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.

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.