General News
12 August, 2024
Mine impacted farmers urged to push for fairer deals
Coexistence between mining, renewables, agriculture bubbles along.
A leading farm advocate specialising in relations between farmers and mining businesses has said farmers' rights need to be considered more closely in the interactions between miners and the agricultural community.
Shay Dougall, a Queensland-based farmer advocate, who runs consultancy business Molliwell, said the dialogue between farmers and miners had focused primarily on property access, rather than considerations of the land as a workplace.
She said she had developed a workplace health and safety (WHS) framework which she hoped would enable fairer power relations by simplifying the process of reporting and facilitating fairer power-sharing, consultancy and compensation.
"It's a relatively simple concept, a farmer's land is their workplace and therefore workplace rights must be considered," Dr Dougall said.
She said the framework could be implemented via the use of an app which farmers could use to take photos and receive advice about the WHS impacts of mining exploration on their land.
"The process is simple and can transfer across different enterprises, whether it be gas, or mineral sands or even renewables projects," she said.
Dr Dougall said she had been motivated to design the framework after noticing an uneven split in the risk and reward dynamic.
"The companies often seem to want to come in and make their money but there are various things that will influence the farmer and their workplace."
"You've got various hazards, whether it be live gas pipelines under the surface of the property, or power lines running over the land, there's noise, dust and other emissions, and these things aren't being considered from a workplace point of view."
"They are creating the risk, and that needs to be adequately accounted for."
Issues with coexistence are under the microscope among many agricultural communities across the country.
Cameron McDonald, a farmer at Dooen, north-east of Horsham, is part of a group of farmers looking to halt a proposed mineral sands mine in their area.
The group, Mine Free Wimmera Farmers (MFWF), has been working to identify farmers rights and obligations when dealing with miners.
"It has been a difficult process, but we have found out a lot of information, so our advice to other growers in this position is to get in touch with someone who can walk you through the process rather than feeling pressured into making a quick decision," Mr McDonald said.
"Our advice is very much don't sign anything until you've had a really good look at it, there are a lot of grey areas surrounding different topics in relation to all sorts of things from access agreements through to issues with insurance or resale of the property due to mining proposals."
"We're very happy to talk to people who are just finding out they are going to be impacted by a development, whether that be mining or renewables as it can all be very daunting with so much information out there - some of it seemingly conflicting."
Dr Dougall said the farmers' right to a safe workplace was critical.
"How the working environment is managed has a massive impact on the individual's ability to cope, in any other workplace that is covered under WHS legislation."
"What we want to see if there is to be coexistence is to make it fairly balanced for those expected to live and work in the new conditions."
"With the app and the framework we're giving farmers a tool and a voice and the ability to voice their concerns in a quantifiable way."
"For instance, if farmers note there is massive erosion along a fenceline, that is tangible and measurable, we get the environmental assessment done, we get the hazard assessment done."
Mr McDonald said his group was active politically, working with politician such as local Federal member for Mallee Anne Webster on proposals such as implementing a food security bill and a farm protection bill where premium farmland is protected from mining developments.