Greens leader Bob Brown’s concern over acquisitions by China’s Shenhua Watermark Coal of farms on NSW’s Liverpool Plains is but the latest flurry in a gathering storm of controversy over mining developments on farmland. Whether it’s coal seam gas or coal, the question is whether the loss of some of our most productive farmland to mining [...]

Protesters hold placards during a rally in Sydney against prime minister Julia Gillard’s plans to introduce a carbon tax. Photograph: Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images Locals call this city “carbon central”. But in the polarised Australian climate change debate, this mining hub is not central at all, but firmly positioned at one extreme. Wollongong, 50 miles south of Sydney [...]

THE Greens’ plan to shut down the coal industry has been met with anger from Paget business people, who say the move would destroy our region. Greens leader Bob Brown’s policy to phase out the industry would result in 200,000 jobs lost across Australia, but Commercial Mine Recyclers owner Peter Bourke said it wouldn’t just [...]