The Sydney and Central West Knitting Nannas and River Yarners took part in the Nature NSW regional conference – Lifeblood: connections of rivers country and community – at Blayney Eco Hub on 14 and 15 June. Report by Sydney Knitting Nanna, Tracey Carpenter.
The Welcome to Country was delivered by Wiradyuri elder, Nyree Reynolds, wearing her ‘No water No Life’ Nanna sash. Nyree has withstood attacks and criticism for her work in protecting the Belubula / BillaBula River as well as Aboriginal heritage sites. She is a Central West Knitting Nanna from the group formed in early 2025.
Belabulah Headwaters Protection Group
Daniel Sutton presented on the efforts of the Kings Plains community to protect their river and springs from Regis Resources McPhillamy’s gold mine tailings dam. A Section 10 has been placed over the area for the tailings dam to protect Wiradyuri heritage. Regis are currently looking for another location to site their tailings dam. It’s been a long battle to protect the headwaters and springs feeding into the Belubula and Upper Lachlan catchment from the impacts of a massive new gold mine.
Nanna Anne visited McPhillamys Regis Resources Gold Project at Blayney in December 2024. Here’s her report.
Lithgow Environment Group (LEG)
Julie Favell talked about the group’s anti-nuclear campaign in 2024 (in reaction to Dutton proposing a nuclear power plant on the site of the old Wallerawang Power Station) and opposition to the Energy for Waste incinerator proposal at Mt Piper.
LEG have continuously monitored water quality from coal mine discharges in Lithgow streams, and their reporting to EPA has led to numerous fines imposed for discharges and high salinity levels. They have also reported on work on the Gardens of Stone National Park and Hassans Walls Reserve.
Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN)
Gem Green reported on the citizen-science action to enforce safe air and water pollution from Newcrest’s Cadia Gold Mine near Orange, which has been operating for 25 years.
Timeline
2018 – Tailings Dam wall collapse (Prime7 News Video)
2019 – Drought – heavy-metal contaminated tailings dust blows across district.
2022–2023 – Drinking water in residential tanks found to have dangerously high concentrations of heavy metals (Study Ian Wright). Medical blood testing of residents reveals high levels of heavy metals in residents’ bloodstreams around Millthorpe attributed to mine contamination.
Residents question the health impacts of the nearby Cadia gold mine – ABC 7.30 Report – 8 August 2023
Parliamentary Inquiry forces mine to deliver safe drinking water supply to residents, to repair tailings dam wall, to filter fans extracting dust from main shaft.
2025 – Heavy, dark (non-dissolving) foam appears on creeks downstream of mine and is tested for anthropogenic materials from mining activity. It appears that the tailings dam is leaking into groundwater. Investigation and scientific research continuing.
The NSW EPA fails to regulate this mine. The United Nations have been engaging with the situation as a very high level mine contamination threatens human health. Newcrest is found to be criminally negligent only for a short period of its operation whilst filters were not operational, rather than the 100,000s of hours of negligence the community has suffered.
CCSN operate on the basis that the 25-year-old mine is here to stay, but Newcrest (which has profited abundantly from its gold exports) must be held accountable for damage to environment and human health.
Cadia Community Sustainability Network Facebook page
ABC Discover search for articles on Cadia mine
Mudgee Region Action Group (MRAG)
Janet Wark mobilised the whole community to oppose Bowden’s lead and silver mine at Lue, near Mudgee. The mine was approved by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) in three days of hearing, despite 95% of submissions being opposed to it.
MRAG won its appeal against the decision, as the IPC failed to assess the essential infrastructure (transmission lines) as part of the application. This led to the Greens-initiated Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impacts of Metals Mining in NSW.
Sydney Knitting Nannas joined Mudgee Region Action Group outside the Supreme Court in July 1924 for their hearing of their appeal against Bowden.
Bev Smiles, Manjot Kaur and Rosemary Hadaway from the Mudgee District Environment Group discussed the mining boom, including coal-mine expansions around the Mudgee district – Moolarben, Ulan, Wilpingjong – now the biggest coal mines in the state.
