The Baird government has been accused of ranking the health of horses above humans after the state's Planning Assessment Commission approved the expansion of one big open-cut coalmine while rejecting another project further up the Hunter Valley.
The commission on Friday knocked back a plan to extend the Drayton South mine to within 900 metres of the renowned Coolmore and Darley thoroughbred stud farms, a move that miner Anglo American said was "devastating" and would cost 500 jobs.
Residents of Bulga, though, vowed to maintain their fight to stop the expansion of Rio Tinto's Mt Thorley Warkworth mine after the commission approved its extension to within 2.6 kilometres of the village.
"Clearly we need more horses per hectare," John Krey, president of the Bulga Milbrodale Progress Association, said. " People are being put in second place to horses."
The mixed fortunes for the two mining giants and nearby communities came as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten used a speech on Friday at the Lowy Institute to ramp up pressure on the Turnbull government to lift Australia's post-2020 carbon emissions.
Mr Shorten said Labor would consult widely on a plan to cut Australia's emissions 45 per cent by 2030 on 2005 levels – versus the government's 26-28 per cent target – and likely leave calls for a ban on new coalmines such as Rio's expansion to the market.
"We've got a bit more optimism that markets are actually answering that question, rather than legislation in terms of moratoriums," Mr Shorten said, just days before the global climate summit begins in Paris.
Rio ring-fenced?
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said the government would consider the independent PAC's final verdicts on the two mines.
In a surprise move, though, Mr Stokes also announced a consultation would begin to prohibit future expansion of Rio's open-cut mine beyond a 2.5km buffer from Bulga.
Rio, which had welcomed the PAC nod as "a great relief for thousands of people", did not comment on the proposal for a ring-fencing of its operations.
"Rio's certainly not happy," Mr Krey said, noting market speculation the miner was planning to sell off the project once it had won approval.
The company had already scoped out an expansion of the project to within 500 metres of the town, as reported by Fairfax Media, and the restriction could cost Rio dearly.
"It's the carrot dangling on the end of the sales process," he said.
Mr Krey, though, said the proposed buffer was "insulting and disingenuous" since it implied Rio would still get a 100m of potential expansion beyond the PAC approval. That go-ahead already meant that endangered Warkworth Sands woodlands would be destroyed, as would forest that Rio had originally promised to protect.
The PAC's approval included a requirement for Rio to buy out 24 homes. That would still leave 128 households in Bulga with few prospects of selling.
"They are left in the dust, the noise, and there's no future for anyone, young or old," Mr Krey said.
Horsebreeders cheer
The Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association, meanwhile, applauded the decision by the PAC to block the Drayton South mine expansion for a third time.
The association called on Mr Stokes to accept promptly the PAC recommendations and formally refuse Anglo American's project. The thoroughbred industry is worth $2.6 billion a year to the NSW economy alone, the group said.
"We call on the NSW government to permanently protect Australia's and NSW's premier studs from future mining threats and place a [State Environmental Planning Policy] over the Drayton South [exploration licence] to prohibit future mining on this site and avoid repeating mistakes of the past," Henry Plumptre, managing director of Darley, said.
The Darley stud is owned by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Sheikh of Dubai, while Coolmore is Swiss-owned. Redoute's Choice, Fastnet Rock and Exceed are among champion horses produced or sired at the two studs.
