I came to Glenden with the hope of learning a thing or two about the mining industry, as a journalist, also as an Australian citizen. With the hope of gaining a little insight and understanding, and ultimately not end up being another silly left-sider ranting and complaining without the wisdom that can only be picked up by going and sharing an opinion and a beer or two with those on the other side of the proverbial fence. That, and I wanted to make some quick money, and, these days in Australia, the money is where the mines are.
Along with Western Australia, the New Frontier for the gold-rush-like resources boom is Queensland. In particular, the wide, vast lands to the west of Mackay, the Bowen Basin, among the sparse scrub and ancient crumbling remains of weathered mountains and long dead volcanoes and sacred forgotten indigenous homelands, whose memory is now long forgotten and hinted at only by ochre-paint markings in cliffside caves.
Beneath the tall grass and scrubby trees and the red dusty soil, deep down past the dinosaur bones and the six-inch layer of volcanic ash that lays as buried testament to the violent time of the upheaval of the volcano cores not so far away, lies a black layer of Permian fossil, the condensed remains of vegetation from a time when our continent was still a part of the massive landmass of Pangaea, when all continents were still as one, and in the beginnings of their parting of the ways across the Universal Sea, Panthalassa , some 300-250 million years ago.
It is this dark layer of ancient black carbon that has brought in all the entrepreneurial types and get-rich dreamers, flocking in for a piece of the Bowen Basin. Those with the backing and the knowledge and instincts for money-making would consider themselves fools for not getting involved and sticking their fingers in the black coal pie. The big boys of business and money-making from all over the world are here: Fat Texans with sweaty hands and gleaming grins, wealthy Indians with spotty records, Secret Chinese Business. But here in Glenden, the Swiss rule all. They own this town, built it from scratch to house the workforces of the two Xstrata mines out here, one underground, one above – open cut. They own just about every single house, they own the pub and Bowling Club, they own the shops and most of the industrial zone, too. To them these streets belong.
Xstrata is a big time player on the international stage, with operations in 18 countries, on all continents, with big-percentage stakes in the global markets of coal, copper, nickel, zinc, ferrochrome and vanadium, and smaller (but still pretty substantial) operations in gold, silver and aluminium. Their biggest shareholder is their big ugly thug of an uncle, Glencore, with a 40% stake. A fellow-Swiss megacorporation, one of the biggest in the world, Glencore is without a doubt one of the true bad boys of globalisation, with a seemingly endless rap-sheet of insider-trading offences and contoversy, union-busting, deals with rogue-states like Apartheid South Africa, Libya and the infamous Iraqi Oil Scam, coupled with a blatant disregard for human rights and the environment and Earth in general; all under the motto of “Do What It Takes”. With this “go getter” approach to business, they have climbed to the top of the ivory tower with the wealth and the muscle to get what they want – to hell with the rest.
Xstrata's close association with these swine has not come without more than a few raised eyebrows, and, like their big brother, they have not been short of controversy -- particularly here in Australia; overturning Supreme Court environmental enquiries with whisperings from the pocket of the NT government, corruption investigations in WA and community clashes to do with the Anvil Hill mine in New South Wales.
Down at ground-level though, life in Glenden is good. People are friendly enough, though sometimes with wealth comes a little arrogance. Then again, with general human nature comes a little arrogance. They all work hard for their money. Crime is virtually non-existent here. After all, everybody has money and no need to steal anything. As one underground worker put it to me so eloquently,“No riff-raff or Dole Bludgers – No Problems”. Harley Davidsons sit at ease in driveways, keys stay put in the ignition in big new utes and 4WD's. Grown men with more toys than a kid needs, kids with more toys than is good for them. More dollars than sense?, or just that they have so much money that they can just afford to give themselves and their families all that they ever dreamed of? After all, most of the workers out here have come from working-class backgrounds, from the Australian Struggle. Now they find themselves with more money than they know what to do with; of course they're going to spend it on themselves and the ones they love. At the end of the day, the people here are happy and content. Their lot within the folds of the Xstrata operation is working out nicely for them, and the company does indeed look after it's employees. They are paid lavishly and accommodated as well -- for some $30 dollars a week, and fed at the communal Mess Hall.
