Workers Set Up Picket Line at Maules Creek

A protest has erupted in a Whitehaven coal mine today, as some workers expressed their displeasure over a $767 Million plan to overhaul the area, which they believe will destroy heritage sites.

Some 50 Gomeroi workers set up a picket line just off Maules Creek, after they learned that the project has finally been given the clear to start by the federal government. It took three years for this approval to come.

According to the owner of Gomeroi, Mr. Stephen Talbot, the overhauling that will begin near Boggrabri Park could affect 4000 acres of property that, he believes, was not assessed properly.

Says Talbot, “The forest contains cultural heritage sites, food sources, and totems of our people, and most of them will be permanently destroyed by the planned mine. There hasn’t been a proper consultation process, the management plan is flawed, and we don’t believe that our people have been treated with proper respect or that our concerns about the destruction of cultural heritage have been addressed.”

Protesters are expected to return with more people backing them tomorrow. And as this is ongoing, work at the mines have been halted, as the rest wait for the government to address the concerns of its community.