Lock the Gate says today's ICAC findings are a signal to communities struggling against destructive coal and coal seam gas projects not to give up, as the report exposed flaws in the process for the Hunter coal port development plan and the Maules Ck coal mine as pursued by then mining magnate, Nathan Tinkler, in 2010 and 2011.
"We're calling on the NSW Government to include resources companies among the gambling companies and property developers as prohibited from making political donations, and to initiate a far-reaching inquiry into the approval for the Maules Ck coal mine.
"The involvement of Federal parties in the activities investigated by the ICAC lends weight to momentum for a federal corruption watchdog. The public needs confidence that mining money is not perverting public life, and a Federal ICAC would give us that confidence."