Coal and Seam Gas Information

This is a list of organisations that provide information about mining, water governance and integrated water management.

AUSTRALIA NATIONAL

The online activist group GetUp has created an interactive mapshowing all the coal seam gas reserves and mining wells across the country.

Check it out at http://csg.getup.org.au/

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

http://ccwa.org.au/content/mining-kimberley
Conservation Council of W.A.
Coal and uranium mining in the Kimberley
While many know about the gas hub proposed north of Broome there are plans for equally damaging coal and uranium mines inland.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/02/3152707.htm?section=business (PERTH)
Anti-coal protesters have ramped up their campaign against an underground coal mine near Margaret River, launching a series of print and television advertisements.
There has been strong community opposition to plans by LD Operations to establish the mine at Osmington.
The documentary film maker Michael Muntz is behind the ads which will run on commercial television and in newspapers throughout WA in coming weeks.

****http://www.water.wa.gov.au/Water+regions/Kimberley/default.aspx
Special projects
Fitzroy surface water - groundwater interaction project, runs for 3 years and is funded by the National Water Commission. The objectives of the project are to improve our understanding of the hydrologic processes of the Fitzroy River including groundwater and surface water interactions

http://nonewcoalwa.com.au/personalcomments/1953?page=8
Conservation Council of W.A.
Personal Comments | No new coal for WA
The Mardoowarra-Fitzroy River is living water; it is rich with biodiversity in the water, the land, the sky and the spirit. We are Australians and we want ...

http://www.safeclimate.org.au/node/390
Kimberley Traditional Owner supports No New Coal campaign
Address to the No New Coal Rally on Saturday 11th December 2010
A Safe Climate is a Human Right


NEW SOUTH WALES
http://www.risingtide.org.au/
Rising Tide Newcastle

Mail: PO Box 290 Newcastle, 2300
Email: risingtide AT risingtide DOT org DOT au
Phone: Steve Denshire on +61 402 556 420

http://www.coal4breakfast.com.au/page5.htm
Across Australia, productive, environmentally sustainable farming land is under threat. In 20 years when the windfall for the state coffers has ended and the world no longer wants coal, Australia will stand condemned on the world stage for its greedy rapacious ways and environmental vandalism.

http://huntervalleyprotectionalliance.com/
Contact Executive Officers : Stewart Even, Graeme Gibson
exec@huntervalleyprotectionalliance.com  


http://westerndowns.group-action.com/
NATIONALACTION… RALLY FOR TARA. 7th of March
For more information about Lock The Gate events and initiatives go to
http://lockthegateqld.group-action.com/


http://huntervalleyprotectionalliance.com/hgabout.html
About Hunter-Bulga Gas Action Group
“In the interest of accuracy and accountability, Sydney Gas, its partners, contractors, employees shareholders and other associated individuals and groups are invited to comment, address or correct any of the information contained in this website and in other material disseminated via alternate means or media.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/19/3195181.htm?site=news
The North East Forest Alliance is calling for an immediate moratorium on any further coal seam gas approvals in New South Wales.


http://www.ccag.org.au/
Caroona Coal Action Group

NATIONAL NEWS

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/27/2802323.htm?site=newengland
Abbott cautious about floodplain mining Posted January 27, 2010 11:08:00
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he is opposed to further mining on the Liverpool Plains until a thorough examination of the region's underground aquifers is done.
He made the comments during a tour of a soil carbon operation on a property at Spring Ridge.
Mr Abbott says he is aware of two Senate inquiries that have recommended a halt to exploration until independent water data is collected.
The Opposition Leader says the floodplain is too important as a food bowl to jeopardise its future. 

http://article.wn.com/view/2011/03/14/Gas_coal_exports_tipped_to_rise_after_Japanese_disaster/
DEMAND for Australia's key exports to Japan -- coal, iron ore and liquefied natural gas -- is set to rise in the wake of the massive earthquake destruction,...
The Australian 2011-03-14


http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/45740
Safe Climate Perth launches anti-coal campaign
Sunday, October 17, 2010
http://www.greenleft.org.au/taxonomy/term/2739
Perth presentation of over 8000 signatures against new coal

QUEENSLAND

http://www.sixdegrees.org.au/
Six Degrees is a campaign of Friends of the Earth Brisbane. We work with communities and groups to reduce Queensland's dependence on coal , and to ensure a

