Open-cut coal mining in Australia's Hunter Valley: Sustainability and the industry's economic, ecological and social implications

Do coal-related health harms constitute a resource curse? A case study from Australia's Hunter Valley

“…McManus (2008) and Cottle and Keys (2014) also argue that political and financial short-termism has been prioritised in the Hunter, but additionally argue that this has been the case regarding environmental concerns. They state that sustainability, including the viability of industries other than mining, is failing in the region due to short-term financial gains that are encouraged by political actions.…”

“…Cottle and Keys (2014) also argue that conditions for sustainability at both the local and global level are compromised by coal mining in the Hunter, and cite evidence that the amount of steaming coal exported from the Upper Hunter region to Asian markets in 2012 (178.2 million tonnes) translates to approximately a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide when burned. This will contribute to far reaching global ecological impacts since carbon dioxide is a major cause of climate change.…”

“…Mining companies in the Hunter were allocated 'high security' status, while farmers were given the lower 'general security' status, meaning mining companies were given greater access to water over residents and other industries. The change to water access has been significant for industries other than mining, for example it has been reported that over 400 dairy farms in the region have disappeared due to crippling restrictions on their water supplies (Cottle and Keys, 2014). Further, during a period of drought, one coal company declined to disclose how they would procure the water required to operate a proposed mining development, nor which level of water licence they were granted.…”

Benefits and Burdens for Rural Towns from Queensland's Onshore Gas Development

“…The use of FIFO employment (and in many cases, FIFO services) in mining and among oil and gas companies is said to contribute to the leakage of economic benefits to more distant centres (Haslam McKenzie, 2011). The same argument is made in relation to multinational ownership of corporations (Cottle & Keys, 2014). Whatever the reasons, the variegated nature of the distribution of costs and benefits has been identified as one of four main social risks that rural communities affected by the on-shore gas industry are exposed to (Jacquet, 2014).…”

“…There are many cases where oil, gas and mining developments have had significant social costs and exposed rural communities to long-term risks and cumulative impacts (Bell & York, 2010;Cottle & Keys, 2014;Franks, Brereton, & Moran, 2010). The substantial demographic and economic changes associated with expanding resource activities have been linked to a variety of social problems.…”