ENVIRONMENTAL groups have been assured an upcoming parliamentary inquiry into planning decisions in Newcastle and the Hunter will be broad enough to scrutinise the controversial approval of the Maules Creek coalmine.
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The inquiry comes in the aftermath of revelations at the recently concluded Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearings that Liberal MPs received tens of thousands of dollars in illegal donations from property developers.
The ICAC heard mining mogul Nathan Tinkler, whose company Aston Resources owned the Maules Creek deposit throughout much of its assessment phase, allegedly made illegal political donations while pushing for a new coal terminal in Newcastle.
The billion-dollar infrastructure project, which if approved would have added considerable value to the mine, was rejected by the O’Farrell government in 2012.
However, Maules Creek received approval after the federal government’s assessment was cut short when disgraced former NSW resources minister Chris Hartcher leaked market-sensitive information to the media.
Jonathan Moylan, of anti-mining group Front Line on Coal, welcomed the inquiry, saying it was imperative the public knew whether NSW’s political parties “did favours for big donors”.
“The community’s been rocked by the revelations that have come out of ICAC and what that means for the probity of planning decisions in NSW,” he said.
“We would hope that any proposal that Nathan Tinkler had anything to do with would be looked at by the committee.
“We’ve been calling for an audit and a stop-work (notice issued at Maules Creek) while that audit goes ahead, because it’s the only way that the confidence of the community and the probity of the approvals can be restored.”
Whitehaven Coal and Aston Resources agreed to a $5.1 billion deal in late 2011 and construction of the $767 million Maules Creek coalmine, located in the Leard State Forest near Boggabri, is more than 50 per cent complete.
The inquiry will be chaired by Reverend Fred Nile of the Christian Democratic Party and it is due to hand down its findings before the state election in March next year.