Voices for the Valley is a new 20 minute documentary forming part of the campaign to stop the Moolarben modification encroaching on the Nature Reserve and town of Wollar. It’s a short film of an activist weekend and is being circulated for community screenings from late June. Here’s the trailer –
Come to ‘Host a Screening 101’ Webinar on Thursday June 26th at 6:30pm (see below)
Further discussions were centred on the contradiction between the Government’s declaration of the Orana Renewable Energy Zone, coal mine expansions, the NSW Critical Minerals Expansion Policy and the Biodiversity Offsets policy.
Subsidies are for greenfield mine exploration and development only, not to source critical minerals (cobalt, etc.) and rare earths, which are plentiful in mine wastes and tailings dams. These should be re-mined rather than used as an excuse for more greenfield mine destruction of biodiversity and water resources.
Critical Minerals
Dr Lian Sinclair, from the Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney, discussed what rare earths and critical minerals really are: they need to be rare, not widely mined and used in renewable energy. But, this definition has been expanded to include minerals used in armaments and digital tech, and even further to include all metals currently mined in bulk in NSW, gold, silver, copper, lead, etc.
NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme
Every major development or clearing project in NSW is assessed and required to lodge a biodiversity offset obligation. This is not a requirement in other states. NSW biodiversity stewardship agreements specify the area (or areas) of land to which the agreement applies and is registered on the title of the land. Financial incentives are available for landowners. Some spoke favourably of the scheme – that the intention is to provide a revenue stream for landholders to protect biodiversity, and this includes Local Aboriginal Land Councils.
NCC Water Campaigner – Mel Gray (also Healthy Rivers Dubbo)
Mel spoke about the Murray Darling Basin Connectivity Campaign and about a hoped-for river program, Rivers Need Trees. Blueprint to Repair Australian Landscapes is a plan to replant riparian corridors on two per cent of land. This would provide water security and habitat, and could be paid for by corporations and individuals offsetting their carbon footprint.
Fix the Darling / Baaka River – NSW has the blueprint it needs in the Connectivity Report. It will take a reduction in the water taken for irrigation of between 4-6 per cent. Will they fix the rules and reconnect the rivers of the North?
Workshop Sessions
Nature and Renewables in the Central West – Opportunities and Challenges in the Renewable Energy Zone rollout
Slowing the Flow – Land, Water and Community Resilience in Eugowra
Crafting Resistance – Knitting, Yarning and Creative Action – Sydney Nannas’ craftwork travelled to Blayney with Nanna Tracey for this session on craftivism, which was appreciated.
Building local climate action: stories and strategies from the Central West – Mapping opportunities – Bathurst Community Climate Action Network – Jack Fry Bathurst Parents for Climate – Bianca Sands
Closing Reflections – Alice Blackwood, poet and musician, shared a piece written with contributions collected from participants in response to the conference. A poetic reflection to celebrate the creativity, courage and care at the heart of our movement. (Extract below.)
Nannas are watching
CEO of Nature NSW – Jacqui Mumford on Instagram, reflects on the stories heard from the Central West community during the Conference.
‘Voices for the Valley’ – host a short documentary film
Voices for the Valley is a new documentary by 19-year-old local filmmaker, Jess Nipperess, which is set to premier in Mudgee on 29 July. This short film tells the story of Wollar – a community that has spent over two decades defending its land, water and way of life from threats to the Drip, Munghorn Gap, and the village itself. As pressure grows, seventy activists from all walks of life unite in support of Wollar’s vision for a future.
Please consider hosting a screening of ‘Voices for the Valley’ in your local community! Come to the ‘Host a Screening 101’ Webinar on Thursday June 26th at 6:30pm. Learn everything you need to know, from what a screening could look like, suggested MC notes, help on finding a venue, and how the Nature Conservation Council (NCC) can help you promote it. There’ll be room for questions at the end and the NCC will support you every step of the way. You’ll also get to view an exclusive larger snippet of the film.
Please click here to RSVP to the webinar to get the zoom link. If you can’t make this time, please email Dana Kafina dkafina@nature.org.au from the Coal Team Nature Conservation Council NSW.