Extract from The Guardian
Former independent MP blasts approval of coalmine on NSW’s Liverpool
Plains and says it may spur him to stand against Barnaby Joyce in seat
of New England
Tony Windsor, one of the independent MPs who held the balance of
power during Labor’s last term in office, is considering a return to
politics after the federal government approved the $1.2bn Shenhua Watermark coalmine in country New South Wales.
Windsor was one of four crossbenchers whose decision to support a minority Labor government allowed Julia Gillard to take power after the 2010 election produced a hung parliament. Formerly an independent in the NSW state parliament, he held the federal country NSW seat of New England for 12 years.
The seat is now held by Nationals deputy leader Barnaby Joyce, who moved from the Senate to the lower house at the last election. Joyce also fiercely criticised the Shenhua decision on Wednesday, saying it showed “the world has gone mad”.
Windsor retired from politics at the 2013 election but on Thursday morning he told ABC TV’s Breakfast program he was considering another tilt at the seat at the next election, expected to be next year.
“I haven’t made a final decision,” Windsor said. “I’ve been reconsidering it for some time and yesterday’s decision on the Liverpool Plains was definitely a tick in the box on reconsidering re-entering the fray in terms of politics.
He accused Joyce of confecting outrage at the decision, saying he should have done more to try to stop the mine approval.
“He’s been right in the middle of this, of the Chinese free trade arrangements. There are a lot of factors in this, the Chinese government-owned mine, the free trade arrangements that have been going on,” he said.
“Quite obviously he has to be seen to be outraged about all of this. He hasn’t done his best and the people know. They know that ... he hasn’t gone out and really worked on this issue.”
Windsor said the debate was not about “coal vs no coal” but the risk to the groundwater and “some of the best soil in the world”.
“All the scientists that have combed over this say there is some risk and Greg Hunt’s utterances talking about mitigating some of the circumstances of the risks, etc, adaptive management processes, they are virtually admitting that they are at fairly high risk of something going wrong here,” he said.
“If something does go wrong here, it’s not just the mine site that suffers, like normal mines where you can control the water within a bank around it, with the groundwater systems, that problem can go downstream and it’s just crazy to do this on a whole range of levels.”
Windsor emphasised he was not making an guarantee about standing but he retired to spend more time with his family and he had done that. He said he still had not lost the desire on issues he saw being “butchered”.
Joyce was scheduled to do a joint press conference with Tony Abbott in the northern NSW town of Grafton on Thursday morning, but his appearance was cancelled. A spokesman for Joyce said the prime minister needed to reschedule the press conference and Joyce could not make the new time.
At the press conference Abbott said he did not exactly know what the arrangements canvassed with Joyce were but it was not possible for him to be in Mackay in Queensland and Grafton at the same time.
“Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to be on the hustings with Barnaby. It was terrific to be able to launch the agriculture white paper with him a few days ago, but obviously he has a big job getting out and about to tell the country about this important white paper which is going to be so good for the farmers of Australia, which is going to make it a lot easier for them to get on with their business,” he said.
The environment minister, Greg Hunt, gave the Shenhua mine official approval on Wednesday.
The Liverpool Plains is a highly fertile agricultural region and the mine has been met with strong protests from local farmers who are concerned about the affect of the mine on groundwater supplies in the area.
Joyce wrote on Facebook on Wednesday night that the mine decision was “ridiculous”.
“I’ve never supported the Shenhua mine,” he said. “I think it is ridiculous that you would have a major mine in the midst of Australia’s best agricultural land.
“I’ve done everything in my power to try and stop the mine. We brought about further investigations; we had an independent expert scientific review.
“I feel this approval is unfortunate, but at the very least it gives the minister for the environment the condition that if any of the modelling does not turn out to be factual he has the capacity to stop it at that point.”
Windsor spoke out against the coalmine when the approval was announced on Wednesday, saying it was “absolute madness”.
“We’ve got the biggest water system in the Murray-Darling basin here, we still don’t understand the connectivity of the underground aquifers,” he said.
