Lock the Gate Alliance is calling on the NSW Minister for Resources to release the details of agreements signed with mining company Shenhua Australia after obtained freedom of information laws by the Lock the Gate Alliance raised further questions around the renewal of the exploration licence for the Shenhua Watermark coal mine on the Liverpool Plains near Gunnedah.

New polling released by Lock the Gate today reveals a majority of residents in Muswellbrook and Singleton believe strategic farmland mapped as critical for horse-breeding or wine-growing in the Hunter Valley should be off-limits to coal mining, just as the Independent Planning Commission is considering a new coal mine that would open-cut strategic farmland in the secluded Bylong Valley.

The North West Alliance and Lock the Gate have released the results of door-to-door surveys in Narrabri showing an overwhelming majority of people in favour of renewable energy compared to less than a third that want CSG.

The door-knocking took place from July to September, knocking on 2,300 doors and collecting survey responses from 840 people.

Lock the Gate says Adani’s failure to pay $18.5 million owed for water license should trigger the Queensland Government to cancel the licence.

In response to a question on notice in parliament Natural Resource Minister Anthony Lynham confirmed Adani did not pay for its license to take 12.5 billion litres of water from the Suttor River by the 1st July 2018 due date, and has in fact been granted a 12-month extension.

Community groups have slammed the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DoPE) for recommending a new thermal coal mine should proceed on the very same day that the IPCC warned the world needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.