Qld: Corporate Culture - King Coal Donations

Acland coal mine: Company seeking mine expansion donated $700,000 to LNP, federal Liberal Party.

.... by the bucket load 

Landholders on Queensland's Darling Downs say they are fighting a losing battle to stop a huge mine expansion on prime farming country because the company behind the project is a massive donor to the conservative side of politics.

The mining group New Hope wants to expand its coal mine at Acland, west of Toowoomba, taking the operation's output from 4.8 million tonnes to 7.5 million tonnes per year.

It will also increase the mine's water consumption to 9 billion litres per year, in an area that has recently been drought declared.

The $890 million New Acland Stage 3 project needs State Government approval, with Queensland's coordinator-general to make the final decision.

But landholders at Acland complain that the existing mine is bad enough without any further expansion.

"The noise is already terrible," grazier Tanya Plant said.

"There's been a lot of underground water taken by the mine and the water supplies around here are very fragile and very precious.

"Like now, in drought, a lot of our dams are dry, and we're very reliant on the underground water."

The Acland district and other parts of the Darling Downs were drought declared in March.

"This [expanded] mine is going to be using 9 billion litres of water a year to wash coal and to suppress dust on their roads," grazier and local veterinarian Nicki Laws said.

"Not only are we losing the soil, but we're losing the underground water."

Landholders also fear they are losing the ear of the Government.

"The figure I've seen in the last couple of years is at least $700,000 has been donated to the LNP," Ms Laws said.

The $700,000 was donated to both the Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) and the federal Liberal Party by New Hope and its Australian parent company, Washington H Soul Pattinson, over a three-year period.

Multiple donations of $100,000, and a single payment of $250,000, were contributed by New Hope and its parent between 2010-2011 and 2012-2013.

Just this week, it was revealed that in the second half of 2013 New Hope again contributed, this time more modestly, with two donations totalling $3,400.

Taken together these amounts make the coal miner one of the biggest donors to the conservative side of politics.

"That has to influence policy," Ms Laws said.

"No-one's going to give away that sort of money without expecting something for it."