THE state government has hosed down reports it had been asked by Shenhua Watermark to buy back the exploration licence for its controversial Liverpool Plains coal mine.
The Chinese government recently placed a moratorium on all new coal mines in the country, leading to speculation the Chinese-backed company might pull out of its Australian project.
Former New England MP Tony Windsor said everyone was assuming the moratorium only applied to mines in China.
“No one has asked the question if it applies to Chinese mines in Australia,” Mr Windsor said.
“If the Shenhua mine was in China in the same stage of its development, it wouldn’t go ahead.”
Mr Windsor said there had been rumours Shenhua had approached the NSW government to see how much money it could get back if it decided to walk away from the mine.
“If they’re going to (pull out), now is the ideal time,” he said.
“My gut feeling is Shenhua will pull out for a range of reasons.”
However, NSW Resources Minister Anthony Roberts said the government had not been approached by the company.
“The NSW government has not sought to buy back Shenhua’s exploration licence or been asked to buy back the exploration licence by the company,” a spokesman for Mr Roberts said.
“The Shenhua project is currently awaiting final approval of its water modelling from the commonwealth’s Independent Expert Scientific Committee, as committed to by the commonwealth government in July 2015.
“While Shenhua has received planning approval from the NSW government, it has not submitted a mining licence application to the NSW Division of Resources and Energy.
“If it does, the application will be reviewed against a range of factors. However, as above, the project’s water modelling still requires commonwealth approval.”
When NSW Premier Mike Baird was asked about the matter yesterday, he said he wasn’t aware of any state government discussions about buying back Shenhua’s licence.
