Printthisarticle|

Closethiswindow

Minerslobbiedpremiertopullplugonenvironmentallegal centre
HeathAston Published:January10,20133:00PM

TheminingindustryurgedthePremier,BarryO'Farrell,to scrapfundingtotheEnvironmentalDefendersOfficeand monthslaterthestategovernmentdidjustthat. Documentsreleasedunderfreedomofinformationlawsshow theNSWMineralsCouncilandtheAustralianCoal AssociationlobbiedthePremiertocanceltheEDO's$2.5 millionannualpublicsubsidy. ThegovernmentannouncedinDecemberithadpulledthe plugonthelegalcentrebyredirectingmoneytoLegalAid andforbiddingstatefundingforagencies"providinglegal advicetoactivistsandlobbygroups"theEDO'score business.

Advertisement

TheEDOprovidesfreelegalservicestocommunitiesinvolved inenvironmentaldisputeswithdevelopersandminers. Increasingly,itsclientsareresidentsgroupsfightingcoalandcoalseamgasproposalsinruralNSW. InalettertoMrO'Farrell,datedOctober9,MineralsCouncilchiefexecutiveStephenGalileelambastedtheEDO forwhathedescribedasitssupportfora"deliberatecampaignofeconomicsabotage"againstthecoalindustry. ThatwasareferencetotheattendanceoftheEDO'sprincipalsolicitor,KirstyRuddock,ataGreenpeaceconvened meetingintheBlueMountainsthatledtothecreationofadocumenttitled"stoppingtheAustraliancoalexport boom". Inhisletter,MrGalileetoldMrO'Farrell:"ItisdifficulttounderstandthelogicbehindNSWtaxpayers'funds beingprovidedtoanorganisationintentonusingthosefundstolodgelegalchallengesagainstdecisionstakenon behalfoftaxpayers. "Itisevenmoreabsurdforthesefundstobeusedtosupportadeliberatecampaignofeconomicsabotageagainstan industryprovidingourmostvaluableexportcommodityaswellas50,000directjobs...Wehopeyourgovernment willthereforeceasefundingtheEDOasamatterofurgency." MrO'Farrelldeclinedtosaywhetherhetookanyactioninrespectoftheletter.AspokesmanforthePremiersaid: Anyinterestgroupcanmakerepresentationstogovernmentthegovernmentwillultimatelyconsiderall informationandmakedecisionsthatareinthebestinterestofthestateandtaxpayers." InitslettertoMrO'Farrell,theCoalAssociationdescribedas"perverse"thewayinwhichtheEDOwasusing taxpayerfundstorepresentthreeanticoalcommunitygroupsintheHunterValley,aswellasitslinktotheanti coalmovement. TheletterwascopiedtotheMineralsCouncilandEnergyMinisterChrisHartcher.MrHartcherlaterpublicly describedtheEDOaspartofa"leftagendatodestroytheeconomy".

EDOexecutivedirectorJeffSmithsaidthelinktotheanticoalmovementwasa"beatup"usedbytheoffice's opponentstojustifycripplingitsfunctions. MsRuddock,daughteroffederalLiberalMPPhilipRuddock,wasoneof18peoplethankedforattendingtheBlue MountainsmeetingintheanticoalmovementstrategydocumentandMrSmithsaidshewasthereonlytoprovide legaladvicetogroupstheEDOwasrepresenting. "That'swhatwedo:wereviewdocumentsandprovidelegaladvice.Itdoesn'tmeanweendorsethem,"hesaid. "Thewayithasbeenpaintedyou'dthinkwewrotethedocument,"hesaid."Iwasoneofsixpeoplewhoprovided advicetothereviewofNSWplanninglawsandthesubsequentgreenpaper.Nooneaccusedmeofbeingaco authorofthat." Shadowattorneygeneral,PaulLynch,saidtheEDO'srolewastoholddecisionmakerstoaccount. "Theycausedus[Labor]abitofdifficultyandembarrassmentingovernmentbutthatisnoreasontocuttheir funding,"MrLynchsaid."Youcan'tsitbackingovernmentandassumeyourdecisionsshouldneverbe questioned." TheEDOwasnotifiedlastFridaythatitsfundingwouldcontinueuntilJune30butat27percentlessthanprevious levels,withafurtherwindbackexpectedinlinewiththenewguidelinesthatwillcurtailitsabilitytorepresent communitygroups. TheEDOisnowcalculatingredundancies. ItsfundingisdrawnfromthePublicPurposeFund,whichprovidesmoneyfortheofficeandotherlegalcentres, andhashada"significant"fallinvaluethisfinancialyear. Withapoolof$115milliontodistributein201213,itsvaluehasfallen$65millioninfiveyears.
Thisstorywasfoundat:http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/minerslobbiedpremiertopullplugonenvironmentallegalcentre20130110 2ci8h.html