Farmers on the Liverpool Plains are not buying the government’s spin that the $262 million partial buy-back of Shenhua’s Watermark exploration area is a win for them. Nor should tax payers.
Logic says the depth of the mine means it will go below the aquifers, also the lifeblood of the plains. Productive black soil is only part of the equation – water is what makes that dirt worth fighting for, and that is what is most at risk.
NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, defends the government’s decision to hand over $262m – which it was under no obligation to do – by saying “the reason they (Shenhua) hadn't been able to (develop) was because we (the government) had stopped them at every turn.”
However, Shenhua was aware of the approvals process and has had since February last year to apply for a mining licence – and hasn’t. It now also has a handy $262m in loose change care of the NSW tax payer.
Despite the government’s buyback, Shenhua’s plans for where and how deep it will mine remain unchanged – including the approval to leave one pit an open void when the mining stops.
The aquifer is still exposed to the same risk. And with a $262m “pass go” hand-out, Shenhua will still have $62m in spending money if it pays the $200m mining licence fee.
Labor, meanwhile, has certainly done an about face with its view on the proposed mine. Having approved the exploration licence in 2008, it is now dead against the mine’s progression. Labor leader, Luke Foley, reiterated the point that Shenhua exceeded its eight-year development window, and asked the obvious: “why won’t government terminate Shenhua’s tenure”?
That’s a good question. Why?
Instead, government is selling the message that the $262m spend was a win for farmers. Our government didn’t need to buy back any of Shenhua’s country. It also didn’t appear to try very hard to explore its options if it stuck to the get-out clause and gave Shenhua the cold shoulder.
The only clarity to take from this move is that government has found a way to clear the path for Shenhua. It has got its marketing message about how it’s helping farmers, but in the background its looking for where it left the keys to the bulldozer.
More than just the tax payers’ dollars have been sold out here. This buyback is one expensive facade.