The Newlands Coal mine is but one of 34 active coal mines in the 60,000 km2 region of the Bowen Basin, which stretches roughly from Collinsville to Theodore. Xstrata currently has 1,227 employees on it's payroll at Newlands, and is pulling coal from the earth at approximately 11 million tonnes per annum, (a combined total of both the underground and open cut developments) with further extensions planned and waiting for government approval. These extensions seem inevitable. The Bligh government has come forth with plans to increase coal production in Queensland from the current 190 million tonnes to an absolutely staggering 340 million tonnes in the not-so-distant future.
In November last year, her cabinet approved a 30 mega-tonne open-cut mine in Nandean. This will be the biggest open cut mine in the southern hemisphere. In addition to this, there is a proposal in the works for a mine three times as big, a 110 mega-tonne open cut, which will be one of the biggest open wounds on the face of the planet. As it stands, 80% of Queensland is now under some kind of mining lease or exploration permit for developers in the coal and coal seam gas industries. This includes national parks, nature refuges and prime farmlands. Her planned expansion for the coal seam gas industry also makes for tough reading, with current plans to increase the number of operational wells in the Darling Downs region from 1,000-40,000, even after a recent survey showed that around 68% of people are really not so sure about this industry, and want a moratorium into the practices of it before it goes ahead any further. The fact of the matter is, CSG is hugely dangerous. Sure, the gas is good – but it's the method that is the nightmare here. Nobody should be able to light their water on fire. Why don't we just offer somebody a million dollars to find a way of extracting the gas without completely destroying the water supply? Surely there's a scientist clever enough to come up with a solution to that one. If there's not, I'll eat my hat. Most of the action at the moment, however, is centred around the coal beneath the Bowen Basin. As Australia's largest coal reserve, as well as one of the world's largest deposits of bituminous coal and coal seam gas, it has truly become hell-for-leather to get a piece of the action. The basin is now, according to the QLD Greens, the “single most concentrated source of greenhouse gas production in the world”. Already. And the action really is just heating up.
Newest on the stage is the wealthy Indian businessman, Guatam Adani. He has recently gained approval for a 10 billion dollar mine/railway/port project, which, all going to plan, will become the equal-largest coal mining operation in the world. Again, the Greens estimate that the greenhouse gas emissions produced by this mine alone will be bigger than the government's Carbon Tax hopes to reduce. Most of the 60 million tonnes per year dug from the mine will be shipped, straight through the Barrier Reef, to India. The runoff from the mine is also expected to flow straight into the reef as well. Adani's Carmichael mine is expected to have a lifetime of 150 years.
For all the huff and puff and TV commercials crying foul about the “crippling effects” that the Carbon Tax is going to have on the mining industry, the (dis)proof is in the punch. The industry is accelerating at a rate never seen before. It all flies in the face of all the now-proven climate-change science, all of the environmental crusaders and organisations, and all of the government smokescreens telling of how much they are going to make a difference, and how much they care. If you happen to believe in climate change, or fear at all for the well being of our country and our planet in the long-term, the stage is set and the scene is grim.
There may also be a nasty rattle of truth to the talk of the crippling effects of the tax, too. Particularly for those involved in manufacturing and steel – industries already suffering under the weight of the soaring dollar. Just about every other industry in this country that I can think of is either in big trouble or just about shot or sold off already because of it. Textiles, Tourism, Retail, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Telemarketing. All of it. The high dollar is killing our country. Nobody else seems like they want to say it, but it's the truth. True, our way of life is great and good, but for the most part it came about that way as a result of the aforementioned industries. But this is Capitalism. For somebody to win, somebody else has to lose.
The government backing of this mining boom is entirely logical and reasonable. Careless, short-sighted and greedy, too; but it is not difficult to see it from their perspective. One thing matters to politicians, and that is votes. To get votes, they first need to please their electorate. The electorate wants the government to be able to make money and not go broke, while keeping up to speed in terms of infrastructure and public care and schools and healthcare and such other non-profit ventures – to uphold the Security of life here in Oz -- to Look After Them. To do this, the government needs money, and a lot of it – so, they see the mines as their big glowing key to paying back their debts and giving the throngs what they need. Long-term vision be damned; they need RESULTS, they need money, and they need them NOW!
