There wil be a permanent loss of potable groundwater from springs that contribute to the Goulburn River which has already lost water due to current mining activity.
The predicted baseflow loss to the Goulburn Riverof between 180-600mL/year is inexcusable .
The 200metre buffer zone to Moolarben and Murdering Creeks MUST exclude any activity assoiciated with mining.
The activity is far too close to to Munghorn Gap Nature Reserve which contains valuable habitat for many threatened species including Regent Honeyeater, Koala.
Noise, dust and lights will disrupt many species including threatened species.
There will be habitat loss for 22 Threatened Species
Loss of 624.18Ha of native vegetetion including 477.75Ha of Box-Gum-Woodland Critically Endangered Ecological Communities.
These are rapidly disappearing. The Biodiversity Offset system will not replace what is lost, nor can it provide habitat for displaced animals if that habitat is already at carrying capacity.

Please see attachment

Warrabinga NTCAC would object to the Mining

See attached letter submission

This is a personal submission exampling just one person in this community – The social impact, intertwined with economic, employment, aboriginal culture, environmental and health impacts. They are inextricably linked
• Most people have little inkling of the challenges involved in fending off a major development, such as the proposed Moolarben OC3 “Extension” for 4 new pits!! in a sensitive environmental region for “run-of-mine (ROM) coal to be exported. This is an Australian resource that is being exported to further add to the world’s pollution.
• Where is the “promised PRIA PROCESS? This after all is “NEW” under the guise of an extension. This only further encourages my mistrust for the NSW government – NSW government doesn’t have a good record for transparency.
An economic value is place on the Coal resources, but what value is place on our community? How do you value people? Aren’t our people our greatest resource? Do you value them through what they given, or do you value them for their economic output in today’s dollars? Does that mean we place no value on our elders? Our children? Our artists? ....the list goes on. One may argue that in an advanced economy, people have the highest value, and they are not expendable and continue to add value to our society in non- quantifiable ways, albeit they may not be creating any direct output.
What value is placed on the aboriginal people and their sites and culture? Or have you thrown them a bit of money and placed a “gag order” on them. You pick up a few artifacts, put them in a shed and say you are being culturally sensitive. This demonstrates a complete lack of understanding for our elders and culture. These people cared for the land for thousands of years without the type of destruction coal mining causes. The fact you say you will rehabilitate it is a joke. You may fill the pit in, but you cannot return the top soil and ecological systems that you destroy in the open cut process. This is all for what ….. a few export dollars. A very small short-term reward for a for-ever destruction, not to mention your contribution to greenhouse gases on our planet.
There presents many aspects of what will be impacted should the proposed Coal Extension and subsequent Coal mines proceed:
• We will lose community – a community that our government needs to support and encourage for the benefit of all Australians.
• We will lose more agricultural enterprises that provides food and fibre in a sustainable and respectful way to both land and animals.
• We will lose our natural native environment that provides refuge to our animals, our birdlife and our people
• We will lose the health restoring environments so desperately needed in these high stress times
• We will lose aboriginal cultural sites, ceremony places and opportunity for ceremony, their connection and ability to care for country, and our opportunity to work together, and share that learning with our visitors, creating a greater reach of understanding – again very needed in our country. Working together and embracing the learning, goes way beyond a “government apology.”
• Families will lose their opportunities to create “grounding” experiences for their family, their holidays away from screens and man-made noise, where they are able to nurture their relationships
• We will lose the “time out” opportunity, time to “chill,” and take stock
• We will lose our visitor group – our connections to their world and their connection to this world
There are so many reasons why this Coal Extension project should be abandoned:
• The critical risk to waterways, streams, springs, swamps, wells, and bores
• The extraordinary loss of water for this community and all downstream
towns and enterprises – 653 litres/tonne of coal
• The pollution with the noise, light, and dust
• The extra heavy traffic in what is currently a rural region and a rural region embraced by tourist for those qualities
• The damage to Country and it’s connections
• The destruction of habitat to wildlife especially endangered and threaten
species
• The loss of pristine natural environments
• The annihilation of aboriginal culture with the destruction of country – you
give them another funeral, continuing the trauma leaving no sacred land
unscathed
• The displacement of people, especially generational families who represent
the history of the region
• The displacement and upheaval of people who have come recently, moving
away from cities for lifestyle reasons
• The job losses, the small business failures
• The increased emissions and Climate change
• The medium-term impacts of relying upon new coal activity to generate
income. In a few years, governments will need to develop transition plans to
re-employ workers into new jobs not related to the closed mines
• The unsuitable timing, given people are just recovering from Lockdown, focused on their health
& safety, many will be completely unaware this opportunity for consultation has come and gone, almost stealthily
• The unsuitability of the consultation for this community with poor connectivity and low technology skills
This just to name a few, but I go back to drawing your attention to the value of people. This submission isn’t referenced with data and case studies. I simply ask that you NOT proceed with this project because of the people.
Above all, please place value on the people. As a reference, please come and meet the people, talk to the people, and develop an understanding of an asset far greater than the Coal Reserves.

