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Tell the federal government that we want a renewables-led recovery
We know that we need renewables NOT gas for a sustainable, healthy future for our communities, our environment AND our economy.
We can't let our government keep propping up this destructive industry. It’s time we invested our money wisely on safe and sustainable industries, and towards a clean energy future.
Tell the federal government that we want a renewables-led recovery!
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Help Stop Santos’ Coal Seam Gas Project in Narrabri
PETITION to the Deputy Premier, Independent Planning Commission and Planning Minister Rob Stokes:
We oppose Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project across the Pilliga forest and farmland near Narrabri due to:
- The risk and damage it would bring to the groundwater of the Great Artesian Basin
- The hundreds of thousands of tonnes of salty waste it would produce, with no disposal solution
- The spread of gasfields across the North West region’s farmland that would follow
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The fact it would do zero to address high gas prices, in fact it could lock in higher prices.
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Stop the Narrabri Gas Project
Help us combat Morrison’s dangerous push to bribe state governments to unleash fracking and CSG across the country.
Our communities are calling for renewable energy with storage, not polluting gas. Gas is not a transition fuel, it’s a one way street to more greenhouse emissions.
Your donation helps local communities under threat to choose renewables not gas:
-$50 will let farmers and communities speak out in the media and get the facts to voters;
-$75 will go towards supporting renewable energy projects in affected regions that have community support;
-$100 will contribute to scientific & economic reports for media and submissions.
Naomi from Lock the Gate on Sky talking about why farmers are standing firm against the Santos Narrabri gas project
Donate
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Stop Origin Fracking the NT
Origin Energy are lining up to frack the Northern Territory this year, and in the firing line are some magical places, including recharge zones of Mataranka Hot Springs.
Traditional Owners have told us that Origin Energy has ignored their concerns about fracking and not properly laid out the risks involved.
Fracking the NT would be a disaster for the landscape, communities and waterways. Plus it would unleash massive emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas, and fuel global warming.We need to build a powerful movement of people willing to spread the word and take on Origin at every level, from their head offices to their board rooms.
Pledge
I will stand up and be a part of the massive people-powered movement to stop Origin Energy’s plans to frack the Territory.
Sign the pledge here and help stop Origin.
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Help prevent an Adani-sized disaster in NSW!
Eleven new proposed coal mines in NSW are a massive threat. They will use more water, damage more land and even emit more carbon dioxide than the Adani mega-mine.
Together, the amount of water these mines will use is 23 billion litres per year at their peak. That's more than 9,000 Olympic swimming pools of water. Our water is our lifeblood, and we can't afford to put it at risk. Can you chip in to stop key mine projects before it is too late?
It's not just our water at risk. The mines will destroy farms and forests, damaging a vast area of land greater than the entire city of Newcastle.The massive carbon emissions will put our climate at risk, and threaten Australia with more severe bushfires and heat waves.
Want to know more about the impacts of proposed new coal mines in NSW on land, water and carbon emissions? Read our brief report here.
Lock the Gate operates in accordance with a privacy policy, which can be viewed here.
Donate
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Volker Pfannenberg commented on Historic Opportunity to Reform Failed Mine Rehabilitation Laws Welcomed 2017-05-14 13:31:26 +1000Here is the potential for generating plenty of mine rehab jobs, more than the 1.400 Adani promises,cleaner and very likely longer lasting. There is a lot of work to only rehabilitate a small part of the 10.000 abandoned mine in Queensland. The same or similar regulations/laws Australia wide would also generate thousands of jobs in NSW and other states, the total of derelict mines in Australia is 50.000. Assumed of course ,all governments , the CFMEU, AWU Sally would take their blinkers off and work together in the interest of workers desperately looking for secure jobs. This would also set the start for a real transition form fossil fuel to renewable energy.
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Volker Pfannenberg posted about Join on Facebook 2017-05-14 12:48:53 +1000Check out Lock the Gate Alliance. I just joined the movement
Join the Movement
Will you join potato farmers in north west New South Wales, foodies in Brisbane, dairy farmers in Gippsland, Traditional Owners in the Gulf, wheat farmers in WA's breadbowl, cattlemen from the Territory, surfers from Sydney and even coal miners from the Hunter Valley in being part of the extraordinary movement to protect Australia's wide brown beauty, rich farmland, ancient culture and unique wildlife from damage by unconventional gas and coal mining?
Whoever you are, there's a place for you. Please join us!
Sign up
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Make Coal Giants Pay for Mine Clean-Up
Our new report – Abandoned Mines in Queensland: Toxic Time-bomb or Employment Opportunity? – calls for big mining companies to cover the cost of rehabilitating the State’s abandoned mines and estimates that this would generate 6000 jobs in regional Queensland!
There are too many large abandoned mines, and the full cost of cleaning them up is too large and should not fall on taxpayers. If mines are levied to pay for the clean up, they can also create jobs in the process.
Why should we miss out on hundreds of schools and hospitals because we’re footing the bill for the mess left behind by irresponsible mining companies?
