Maules Creek Continuation Project

Fossil fuels have been buried by nature millions of years ago. This let the present flora and fauna develop over thousands of years. By digging up those fuels again in the last hundred years, we create unnatural climate change. A warming climate becomes more erratic and extrem, not what food production needs, to keep over 8 billion people alive. Growing food needs manly NPK. Phosphorus (P) and (K) Potassium are mined like coal and will run out within 2 hundred years. So much for food, even without a warming climate.
While I don't like species, like the Swifties, getting extinct, our thoughts should be with our grandchildren and the babies being born right now. A world population of over 8 billion, having doubled in the last fifty years, is utterly unsustainable. Yet governments, economists and Elon Musks around the world want more humans, so we can grow the economy by digging up more fossil fuels to keep them alive. A dog chasing its tail. We have already wasted 50 years, since scientists like Norman Borlaug and the Club of Rome warned us of the situation we are in now. Let's wake up and find a way worldwide, to reduce our population, economies, fossil fuels, so the next generations can have a future. We live on a planet with finite resources. When they are gone, we (our grandchildren) had it. Think about it.

The Maules Creek Continuation Project will retain jobs and strengthen the local economies of Gunnedah and Narrabri, ensuring ongoing economic stability for our communities.

I strongly support the continued operation of the Maules Creek Mine project. It provides vital local employment, drives growth for regional businesses, generates substantial government revenue, and promotes meaningful Indigenous participation. Its ongoing presence is essential to the region’s economic strength and social wellbeing.

The MCCP is important for the economic future of the North West.

Maules Creek Coal Mine has been supporting the local communities and the economic grow for the last 10 years, the expansion of the mine throughout the MCCP will allow to Whitehaven to continue with a strong commitment with the environment with robust measures as our EIS outlines, a support for local communities generating jobs investing money in local sponsorships and contributing to the economic resilience of the North West of NSW

Source of employment and investment in the region

The continuation of the Maules Creek Project is critical to sustaining economic growth and employment opportunities across the Boggabri, Gunnedah, Tamworth, and Narrabri regions.
In FY24 alone, Whitehaven made a substantial contribution to both New South Wales and the Australian economy, paying over $1.5 billion in taxes and royalties.
The Maules Creek operation is expected to continue delivering these benefits well into the future.

This project will clear over 500 hectares of key foraging habitat for the Swift Parrot. There are only 500 of these beautiful birds remaining in the wild and removing this vital habit will push the Swift Parrot to the brink of extinction.

Furthermore, continuing down the coal trajectory with the implications that has for climate change, is yet another example politicians + the people that vote for them safeguarding their own jobs and prosperity by sacrificing the wellbeing of future generations.

I support the continuation of mining at the Maules Creek Coal Mine and respect the role that coal plays in a balanced energy mix as the world transitions to a cleaner energy future. Regional towns across Australia are suffering from population decline as agriculture becomes more efficient and farms require less workers per unit of commodity produced. In defiance of this trend, Narrabri and Gunnedah have unique opportunities for growth with the regional jobs powerhouses of extractive industries and the associated business opportunities they provide to the region.
Whitehaven is a great corporate citizen in its support for local community groups, sporting clubs and liveability projects, and the company is represented at Narrabri, Boggabri and Gunnedah Chamber's of Commerce.
I am not intimately familiar with the environmental performance within the mine itself but from my observations around the perimeter of the sites, erosion and sediment control measures are effective, rehabilitation works are tidy and weed and vertebrate pest control programs are obviously implemented well.
I believe that the company can continue to operate the mine for the benefit of the next generation.

I would like to register my strong opposition to this proposed expansion of the coal mining operation.
This proposal will only increase Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and cause further local environmental damage. The proposed area of expansion includes habitat of the significantly endangered Swift Parrot.
Whilst as a country we struggle for funding of Clean Energy and Enviromental projects these Fossil Fuel
Companies seem to have no such limits or restrictions. I have travelled widely within Australia for many years and have seen firsthand the total disregard that the Mining companies have for the environment
and the regeneration requirements. While Coal Mining enjoys easy access to land along with Taxpayers
funded subsidies and big donations to the Major Political Parties the fight against Global Climate Change
takes a back seat. The current NSW government has a poor environmental record and approval for this proposal will only make it worse. Thankyou Peter OGrady.

My name is Sarah Brennan and this is my submission in opposition to the Maules Creek Continuation Project.

This project is both too highly polluting and environment damaging to be approved. The proposed expansion will see 428 hectares cleared in the Leard State Forest, which has already lost 46% cover due to clearing for three coal mine projects. The forest intended to be raised acts as key foraging habitat for swift parrots, a species of which there are only 500 of them left. Their breeding habitat is threatened in Tasmania, and to destroy their habitat in NSW puts them further at risk of extinction.

Additionally, this project threatens vital water resources used by local farmers for their livestock. Whitehaven’s compliance record includes breaching the law 35 times in the last decade, including stealing water at the Marles Creek Coal mine during the last drought. This is a company that cannot and should not be trusted.

Finally, the NSW Government should not be approving new coal projects amidst a climate crisis, let alone an expansion that would not start until 2034 when the federal and state government have committed to reducing emissions. This expansion proposal is to merely gain an approval before climate laws are strengthened in the face of escalating climate induced disasters. An estimated 238 million extra tonnes of green house gas emissions are expected to be produced by this expansion, and in the face of the climate crisis is unacceptable. Direct emissions from the mine, 3 million tonnes, will undermine NSW achieving its climate targets.

