I saw this Koala in the forest that the ANZ-financed Whitehaven will be ripping up for a massive coal mine.

Remember Barbara from Bank World in the ANZ advertising campaign? Barbara dismisses customer complaints with “not my problem” “not my department” and “whatever”.

Well, ANZ has created a big problem for our much-loved friend the koala.

ANZ is providing finance of $1.2 billion to Whitehaven Coal, a company in which Nathan Tinkler has a major stake. The finance will enable Whitehaven to destroy koala homes for a massive open-cut coal mine in Leard State Forest at Maules Creek near Narrabri. If the mine goes ahead 2,800 football fields of precious forest will be destroyed, including endangered woodland and homes to 26 plant and animal species threatened with extinction.

Thousands of tonnes of dangerous coal dust will shroud local farms and communities. The Environmental Impact Statement for the mine says that greenhouse gas emissions from the mining, transport of the coal and end usage of the coal is expected to be 30,028,092 tonnes per annum for the intended 30 year life of the mine. The Planning and Assessment Commission “acknowledges that the mining and downstream use of the coal would generate greenhouse gas emissions that will contribute to climate change”. No kidding!

I visited the bushland in Leard State Forest set to be razed to make way for the coal mine and I saw one of the koalas that could soon be homeless. It was sleeping contentedly, oblivious to the destruction that is coming its way. With ANZ finance this threatened species is about to become even more threatened.

So, will ANZ “do a Barbara” and tell us that the massive environmental consequences of their investment are “not their problem”?

With Nathan Tinkler’s financial woes filling the newspapers in recent weeks, this last minute injection of finance from ANZ is crucial to his project going ahead. ANZ has made this pending environmental catastrophe their problem.

Please ask ANZ to pull out of the financial arrangement with Whitehaven Coal so that the koalas and other threatened species and wildlife in the forest can keep their homes.  And if you’re a customer of ANZ, make sure you tell them.

Use this form to easily send ANZ an email. Or even better, take a moment longer to send your own hard copy letter using the suggested points below.

Michael Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited

Dear Mr Smith

I am writing to let you know how disappointed I am to learn of your investment in Whitehaven Coal which will help finance their proposed open cut coal mine at Maules Creek.

This massive mine will destroy nearly 2000 hectares of forest and woodland habitat for threatened species including endangered woodlands and habitat for the koala. Leard Forest is the single biggest remnant of intact woodland in the Liverpool Plains area and one of the largest and most intact stands of the endangered Box Gum Woodland remaining.

The dust and emissions from the coal will present a health risk to local communities and a climate risk to the planet.

It is unclear to me how you can square your investment in this mine with the Equator Principles for the environmental and social impacts of the projects you invest in.

I respectfully request that you withdraw your finance for this project which will be environmentally damaging on so many fronts.

Environmental issues are a priority concern for me and my family and we do not like to do business with a banking institution that invests in environmentally damaging projects.

Yours sincerely

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Write to ANZ: 

Michael Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
ANZ Centre
833 Collins Street
Docklands VIC 3008

Points you might like to make in your letter:

• The Maules Creek coal mine does not comply with the Equator Principles for Financial Institutions in relation to cumulative assessment, biodiversity conservation, health, occupational safety, cultural heritage, land conservation and the promotion of renewable energy.

• The mine will destroy nearly 2000 ha of forest and woodland habitat for threatened species including 544ha of the critically endangered Box Gum Woodland.

• The ecologist hired by the company to examine the impacts of the mine states that “The Project has the potential to have a substantial impact on the ecology of the area” and they express concern for threatened species of bird and bats dependent on tree hollows.

• This is the single biggest remnant of intact woodland in the Liverpool Plains area and one of the largest and most intact stands of Box Gum Woodland remaining. It is a vital wildlife refuge in a heavily modified landscape.

• The dust the coal mine will generate will present a health risk to local communities and the carbon emissions the mine will generate will present a climate risk to the planet.

• The ANZ website states that “Companies not responsive to climate change are unlikely to be profitable in the long term and our business reputation can suffer if we support clients who do not manage their environmental impact responsibly”. Let them know that you do not consider Whitehaven Coal to be an environmentally friendly nor climate responsible company.

• If you are an ANZ customer you may wish to let them know that you will take your business elsewhere.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke can also stop the mine – write him a letter here.

Seems I haven’t written a post since the Copenhagen climate talks – a mixture of needing time to reflect on what happened (or didn’t!) and getting on with things once the new year started, but also to be honest largely enjoying a break away from my laptop and iphone! However I’ll be updating regularly now.

That’s because there’s a lot going on – and a lot of it needs our collective attention. In the last few days I’ve been coordinating a sign on letter by environment groups to urge the NSW Government to put a stop to logging that’s due to start any day in the habitat of the last known koala colony in the State’s Far South Coast. Some of you might remember a video I posted last year in Mumbulla State Forest about this. Please email Premier Keneally premier@nsw.gov.au urging her to make Mumbulla State Forest a National Park to conserve the habitat of these koalas.

Keith Hughes, Cate & John Hibberd in Mumbulla State Forest - most due to be logged

Last weekend I visited some of the local forest activists and Greens members who have been fighting for many years to end the logging of native forests in South East NSW. This is one of the last big campaigns to protect native forests in this State. Most other public land of high conservation value is protected from large-scale logging operations due to the tireless work of forest campaigners and environment groups over decades to get them protected.

Given the history of successful forest campaigning in this State, most people are surprised when I tell them that the NSW Government still logs native forests in NSW, much of which is home to threatened species. They are even more surprised when I tell them our forests, and therefore our water quality, climate and precious biodiversity, are all being sacrificed purely to be processed at the Eden Chip Mill into woodchips and exported to Japan. To be made into paper. To be used once, most probably, and then thrown away. Continue Reading

News out today is that Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong is wanting a post-2012 international climate change agreement “to include forests in some way”.

Trouble is that the Australian Government will be lobbying hard for the inclusion of forests in ‘developing countries like Indonesia’, while continuing to turn a blind eye to the deforestation of some of our most precious natural native forests back home.

Some research has indicated that if all scheduled logging of Australia’s natural forests (as opposed to plantation native forests) ceased and instead these forests were conserved, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions could fall by around 10%. Now must be the time for a real cost/benefit analysis of logging Australia’s natural forests. Continue Reading