Deaf and blind to the real world

Letter by Sharyn Munro to be published in The Newcastle Herald.

When NSW government representatives came to Singleton to hear what locals had to say about their draft Coal and Gas Strategy, you'd think they'd realise this was the real world, not the parallel paper world of Macquarie Street, where they created our dirty, toxic Hunter coal strip.
 
Here locals have been saying 'Enough!' for some years, begging for a moratorium on any new mines or expansions until the impacts are investigated – on health, on other landuses, on communities. All are suffering.
 The mining industry boasts that most of the open country between Singleton and Muswellbrook is under opencut mining – and what they haven't already disembowelled, they plan to.

So it was offensive when the Deputy Director General of Planning said that perhaps 'the pendulum has swung a bit too far', when we are overwhelmed by coal; to hear that their strategy expects to 'intensify' and expand mining here, when we can't take any more; that impacts will be 'managed', when they haven't been able or willing to before.

'Enough!' is clearly not an option that they will hear or consider.  We were told this is happening because the world demand for coal will continue, but  a 'demand' is just a market for business. We do have the choice not to harm whole populations and regions for private and mostly foreign profits– or we would if our government was not so shortsightedly, stupidly, tied to coal.

'Expand'? Di Gee and her asthmatic children can't cope with mining 'expanding' closer to their home; the few remaining residents of mine-beseiged Camberwell can't cope with it being 'intensified' by a sixth mine around them.

Where is the humanity in their Strategy?