Lock the Gate Alliance

New polling has revealed that 85% of regional Hunter residents have experienced an extreme weather event in the past five years, and 80% say these events are driving up their cost of living.

The Lock the Gate Alliance says new laws introduced to Queensland Parliament today could undermine Queenslanders’ rights to scrutinise and object to mining projects that threaten their water, farmland and climate.

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has approved a two-year extension to the Ulan coal mine near Mudgee, despite the project being previously invalidated in the NSW Land and Environment Court after the local climate change impacts were found to not be properly assessed. 

Lock the Gate Alliance has submitted new evidence to the WA Appeals Convenor showing that Texan fracking company Black Mountain Energy’s modelling found that proposed fracking wastewater ponds could overflow in above-average rainfall conditions — which are frequently experienced in the area — posing a contamination threat to the Martuwarra Fitzroy River. 

The Lock the Gate Alliance says the Queensland government could use its new state development laws to fast-track a risky gas pipeline project that could transport Beetaloo gas to the east coast, after the project was declared a ‘Coordinated Project’. 

Hunter Valley Operations mine (HVO) has refused to consider a shorter mine life in response to questions from the NSW Independent Planning Commission, insisting it must have a full 19-year extension, despite the colossal contribution it would make to worsening climate change and its impacts in the Hunter. 

Community groups have vowed to keep fighting full-scale fracking in the Northern Territory, following an announcement from the Northern Territory Government that appraisal gas will begin flowing from Tamboran Resources’ Shenandoah South Pilot Project tomorrow. 

Lock the Gate Alliance is calling on the NSW government to urgently pass legislation that would protect coal workers, following revelations that the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) is seeking further information from the owners of Hunter Valley Operations coal mine about the time the operation needs for an orderly transition. 

Community groups have warned that new state development laws, passed last night by the LNP government, will give the Deputy Premier unprecedented powers to fast-track major projects while stripping Queenslanders of important community, environmental, landholder and First Nations protections.