The unacceptable damage to the social fabric of the community and poor mental health implications of mining is wrong. It has to stop. The greed is unsustainable. There is enough coal in our mines for our Australia consumption. Our water is to precious and it can’t be wasted in support of mining anymore. No more extensions

Objection to Moolarben Coalmine Extension to Open Cut 3
[Pdf file is also attached to faciltate your access to links to further information]
I object to this proposed coalmine extension. I am gravely concerned to consider the certain consequences of increased coal extraction and burning for energy on our greenhouse gas levels and increasing global heating. It is totally inappropriate to approve this proposal to produce an additional 40 million tonnes of coal and increase greenhouse gas emissions by 86.59 Mt CO2-e when the imperative is to cut emissions.
The International Energy Agency issued the clear directive late in 2021 that the world cannot afford to approve any more extraction of fossil fuels if we want a chance of holding warming to 1.5 degrees. We have already seen and felt the havoc wreaked by the extreme weather events precipitated by climate chaos with our current level of ocean and atmospheric warming. This proposal should be refused on the basis of climate change impacts alone.
Further reasons to refuse this proposal clearly include the impact on biodiversity. It is absolutely outrageous to consider clearing nearly 480 hectares of the Critically Endangered Ecological Community Box-Gum Grassy Woodland and a further 140 hectares of native vegetation also. Critically endangered means precisely that. This ecosystem and the habitat it provides to support biodiversity is in danger of extinction. Destruction of this vegetation cannot be offset, there is simply not enough of this ecological community in existence. If the threatening processes such as clearing and anthropogenic induced climate change are not abated this ecological community will become extinct.

The loss of over 620 hectares of native vegetation by this proposal in an area already heavily impacted by current approvals should not be approved. There would be ecosystem habitat loss for 22 threatened fauna species including: Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia), Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis), Large-eared Pied Bat (Chalinolobus dwyeri). The Regent Honeyeater population could be down to 300 individuals.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/17/how-an-endangered-australian-songbird-regent-honeyeater-is-forgetting-its-love-songs?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR1tJo4VDdRa2l-VJqZHLHgx3Fy_Nj5ZXXnn79bjTvkRiBXDLUp3NbBtETw

The Koala population was so affected by Black Summer both directly and indirectly by being burnt to death and having extensive areas of habitat burnt that it is now listed as endangered. IT is in danger of extinction.
https://www.edo.org.au/2022/06/27/nsw-follows-suit-and-lists-koalas-as-endangered/

There is also a predicted loss of baseflows to the Goulburn River of between 180 – 225 million litres /year and 600 million litres in wet years. This is an unacceptable impact on river health and downstream water users, including Goulburn River National Park. This is so clearly also not in the public interest.
The proposal should be rejected.