Farmers: ‘Put coal on hold'

 WANDOAN farmers have called for the Wandoan Coal Project to be put on hold until the recently announced legislation for the protection of strategic cropping land is made law.

John Erbacher, a member of the Wandoan Clean Food Alliance, has called for the Coordinator-General's report for the Xstrata project be delayed until legislation for the protection of strategic cropping land is enacted and a practical assessment of the food producing capacity of the land be undertaken

“To expect the mined land to be returned to prime food producing land after the mining process has completed is unrealistic, as there is no evidence from other similar mine sites operated by Xstrata that it has any intention of successfully rehabilitating the land,” Mr Erbacher, whose 991-hectare property is in the middle of the mining lease, said.

The alliance is also calling for an external audit system to be a condition of the mining lease, if granted, to ensure that conditions and requirements of the environmental authority are met.

He also called Xstrata's recent application for an additional mining lease ‘predatory'.

“Given the fact the initial mining lease has not yet been granted, it would seem premature and somewhat predatory for the proponent to apply to sterilise additional areas of prime food producing land.”

Mr Erbacher feared the new lease application was just a land grab, pointing out that Glencore, which has a 34 per cent stake in Xstrata, has extensive agricultural interests.

“One could be forgiven for thinking that this is purely a land banking exercise by a foreign company under the guise of mining without coming under the scrutiny of the Foreign Acquisition and Takeovers Act.

“The members of the Wandoan Clean Food Alliance therefore ask the Minister to step in and reject this additional mining lease application by Xstrata until such time as the company can prove that it has successfully fulfilled the requirements of the environmental authority.”