In a somewhat ironic twist in the tale, the carbon tax, through the associated benefits of revenue-raising from the coal industry, will make it much more profitable for the government to approve new mines and extension projects. Ho ho! Yes sir. Soon it will be too profitable to downscale – or, to not Upscale coal production, even more so than now, and we all know the general track-record of decision-makers when it comes down to making these kind of 'fiscal' decisions. Especially considering the fact that we're broke. I've finally figured the fuckers out. This is The Plan.
And so... the Earth warms up and it seems we hover in a limbo of endless Catch-22 situations, damned if we do, damned if we don't. The upshot is that the renewables (and the government) will receive a much-needed financial boost. The the other palm reads neverending coal boom and likely more floods/cyclones/drought as the world burns. There is no slowdown in sight. There is still a lot of coal under our soil, and more and more demand for it, as the once third-world moves into the consumer age and the global population rises. Also, I believe, those involved can see that the end of coal reliance may be not so distant, and gains must be grabbed while the window is open.
The government can tax coal all they like, but unless the root of the problem (the demand for energy and the economic feasibility of renewable energy) is addressed, there can be no real change. But still, I've seen no visible attempts to slow the flow – the mines still seem to always get their way, they always get approved for their extensions and massive mining projects. The sky is the limit, and nothing is sacred.
But, this “Green Revolution” isn't going to happen overnight. Coal is cheap and very profitable, much the same with CSG. Solar and wind and hydro technologies are relatively new, expensive and not yet so finely tuned to provide wholesale power to the masses. With time and funding, though; we may see a reversal of this situation in years to come. Better to take a step in a forward direction and see what happens? I reckon so. It sure ain't no quick fix, this Carbon Tax, but what else have we got? Sure as hell not a great deal of ideas or strategies for the greater incorporation of renewable power in Australia. How about some forward thinking from the left, for a change? Now that the logging industry down in Tasmania has been shot dead, why not give the people down there something to do, by, say... building a huge hydro-power turbine grid off the cape at the bottom and in the Bass Straight, capitalise on that Southern Ocean. Who knows? Maybe if they put the money into it, they could power Melbourne and Tassie with hydro power. Why not? I mean, it's not like we're broke or anything; right? Right?? I mean, surely we have a bit of of money at the moment to throw at projects like this, considering the “Strength of the Aussie Dollar” and the exponential growth of both the coal and coal seam gas industries. Am I right?
That being said, the memories of a handful of pretty harrowing natural disasters still lie not far from the minds of the people and the coffers of the government, particularly that of Anna Bligh, who, despite having handled the floods really well, has turned Queensland into the Whores of the Earth. She will sell, and has sold, anything to the highest bidder. Queensland Rail went first, (Which, surprise surprise, is getting pretty expensive), a Never say no attitude to mining, and a “Do what you please, you have the whole state to work with – no need for a moratorium” mantra for the Gas Men. Queensland is in the shit. Not only has it become the cheap slut of the corporate world; but it has sold out on it's people, it's agriculture, it's harsh and unique beauty. For what? A new Gateway Bridge? Surely saying “No” to an extension or proposed mine or two will remind these corporations who is the boss here, command a little respect and maybe even drive the prices higher. Nobody respects a whore. We are getting the short end of the stick because Anna Bligh has no restraint. We're still Broke, left to deal with the open sores and piles of dead earth and polluted water and vanishing farmlands that some smart rich cocksucker, laughing to all his pig-nosed ugly mates about overseas, has left behind. And the opposition wants us to NOT tax these bastards? The same opposition who is still happy enough to push for cuts to welfare and pensions and medical research? Please, Tony, you must be Joking... Right?
Somewhere between Gillard, Bligh and Abbot, I feel, lies a recipe for Doom. We must think for ourselves, be our own party and influence the outcome for us, for our country. We are no longer represented – not in the slightest. What do they care about us? What do they care about Australia? Cryptic talk, cheap tricks and deceit. The standard political fare of the times. Weak line-towing media and infotainment brainwashing. Man, look at us. Compare our society with the Mayans, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks. We are the urban primitives, the technological slaves to the money, dollar dollar bill, yall. But we are many, and we are not stupid. We all want the same things. We're all together in this. No more bullshit, Australia. We's all 'lations. Surely we can turn it around, I mean look at all the things that we've invented and done. People have walked on the moon, for chrissakes. All we need to do is invent the New Way and make it Happen. Should be easy enough, I reckon.
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