...http://www.sixdegrees.org.au/content/links-and-resources including:
What happens when a energy company plans to mine your property?  And
You need to know your legal rights:

http://www.bulgacoal.com.au/aboutus_location.html (XSTRATA)
Environmental Management System http://www.bulgacoal.com.au/environment_system.html
Rehabilitation http://www.bulgacoal.com.au/biodiversity_rehab.html

VICTORIA

http://www.environmentvictoria.org.au/index.php?q=coalwatch
ComprehEnsive cover of various events and campaigns
Replace Hazelwood
9 Dec 2010 ... Hazelwood is Australia's dirtiest power station. We're calling on the ... Moving forward: the campaign to Replace Hazelwood rolls on ...
www.replacehazelwood.org.au/ - Cached - Similar

Hazelwood - the dirtiest power station in the world? -- WWF-Australia
In many ways Australia can be regarded as a modern country that plays a leading role among industrialised nations. Not when it comes to electricity ...
www.wwf.org.au/articles/feature34/ - Cached - Similar

http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/news/local/news/general/hazelwood-talks-stop/2161205.aspx
Hazelwood talks stop 12 May 2011
BY NIKITA VAZ A decision by the State Government to discontinue negotiations on the Brumby Government's proposed early closure of two units of Hazelwood ...
Latrobe Valley Express - 4 related articles

Sustainable Livelihoods On Country

Nyikina Mangala Mardoowarra (Fitzroy River WA)
Sustainable Livelihoods on Country Case Study
A. Poelina RN, MPHTM, MEd, MA, PhD and
I. Perdrisat BPhysEd , Med, MPHTM, MA
Warloongarriy….songs all got meaning. Every time we sing that song
we teach the kids about the country, how it was made.
(Darby Nangkiriny, Nyikina Mangala Ancestor)

1. INTRODUCTION (NMAC Report April 2011 )

The Nyikina Mangala people are Traditional Owners of the land from the lower Fitzroy River to the Great Sandy Desert and associated river system and coastal waters in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Nyikina people are river people and Mangala people are from the desert.

From the 1870’s Nyikina people were decimated when their country was taken over by force. Mangala people were herded into the river country to join Nyikina people as slaves for the pastoral industry. There is an extensive account of local history told by Nyikina Mangala Elders in their own way (Poelina 2009, Marshall 1984 & Marshall 2004). Nyikina Mangala people have spent a long time living and working together and have inter-married forming a single society in some remote communities.

As well as the initial aggression, the social policies introduced by successive Australian governments and institutions are largely responsible for determining the changed socio-economic circumstances and impacts on the wellbeing for these peoples over the past one hundred and thirty years. The result has been reduced life choices and outcomes for Aboriginal people living in the West Kimberley region of Australia.

In Australia, Aboriginal affairs remains polarised around the left and the right of western politics whereby the considerations of the necessity to sustain the connections between people and land are subsumed by the competitive imperatives of a commodity capitalist economy. Contemporary local, state and national evidence overwhelmingly highlights governments concerns for the powerful commercial and political interests. This means that there is an essential disconnect between Aboriginal philosophies and knowledge’s for sustainability of the natural resource base and the incessant need of commodity capitalism to exploit the resources of country for short term monetary gain.

While there are many citizens who see the need for a paradigm shift in approaches to Aboriginal affairs, to reduce the socio-economic disadvantage of our people, theyare in the minority. In the meantime, the Nyikina Mangala people are attempting to develop new and innovative ways of living that are based on our cultural prescriptions for sustaining the natural world, humanity and human relationships. We are doing this through returning to country and living in a good way.

Living with extreme socio-economic disadvantage has become the norm for many Aboriginal people in the West Kimberley region. There is little or no acknowledgement from governments to connect the impacts of settler colonial incursions into this country, and the continuing disregard of the people and culture, with the present disadvantaged circumstances of the people. Our experience over the past thirty years identifies the clear need for Aboriginal people to determine our own needs in relation to improving our quality and continuity of life as well as our aspirations for the common good. To this end, effective responses to overcoming disadvantage must include building cultural capital to nurture the liyan (life spirit) of our people.

