Narrabri Underground expansion hearing begins as commission hears impacts on demand, koalas

Topics such as koala habitat and the demand for coal were tackled by different speakers, from different points of view.

Resident David Paull, who is a member of Friends of the Pilliga, said he had taken issue with some of the language used to describe the expansion area.

"This morning Mr Preshaw [from Department of Planning, Industry and Environment] said that the study area was semi-arid, well I'm here to tell you it isn't semi-arid," he said.

"If the commissioners care to look for themselves, you will see the area falls outside of that definition, the eastern boundary of a semi-arid zone is at about the Macquarie River, which is west of the forest.

"I think this is an attempt to play down the kind of ecological and biological significance of the area."

He went on to say there was understood to be a koala habitat down the eastern side of the forest, and he believes there are populations further in, which are shifting between the public land and adjacent private land.

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While Mr Paull was focusing on the impact it would have on koalas, Cheaper Electricity Party Incorporated's Robert Monteath was shining the spotlight on the demand for electricity, and the role coal has to play in that.

He said wind and solar power would have to increase at five times its current rate, in order to produce enough electricity for the nation to hit net-zero emissions by 2050.

He said coal was here to stay for several decades still, and thus the expansion should be approved.

"If people of the world, including us Australians, want to enjoy the luxury of using electricity 24/7, then we need to keep mining coal for the next several decades at least," he said.

He then argued more carbon dioxide in the air could be a good thing, highlighting that there has been increased foliage in Arab regions between 1982 to 2010 as a result of CO2, and benefits can be seen worldwide.

"As satellite data has shown that over a similar period, between 1982 to 2015, the amount of tree leaf cover around the globe has increased by 20 million square-kilometres," he said.

"So, believe it or not, there is some good things happening with extra CO2 in the atmosphere."

The hearing will continue tomorrow, before the IPC considers all the evidence and makes a final decision on the project.

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