The Wire

Last week media reports were claiming that proposals to divert the MacArthur River in the Northern Territory to enable mining the area represented a move that hadn’t been done before. Well some would beg to differ. In regional NSW the Goulburn River was diverted in 1981 to make way for coal mining. Now the same company, White Resources, wants to open another coal mine around 40km north of Mudgee, four hours drive west of Sydney. The proposed mine will be the biggest new coalmine in New South Wales and is expected to create over 300 jobs in the area. But not everyone is welcoming the proposed move. Joining me one the line is a local resident from the area who has worked in resource management for over 20 years, Julia Imrie.