The Country Women’s Association of NSW (CWA) recently discussed the importance of considering and approving future mining exploration licences at its 2021 Conference in Bega.
The motion, put forward by the White Cliffs Branch of the Darling River Group, proposed that the CWA lobby the NSW Department of Planning – Division of Resources and Geoscience to cease assessing $2 companies as able to satisfy the “financial capacity to undertake mineral exploration” in NSW under the Mining Act 1992. The motion was endorsed.
NSW CWA President Stephanie Stanhope said “This current process is failing communities and landholders, with a lack of regulatory oversight and the potential to inflict enormous emotional and financial stress on landholders.”
“It’s just another example of the urgent need to overhaul the entire process and replace it with one in which rural and regional communities can have trust and confidence. We’d like to see a bi-partisan approach to this review process as well, ensuring the protection of our agriculture industry now and into the future.
“We only get one chance at this, because once our fragile and precious farming land, water resources and significant environmental assets are damaged, or even destroyed, there’s no coming back,” Ms Stanhope said.
Asked about consideration the NSW Upper House is currently giving to extinguish 11 ‘zombie’ or expired Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELS), Ms Stanhope said the CWA recognised the importance of mining and gas projects to the state’s economy and energy needs, but they needed to proceed in locations that didn’t unduly impact NSW communities and other industries, like agriculture.
“Communities in these affected areas have lived with the uncertainty of what these PELs will mean for their futures for too long, and it’s time for confidence to be restored for the people who call these regions home and who rely on the land for their livelihoods.
“It’s also time to secure the future of the valuable agricultural land covered by these expired PELs, as well as the irreplaceable water and environmental resources in these areas. They’re too valuable to be compromised by poor planning and questionable decision-making,” she said.
