I have spent the weekend mulling over the implications of the...

I have spent the weekend mulling over the implications of the Court of Appeal decision but first I want to digress with a quick story.
Back in 2018 Kepco was seeking approval for a coal mine in Bylong with the usual action group opposition. There were a couple of groups around at the time - Bylong Valley Protection Alliance and the Rylstone District Free Coal Alliance. Many of the people that are now members of Lue Action Group were involved in one or other of these groups.
Anyway, there was a big public meeting in Mudgee with over 50 speakers from the local area including the pastoral mob, local businesses and a group from Kandos. Then one Kandos people spoke about their dying town and the need for jobs to help their local economy. A local farmer interjected and said “Well, if two coal mines haven’t saved your town another one isn’t going to make a blind bit of difference”.
And there you have it, the great divide in country towns: the land rich and the job poor. Basically, if you haven’t inherited land or own farming land you don’t matter and you don’t count.
And this dynamic is playing out again. The inner circle of Lue Action Group is about fifteen people. Most have served as committee members over the years. But here is the kicker, with a few exceptions (someone has to do the actual committee work, right?) most of the inner circle are large land holders either sharing boundaries with Bowdens or within a very close distance to the mine.
So this is personal, very personal. This is about land, family legacy, power and status. It is not about climate change or the environment, it’s a zero sum game.
LAG knew they needed an existential threat, a clear and present danger to convince enough people to oppose the mine. It didn’t need to be real or true, just scary. And they found it - lead.
What does all mean in terms of the future?
In political- speak, Bowdens have not controlled the narrative.
Forget about the pastoralists, Bowdens have to tell the story of the mine and they have educate the local residents about mining. They need to talk about jobs and the future. This is not about supporting the local sports team or turning up at local fairs. It has to be far more sophisticated as they need vocal and local support and lots of it.
They need to make need make the local residents know they do count and they do matter.
It’s going to be a long road and Bowdens need to be better prepared. If they don’t have the political / comms expertise in-house, they should get it fast