Over the past thirty years Nyikina Mangala Traditional Owners have built a steady momentum towards sustainable livelihoods on country. During this time riverside communities; Jarlmadangah Burru Aboriginal Corporation (JBAC) Looma, Pandanus Park, Bidan, Balginjirr, Oongkalkada continue to see the return of many Aboriginal people to country.
This return to country has been in response to the deepening crisis in lifestyles that has resulted from being confined to areas that people are not familiar with, the loss of traditional occupations including the supporting, regulating, provisioning, custodial and spiritual links with country. Nyikina Mangala Elders made the decision to develop new and sustainable ways of living, based on the philosophical and cultural precepts of which they are authoritative, to put their knowledge about the ethical ways to live in relationship to country into practice.
As this report outlines the results have been far beyond expectations and the developing practices of the Nyikina Mangala, representative of other similar movements, promises to be a template for further developments in ways of living ethically and sustainably with country across Australia.

The culture and conservation activities being undertaken by Nyikina Mangala people are presented as the start of building a model of sustainable development because it is ‘development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generation to meet their needs’ (Jacobs 2002:4). There is a need to build baseline data for ecosystems services by valuing the landscape, cultural assets, and water resources. Baseline data will provide benchmarks for valuing environmental, social, cultural and economic relationships to land and water quality and sustainability. This is not just for the Nyikina Mangala but it is a prescription for all humanity, to find ways to live that are sustaining for all of creation.

Protecting the Kimberley would boost economy

From: http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=3364

National Heritage listing for the Kimberley would create local jobs and benefit the region’s economy, according to new research we have released.

With Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke due to make a decision about National Heritage listing by mid-year, our research shows a strong Heritage listing for the Kimberley could deliver more local and ongoing jobs than mining. (See here also)
While mining is the biggest contributor to the Kimberley’s ‘gross regional product’, our research shows the mining industry is the eleventh largest employer in the region, providing only 500 jobs.

“Mining in the Kimberley is controlled by national and international companies, so the profits don’t stay in the region and the workforce is largely fly-in fly-out workers, not local employees,” said our Economic Adviser Simon O’Connor.

“In fact, mining is a much less important employer in the Kimberley than retail trade, accommodation and food – industries that will grow as more people visit the Kimberley to experience the region’s outstanding natural and cultural values. 

“The Kimberley’s values are a direct result of centuries of Indigenous care and management of the land.

“In contrast to the money made from mining, which mostly leaves the region to generate wealth elsewhere, retail trade and tourism generate local wealth.

“These results are echoed across WA, where resource development is failing to deliver on its promise of economic opportunity for local communities.  The Pilbara has generated billions in wealth over decades, but this has not resulted in economic development for the Indigenous people of the region. 

“National Heritage listing will help protect the globally unique values of the Kimberley from inappropriate development and will help the tourism, retail, food and accommodation sectors to grow supporting real jobs for locals.”

Coal and Uranium Mining in the Kimberley

While many know about the gas hub proposed north of Broome there
are plans for equally damaging coal and uranium mines inland.

View fullsize

Image: Environs Kimberley 

Extensive coal and uranium tenements are being explored by Australia's Rey Resourcesin the West Kimberley. These proposed coal and uranium mines are on the traditional lands of the Nyikina-Mangala people adjacent to the Fitzroy River.The river is sacred and culturally significant to a number of traditional owners groups.

Rey Resources plans to establish large-scale coal mining operations in the area and in May 2009 announced their intention to commence pre-feasibility studies for development of the estimated 500 million tonne (Mt) Duchess- Paradise coal reserves in the Canning basin (see map).

Recently Rey Resources also entered into a joint venture partnership with UraniumExploration Australia to confirm the extent of uranium resources at their Myroodahtenements which straddle the Fitzroy river. Rey Resources propose to export 2 Mt per annum of thermal coal to India through the existing port in Derby. However a proposed coal terminal at Point Torment wouldenable exports to rise to 6 Mtpa in the medium term and 10Mtpa in the longer term. Rey Resources propose to mine the coal using both open cut surface mining and high wall mining (see image above). If allowed to proceed this mine would displace hundreds of millions of tonnes of soil and waste rock.

Even if the company backfills the open cut pits with waste rock, the potential for landscape collapse and alteration to groundwater flow patterns will still exist.

Water extraction from the Fitzroy river is likely to skyrocket because coal mines are a massive user of water. Add to this the increase in dust, pollution, noise, and traffic along the Great Western highway, and the impact will be felt across the Kimberley region.