An Online Hour of Action hosted by the Gas Free Hunter Alliance on Friday, August 28 attracted 150 participants to the group’s most recent protest against the proposed Kurri Kurri gas plant.
Announced in May, the project by government entity Snowy Hydro Limited proposed a $600M 660-megawatt generator in Kurri Kurri, 38km west of Newcastle.
“The community response to our online action was quite overwhelming, actually,” Gas Free Hunter Alliance’s Fiona Lee said.
“The objective [of the action] was to flood key politicians and decision makers with local opposition to the gas plant, and we succeeded in doing that.
“We increased pressure on Federal Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes, who is the person who will make the final decision on this, so we’re really happy.”
As well as increasing pressure on Stokes, attendees targeted State Minister for Energy and Environment Matt Kean, Federal Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor and Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“We could safely say that a combination of hundreds of phone calls and emails were made as part of the day of action,” the alliance reported.
While neither Matt Kean nor Rob Stokes’s offices commented on the demonstration specifically, a spokesperson for the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment told NovoNews that they were “undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the project that considers all feedback received”.
“Enabling the community to have its say is an important part of the planning process, which is why we publicly exhibited the proposal earlier this year.”
However, Gas Free Hunter Alliance said local voices including their own were not being considered, and that the online action came after repeated rejected attempts to meet with Rob Stokes and his policy director.
The only contact with key decision makers that had eventuated was with Matt Kean, whom the Gas Free Hunter Alliance met with in June to discuss the changes.
The COVID-19 pandemic had not helped their efforts in meeting with other key decision makers, Lee said.
“Obviously, because of COVID a lot of the events we had planned like a petition delivery in person to Minister Stokes, we’ve had to pivot to doing actions online such as the one on Friday.”
Lee reinforced the urgency in residents continuing to voice their concerns on the project, whether it be through contacting key politicians or signing their petition.
While the organisation’s petition sits at around 33,000 signatures, Lee has urged more Hunter residents to get on board.
“We feel like the local voices are being ignored in this conversation so far and local people are concerned about the health and noise impacts that the gas peaking plant might have on their local community, as well as being concerned that the Government is still investing in fossil fuel projects.”
Last week, the release of Australia’s biggest climate poll revealed that in Kurri Kurri’s electorate of Paterson, 64 per cent of residents said the Government must do more to prevent climate change.
“All the information is there for politicians to make a good decision for a safe future with long-term sustainable jobs, but they’re just not listening,” Lee said.
The approval process for the gas plant coincides with the UN’s latest climate report, which revealed a damning reality for people across the globe.
“With the evidence before us with the release of the UN’s latest climate report and the code red for humanity, the alarm bells couldn’t be ringing any louder,” Lee warned.
She said the project was not only bad for the environment but was a missed opportunity to invest in renewable energy and sustainable jobs.
Lee believes the region has been “taken for a ride,” after it was revealed that once complete, the plant would only provide 10 ongoing jobs for the region.
“There is no significant transition plan for people that work in fossil fuels either. The Hunter really deserves better,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment said a recommendation would be provided to the Minister later this year.
“Now is really the time [to act]. The window is closing on this project and it’s closing quickly. What we do in the next month is really important,” Lee said.
“Get in touch via email, Facebook or our website if you want to find out more information, get involved in our alliance and, please, sign the petition and share it.
“We will be presenting it within the next month to the politicians that it addresses and do all we can to prevent this from going ahead.”
Maia O’Connor