This project benefits the Narrabri community by providing employment and infrastructure. Whitehaven supports local clubs and community groups.

This proposed expansion will destroy the beautiful Leard State Forest and will clear over 500 hectares of key foraging habitat for the Swift Parrot. There are only 500 Swifties remaining in the wild and this proposed development will push the species closer to extinction. Because this is a key site for this endangered species it must not be put at further risk.

oppose this planning application from multiple reasons.
It will add carbon emissions that goes against the Government state goals of reduction and environmental responsibility. The project will produce an extra 238 million tonnes of total greenhouse gas pollution. The direct emissions from the mining process itself, of over 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, will completely undermine NSW achieving climate targets.
It will be a decade before it is planned to commence. This assumes that climate laws will stay static. The approval should be withheld.
Clearance of forest land will endanger native species in particular the endangered Swift Parrot. Clearance in the Leard State Forest mean nearly half of the forest has bee removed for coal mines. This goes against every conservation principle.
This expansion poses a major risk to local water resources, sucking down water beneath local creeks and the groundwater used by farmers to water their stock. Whitehaven has already been prosecuted for stealing water at the Maules Creek coal mine at the height of the last drought.
It will harm the local farming community at Maules Creek. It will further empty the district of families through alienation of productive land, and exacerbate the housing crisis in the region.
Whitehaven Coal has been prosecuted numerous times and has an appalling compliance record. It should not be given licence to further break laws.

The destruction of Swift Parrot habitats is unforgivable especially to climate destruction coal mines. We need to lead the world into it's brighter future with a more harmonious balance of our environmental jewel not arrogant destruction for the sake of a few rich.
Thank you
Terry Holdom

I can’t believe that the NSW government is even considering Whitehaven Coal’s plan to expand their coal mine. They have a dreadful compliance record. In the past 10 years alone Whitehaven has been found guilty or investigated for breaches of the law on 35 occasions, many of them including multiple offences. They have been prosecuted numerous times, so obviously can’t be trusted to do the right thing.
Besides that, the NSW Government shouldn’t be approving any coal mine expansion now especially one that will not even start until 2034 – it is locking in greenhouse gas emissions far into the future that we can’t afford.
This proposal is just a sneaky plan by Whitehaven to try and ‘bank’ an approval now before climate laws are strengthened further in response to the rapidly escalating impacts of global warming in the form of more extreme weather events.
NSW communities are already experiencing devastating impacts from global warming, but this project would produce an extra 238 million tonnes of total greenhouse gas pollution, which we really don’t want! The direct emissions from the mining process itself, of over 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, will completely undermine NSW achieving climate targets.
This proposed expansion also poses a major risk to local water resources – it will suck down water beneath local creeks and the groundwater used by farmers to water their stock. Whitehaven has already been prosecuted for stealing water at the Maules Ck coal mine at the height of the last drought. What is to stop them doing it again?
This proposed project would clear over 500 hectares of key foraging habitat for the Swift Parrot, despite only 500 of them remaining in the wild, and would push the species closer to extinction. This is a key site for Swifties and must not be put at risk.
The project would also clear a further 428 hectares of the beautiful Leard State Forest, resulting in over 46% of the State Forest having been cleared in total for three coal mines. Our scarce and precious public lands should not be destroyed for coal mine profits.

The NSW Government must reject Whitehaven’s coal mine expansion – our future depends on it

Approving a coal mine expansion that won’t even begin until 2034 is reckless and short-sighted. It effectively locks in massive greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come—at a time when we need to be urgently cutting pollution to tackle the climate crisis. This plan appears to be a strategic move to gain approval before climate laws are inevitably tightened in response to worsening extreme weather events. It's banking on today’s weaker rules to push through tomorrow’s damage.

The environmental cost of this proposal is catastrophic. Over 500 hectares of vital foraging habitat for the critically endangered Swift Parrot would be destroyed. With only around 500 of these birds left in the wild, every hectare matters. Clearing this habitat puts the species on an even faster path to extinction. The project would also destroy another 428 hectares of the Leard State Forest—bringing the total cleared for coal to more than 46% of this unique public forest. We must protect our remaining public lands, not hand them over to coal companies.

Whitehaven Coal, the company behind the expansion, has a long and troubling track record. In the past decade alone, they’ve been prosecuted or investigated for legal breaches 35 times. This includes serious offences like illegal water take during a drought. Their record shows they can’t be trusted to operate responsibly.

This mine would drain groundwater that local farmers rely on, harming agriculture and putting the local water supply at risk. It would bring more noise, dust, and division to the region—driving families away, worsening the housing crisis, and damaging the fabric of rural communities.

And above all, the climate cost is staggering. The project is expected to generate 238 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Even the emissions from mining alone—over 3 million tonnes—would derail NSW’s efforts to meet its climate targets. Communities across the state are already dealing with the realities of climate change. This expansion would make it worse.

We should be moving away from coal, not locking in new fossil fuel projects that threaten our environment, communities, and future. This proposal must be rejected.

I support this project as it sustains employment for thousands of families across the region.

The Maules Creek mine life extension is vital for the continuation of 900+ permanent local Jobs and the $200m+ annual spend with local businesses. The mine provides not just jobs but career pathways for young people in the area and I would like to see this continue for as long as possible.

We can continue to receive economic and social benefits to Northwest NSW communities for decades to come.