References:
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Dodging clean up costs Six tricks coal mining companies play (pdf)
- Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry Report (pdf)
- ACF Mine Rehab Stories
- Abandoned Mines in Queensland Report
- NSW Coal Pit Legacy
- Mine Rehab Closure Cost Report
- Rhetoric Vs Reality. Rehab performance snapshot
We call on the NSW and Queensland Premiers to strengthen weak mining laws and force companies to honour their obligations to rehabilitate their mines. The following needs to be done:
- Increase the required deposit to cover rehabilitation costs
- Require all future mines to backfill their mining pits and protect water resources
- Establish an independent authority to monitor and enforce mine rehabilitation
- Penalise companies who breach rehabilitation requirements.
Together we can ensure that the mining industry is held to account and that our land and water resources are protected against abandoned mines.
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Volker Pfannenberg commented on stall_volunteer 2016-03-03 17:37:00 +1100I would like to run a stall at our local market in Frenchs Forest
Run Your Own Stall!
Would you like to volunteer to run a Lock the Gate stall at your next local market or event, or even in your local mall? We've got a handy little stall kit we can send you with everything you need, and we can guarantee you'll have lots of fun!!
Please fill in the form and we'll get in touch with you soon!
Send request
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Volunteer with Lock the Gate
At Lock the Gate, we depend on the help of our passionate and dedicated volunteers.
Lock the Gate volunteers enjoy the fulfillment that comes from making a vital difference to the communities they live in. It is also a great way to gain experience, develop new skills, meet new people and get involved in the movement to protect our land and water from invasive coal and gas mining.
Please fill in the details below and we will be in touch soon to chat about how you would like to be involved.
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Will you take a stand?
The NSW Planning Assessment Commission has handed in its latest report on Rio's plan to expand the Warkworth coal mine, and it's a disaster. Even though Bulga residents have twice proven in court that expanding the mine would do more harm than good - not just for their community, but for all NSW - the PAC has recommended it be approved. The Commission ignored a mountain of evidence that Rio's coal mine would make Bulga unliveable, ruin an irreplaceable bushland ecosystem, and desecrate the cultural heritage of the Wonnarua people. They ignored expert advice that the economics of the project don't stack up. They listened to Rio Tinto, and they ignored everyone else.
Sign up
It's almost certain now that Rio will get their mine approval. Without a dramatic intervention in the approval process, the rest is mere formality. The Planning Department will issue another report recommending approval, and then the PAC will close the deal. It's likely to happen by Christmas.
But we've been fighting this coal mine for over five years, and we're not about to give up now. The courts delivered us justice in 2013, but our state's unfair mine approval regime is set to take it away again. NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes still has the power to intervene and save Bulga, and we're demanding that he do just that.
Will you join us? Some time in the next couple of weeks, the NSW Planning Department will again recommend approval for Rio. We want to use that opportunity to show Minister Stokes that the people of NSW want justice for Bulga, not more coal. We'll be taking action outside the Supreme Court, Phillip St, Sydney - where we won our case - the morning after the Department's report is released. We need our Sydney supporters to be standing there with us.
Sign up below with your mobile number and we'll text you the details of our protest as soon as the Department issues its report. We'll see you the next morning outside the NSW Supreme Court.
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#Time2Choose: Visit Your Local MP
In NSW right now, we're at a crucial cross-roads. It's a stark choice - will we choose more damaging coal and gas mining, or will we choose clean food, clean air and clean energy?
We need members of parliament to know that we're demanding better choices for NSW.
Are you willing to meet your MP?
Let us know where you are, and give us your phone number, and we’ll give you a call to talk through the details.
Here’s the simple choice we’re asking them to make for New South Wales. Will they support our vision to:
- Promote health and prosperity through agriculture and reliable clean energy
- Protect communities, including Indigenous communities, and give them legal rights to object to mining
- Protect important farmland, catchments and water resources from risky coal mining
- Stop mining and exploration for unconventional gas (like CSG)
Will your local member make this choice for NSW’s future?
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The Bulga Declaration
We, the undersigned, make this promise: we will not allow the Warkworth mine to destroy Saddle Ridge and the Warkworth Sands, nor the village of Bulga.
Saddle Ridge and the Warkworth Sands harbour woodlands and wildlife that are vanishing from the Hunter Valley due to open cut coal mining. The area is an ancient pathway and place of harmony, protection, and direction for Wonnarua people. It shields the village of Bulga from noise and dust rising from the super pits of Rio Tinto's Mount Thorley-Warkworth mine. For the Wonnarua, the people of Bulga, and the wildlife, Saddle Ridge and the Warkworth Sands are home; protecting and guiding them. Such things cannot be compensated for. They cannot be sold, or replaced.
The NSW government may have signed the death warrant for Warkworth Sands and the village of Bulga, but the people have not. The government and Rio Tinto are colluding against us, but we are united and we will not be subdued.
The highest courts in New South Wales have rejected the Warkworth mine expansion for the same reasons we reject it. By siding with Rio Tinto to subvert the people’s victory in court, the government has crossed a line. Now we are the ones that will uphold fairness, protect the ridge and restore faith in organised community.
We stand with the village of Bulga and Wonnarua traditional owners. We pledge to them that we will use all peaceful means to help them protect community and culture from the Warkworth coal mine.
The Declaration is endorsed by:
- Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association
- Kevin Taggart, Wonnarua traditional owner.
- Hunter Valley Protection Alliance
- Hunter Valley Wine Industry Tourism Association
- Broke Fordwich Wine & Tourism Association
- Lock The Gate Alliance
- Our Land Our Water Our Future
You can add your name by filling in the form below.