuable forest, animal habitat and Aboriginal sites, she said.
The protesters have been agitating at the site for two weeks. Australian Greens senator Lee Rhiannon, who was at the protest, said the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, needed to act and withdraw his approval of the Maules Creek mine.
Ten people have been arrested during that time. "No environment minister should have approved this level of habitat removal for any project let alone a coal mine with all the other associated problems," Rhiannon said.
Clearing the forest for a road and railway line to service the open-cut coalmine would destroy Aboriginal sites and vegetation and kill animals, Woods said. Protesters said they had stopped construction work at the mine but it was understood workers for the principal contractor, Leighton Contractors, were on a rostered day off on Tuesday.
Gomeroi elders have asked the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, for a 48-hour stay of works, but say they are still waiting for a reply 70 days later. A Whitehaven Coal spokesman said the protests had not stopped plant work at the mine despite protesters' claims.
Hunt had also refused to release an independent review of biodiversity offsets, which was based on "false and misleading information", Woods said. "Protests are a nuisance, mostly for the police, but they will not deter Whitehaven from getting on with building Maules Creek and delivering substantial benefits to the region," he said.
"He has the power to revoke the approval for this mine if it was given based on false information," she said. The company spokesman said protesters should respect the fact that the mine was an approved project that had passed the highest environmental approval standards.
"It's pretty clear that that is what's occurred, that ... the decision to approve this mine was based on  mistruths being put forward by Whitehaven."
After days of increased action earlier in January, authorities closed the forest, effectively blocking protesters from entering, saying large groups in the area posed an increased fire risk.
Anyone caught entering the forest, which is closed for the rest of the fire season, could be hit with a $2,200 fine.
A police spokeswoman said officers were at the protest sites to do their job.
"It's just another day there for us, police are there to ensure no criminal activity happens."