The failings of Queensland’s broken mine rehabilitation laws have been laid bare amid fears Bowen Coking Coal, which recently entered liquidation, has abandoned an open cut coal mine on a Central Queensland cattle farmer's land.
The farmer, Patricia Goodwin, had serious concerns about BCC’s lack of rehabilitation at its Bluff Coal Mine, west of Rockhampton, even before the company entered administration, after it shut the mine and placed it in “care and maintenance” in 2023.
The mine occupies a third of Ms Goodwin’s property, and a large pit void sits a short distance from her house. Under the terms of the mine’s licence, BCC was meant to undertake progressive rehabilitation of the site, however that has not happened.
Videos and photos from Ms Goodwin's property are available here.
Other impacts include:
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BCC has not maintained the only access road to the property and it has now deteriorated to the point of being unsafe.
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Noise and vibration during mining activities, and ongoing dust issues.
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Severe erosion at multiple sites and reduced income due to mining activities.
- Reduced telecommunication access.
A survivor of multiple heart attacks, Ms Goodwin fears her health has been put at greater risk due to BCC’s activities limiting access at her property.
“I’m totally heartbroken. It’s un-Australian and bloody unethical. It’s impacted my physical health because I live with this constant worry,” she said.
“I want compensation, I want the company to rehabilitate my land, then I want them to go away.
“The government needs to get off its tail and pull this company into line. What has happened to me shouldn’t be allowed to happen to anyone. The company doesn’t give a damn.”
Lock the Gate Alliance Central QLD Coordinator Claire Gronow said, “Queensland’s broken rehabilitation laws are failing landholders who are forced to host mines on their land.
“Big mining companies are using a loophole that allows them to shirk their rehabilitation responsibilities by abandoning, rather than responsibly closing and rehabilitating, mine sites. This leaves landholders with a toxic mess to deal with.”
ENDS
Background:
Originally, a different company, Carabella Resources, was granted a mining lease for the Bluff Coal Mine project in 2016, and started mining in 2019.
Carabella placed the mine in “care and maintenance” in 2020, and entered receivership. Bowen Coking Coal then bought the mine and operated it for two years, before it was again placed in “care and maintenance” in November 2023. Since then, there has been no rehabilitation, and infrastructure has deteriorated.
Ms Goodwin’s advocate and Lock the Gate Alliance have written to the Queensland Government requesting intervention however to date there has been no meaningful response.
In 2016, Lock the Gate released a report revealing QLD had 15,300 abandoned mines, with 317 of these classified as "giant, very large or large”.
In 2021, the Queensland Government created the new role of rehabilitation commissioner to address the problem.
However, the rehabilitation commissioner’s latest report (see page 13) found the amount of unrehabilitated mined land in Queensland has grown nine percent from 2019 to 2023, and now covers more than 218,691 ha.
Ms Goodwin’s situation echoes key findings from a landmark 2020 thesis by researcher Mia Pepper, which examined the widespread use of care and maintenance status in the Australian mining sector. The study concluded that the current regulatory framework enables companies to avoid mine closure obligations under the guise of temporary suspension, with minimal oversight or enforceable timelines.