Maules Creek Continuation Project

Employment

I love my job, this mine brings jobs to hundreds of people and I hope the mine life can be extended so I can see myself stay in this industry for the rest of my life. Thanks

I support the project for the extension of Mauls Creek mine life.

The job and community grants and donations it brings to support the people and community.

Helps many locals and non locals to provide for there families

I would like to see an extension on this project to continue to support local jobs for locals and local businesses. Whitehaven continues to support local businesses and helps regional areas thrive.

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I support the project as it provides multiple position for many people near and far

Whitehaven coal provides job opportunities within our region; the expansion will support more jobs and longevity of the mine. When there are more jobs available there is more growth across all sectors in our local community. Whitehaven supports our community projects to keep our community connected.

See attached submission

I find it ridiculous that the approval system can be considering a project that that won’t start for 9 years. Whether it's economic, scientific, legal, environmental or social grounds any number of changes can and will occur in that period. Looking to establish ground rules that far in advance should not countenanced in any way.

In particular this proposal is designed to ‘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.


Aside from the all-important emissions issues (more on that later) there are very specific local environment issues that must be considered.

This project will clear over 500 hectares of key foraging habitat for the Swift Parrot, despite only 500 of them remaining in the wild, and it will push the species closer to extinction. This is a key site for Swifties and must not be put at risk.
The project will 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.

This expansion 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.



I'll now move on to corporate governance issues.
Whitehaven Coal has an appalling compliance record. In the last 10 years, 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.
Water and communities at risk

Whitehaven has already been prosecuted for stealing water at the Maules Ck coal mine at the height of the last drought.


On the human/societal front the expansion will harm the local farming community at Maules Ck and cause negative social impacts.
It will further empty the district of families through alienation of productive land, and create dangerous dust pollution and escalating noise for surrounding areas, whilst creating division and conflict. It will exacerbate the housing crisis in the region.


NSW communities are already experiencing devastating impacts from global warming but this project will produce an extra 238 million tonnes of total greenhouse gas pollution.
Following the NSW Court of Appeal decision last week on the Mt Pleasant coal mine, Whitehaven Coal should be required to fully assess the impacts of the downstream emissions from the project on the local environment and community. This requires proper attribution science to be conducted. None of this has been done in the current EIS.
The direct emissions from the mining process itself, of over 3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, will completely undermine NSW achieving climate targets.

In summary - this project should be rejected. There are no potential positive outcomes, beyond the possibility of lining the pockets of Whitehaven shareholders. And if that occurs it will be to the detriment of NSW, the environment and future generations

I support the continuation of Maules Creek Mine because it plays a significant role in contributing to the local and national economy through job creation, regional development, and export revenues. The mine supports hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, particularly in rural communities, and helps sustain local businesses. Additionally, with proper environmental management and adherence to regulatory standards, I believe it’s possible to balance economic benefits with responsible environmental stewardship.

I object to this expansion on a number of grounds.
The Leard State Forest will be further diminished as a site of native vegetation, a source of food for migratory birds such as the Swift Parrot, several bat species, koala, quolls and endangered vegetation such as the white Box-Gum.
The expansion of the mine will have further detrimental effects on water supplies, air quality, noise levels and farming land in the Maules Creek area. The expansion of the mine will not contribute to the limits on climate change and the reduction of green-house gas emission that we are all meant to be working towards internationally.

My father works at Mauls creek and it enables us to live a good life and supports the community and local businesses in which I am in.

I like my job, whitehaven employees over 1000 people

As a local resident of Boggabri who moved to the town recently, the town in which I chose to move my family too would shut down given the mine puts so much money and time into the town for the schools, shops and general economics of the town. It would be detrimental to myself, my family and the township of Boggabri for the mine to shut down.

I currently work for Whitehaven at Maules creek coal mine. I support this project to help create job opportunities for local residents

Keeps so many people in jobs and is doing no harm to the community

Extending the operating life of any current coal mine, is very important to create immediate investment in sustaining capital projects which benefits local businesses immediately. This will immediately improve work for local businesses like GEM Projects.

I support this project as it helps the community grow and offers endless opportunities for many people.

I would like to support the continuation project for this Maules Creek coal mine, as I’m currently a worker at this mine it would provide great support for this community provide ongoing employment for the region and beyond and a contributing local economy.