“If Barnaby Joyce is concerned about agriculture, how on Earth could he allow something like this to proceed? Joyce has done nothing. He’s had to agree with Tony Abbott about going on Q&A but he could be a good local member and disagree on this one.”
Windsor was one of four crossbenchers whose decision to support a minority Labor government allowed Julia Gillard to take power after the 2010 election produced a hung parliament. Formerly an independent in the NSW state parliament, he held the federal country NSW seat of New England for 12 years.
The seat is now held by Nationals deputy leader Barnaby Joyce, who moved from the Senate to the lower house at the last election. Joyce also fiercely criticised the Shenhua decision on Wednesday, saying it showed “the world has gone mad”.
Windsor retired from politics at the 2013 election but on Thursday morning he told ABC TV’s Breakfast program he was considering another tilt at the seat at the next election, expected to be next year.
“I haven’t made a final decision,” Windsor said. “I’ve been reconsidering it for some time and yesterday’s decision on the Liverpool Plains was definitely a tick in the box on reconsidering re-entering the fray in terms of politics.
He accused Joyce of confecting outrage at the decision, saying he should have done more to try to stop the mine approval.
“He’s been right in the middle of this, of the Chinese free trade arrangements. There are a lot of factors in this, the Chinese government-owned mine, the free trade arrangements that have been going on,” he said.
“Quite obviously he has to be seen to be outraged about all of this. He hasn’t done his best and the people know. They know that ... he hasn’t gone out and really worked on this issue.”
Windsor said the debate was not about “coal vs no coal” but the risk to the groundwater and “some of the best soil in the world”.
“All the scientists that have combed over this say there is some risk and Greg Hunt’s utterances talking about mitigating some of the circumstances of the risks, etc, adaptive management processes, they are virtually admitting that they are at fairly high risk of something going wrong here,” he said.
“If something does go wrong here, it’s not just the mine site that suffers, like normal mines where you can control the water within a bank around it, with the groundwater systems, that problem can go downstream and it’s just crazy to do this on a whole range of levels.”
Windsor emphasised he was not making an guarantee about standing but he retired to spend more time with his family and he had done that. He said he still had not lost the desire on issues he saw being “butchered”.
Joyce was scheduled to do a joint press conference with Tony Abbott in the northern NSW town of Grafton on Thursday morning, but his appearance was cancelled. A spokesman for Joyce said the prime minister needed to reschedule the press conference and Joyce could not make the new time.
At the press conference Abbott said he did not exactly know what the arrangements canvassed with Joyce were but it was not possible for him to be in Mackay in Queensland and Grafton at the same time.
“Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to be on the hustings with Barnaby. It was terrific to be able to launch the agriculture white paper with him a few days ago, but obviously he has a big job getting out and about to tell the country about this important white paper which is going to be so good for the farmers of Australia, which is going to make it a lot easier for them to get on with their business,” he said.
The environment minister, Greg Hunt, gave the Shenhua mine official approval on Wednesday.
The Liverpool Plains is a highly fertile agricultural region and the mine has been met with strong protests from local farmers who are concerned about the affect of the mine on groundwater supplies in the area.
Joyce wrote on Facebook on Wednesday night that the mine decision was “ridiculous”.
“I’ve never supported the Shenhua mine,” he said. “I think it is ridiculous that you would have a major mine in the midst of Australia’s best agricultural land.
“I’ve done everything in my power to try and stop the mine. We brought about further investigations; we had an independent expert scientific review.
“I feel this approval is unfortunate, but at the very least it gives the minister for the environment the condition that if any of the modelling does not turn out to be factual he has the capacity to stop it at that point.”
Windsor spoke out against the coalmine when the approval was announced on Wednesday, saying it was “absolute madness”.
“We’ve got the biggest water system in the Murray-Darling basin here, we still don’t understand the connectivity of the underground aquifers,” he said.
“If Barnaby Joyce is concerned about agriculture, how on Earth could he allow something like this to proceed? Joyce has done nothing. He’s had to agree with Tony Abbott about going on Q&A but he could be a good local member and disagree on this one.”
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