Watercourses and discourses: Coalmining in the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales

L. Connor; N. Higginbotham; S. Freeman; G. Albrecht

doi:10.1002/j.1834-4461.2008.tb00029.x

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Watercourses and discourses: Coalmining in the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Watercourses and discourses: Coalmining in the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales

L. Connor, N. Higginbotham, S. Freeman and G. Albrecht

Oceania, Vol.78(1), pp.76-90

2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2008.tb00029.x

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Abstract

Water is a resource that both unites and divides people in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, where many communities are facing the prospect of large-scale open-cut coalmining developments on productive mixed use land, or already live in proximity to mines and power stations. This article analyses conflicts over a proposed coal mine at Bickham in the Upper Hunter Valley, by contrasting the various protagonists' discourses of water scarcity, supply, and connectivity. It examines the ways in which the terms of opposition are narrowed to the arena of state and industry supported science and economic development, marginalising other cultural values and environmental ethics that are integral to opponents' discourses. Opponents have achieved some measure of success through contestation of the uncertain science of hydrological modelling, bolstered by the context of drought and increasing public acceptance of climate change science.

Details

Title: Watercourses and discourses: Coalmining in the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Authors/Creators: L. Connor (Author/Creator) - University of Newcastle Australia
N. Higginbotham (Author/Creator) - University of Newcastle Australia
S. Freeman (Author/Creator) - University of Newcastle Australia
G. Albrecht (Author/Creator) - University of Newcastle Australia
Publication Details: Oceania, Vol.78(1), pp.76-90
Publisher: Oceania Publications
Identifiers: 991005541236807891
Murdoch Affiliation: Murdoch University
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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Citation topics: 6 Social Sciences; 6.146 Anthropology; 6.146.1728 Artisanal Mining
Web Of Science research areas: Anthropology
ESI research areas: Social Sciences, general