Lock the Gate Alliance says the mining industry’s hysterical reaction to reasonable remarks by Qld MP and Member for Mirani, Jim Pearce, about the damage caused by mining, should be treated like all toddler tantrums and ignored.
Lock the Gate National Coordinator Phil Laird said, "Jim Pearce’s comments were not excessive in any way. He simple told the truth about the fact that the mining industry has been allowed to run out of control, and people and the environment are paying the price.
"Finally, we see an elected representative who has the courage to represent communities who have been monstered by the mining giants.
"The disgraceful attack that the Queensland Resources Council has launched on Mr Pearce since his statements is precisely the way they treat communities who dare to object to mining. This is the form they are famous for, and as Mr Pearce is probably now discovering, it is very hard for regular folks to get a fair go, or even have their voices heard, when the mining industry decides to get heavy.
"In this case, the basic rights of an elected member of Parliament to represent communities and speak his views appear to be under full-scale attack.
"The new Palaszczuk government must not capitulate to these mining industry antics. In a democracy, all parliamentarians, just like all members of the community, should have the right to state their views without fear or favour.
"Jim Pearce said he's had a gutful, and so have coal affected communities. Our advice to the Government is to treat the mining industry’s hysterics as you would a two-year-old’s tantrum and ignore them.
"Clearly, they’re used to getting what they want when they shout and cry. Every parent knows that giving in to tantrums rewards bad behaviour, and the mining industry is behaving very badly in Queensland.
"The Newman Government spent three years betraying communities by changing objection rights in the middle of the night, approving everything in sight, and giving away our precious groundwater for free - all to appease mining industry demands"
"The Palaszczuk government has a mandate to restore a fair go for communities, to deliver some basic protections for land and water, and to drag previous mining misdemeanours out into the light, and now is not the time to blink," he said.