27 February, 2014
Wallarah 2 mine recommendation should be revoked following revelations in parliament
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has called on the Department of Planning to revoke its recommendation to approve the Wallarah 2 longwall coal mine following revelations in state parliament yesterday that raise serious probity issues.
The Sydney Morning Herald today reports that Premier Barry O’Farrell: “dropped in on a meeting attended by Liberal identity Nick Di Girolamo and former resources minister Chris Hartcher, whose relationship is being examined as part of a major corruption inquiry.” [1]
Mr Di Girolamo has been a lobbyist for the Korean government-owned company, Kores, which is seeking to expand the Central Coast mine.
NCC Campaigns Director Kate Smolski said the Independent Commission Against Corruption should ensure the terms of its inquiry were wide enough to include the circumstances that led to the Department of Planning’s recommendation for approval.
“We believe the recommendation for approval should be revoked and the ICAC should conduct a full, transparent inquiry into the processes that led to the department’s decision,” Ms Smolski said.
“The public can have no confidence in the probity of the department’s recommendation until such an inquiry has been completed.”
Before the state election in 2011, then Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell said a Coalition government would ban the project, which would undermine drinking water catchments northwest of Wyong, and potentially produce catastrophic damage similar to that caused in the Sugarloaf Conservation Area last year.
"Mr O'Farrell gave a personal guarantee before the election that, under his government, mining would not be permitted in drinking water catchments - no ifs, no buts,” Ms Smolski said.
“At the time, Mr O’Farrell and Central Coast MP Chris Hartcher were even photographed together wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the words ‘Water Not Coal’.
“The position they adopted helped the Coalition win key marginal seats of the Central Coast. It now appears that following a meeting with a lobbyist for the mining company, the O’Farrell government has done a back flip. This raises serious questions of probity that can only be resolved by a full inquiry by the ICAC.”
[1] www.smh.com.au/nsw/barry-ofarrell-dropped-in-on-meeting-attended-by-nick-di-girolamo-and-chris-hartcher-20140226-33i5u.html#ixzz2uSfEIUE7
Tags
Coal and gas
Let others know about this issue