Across north western Victoria, massive critical minerals developments threaten farming, landscapes, local economies and ground and water supplies.
There are five main projects currently planned. More than 42,000 hectares of farm land are currently under retention licences. There are also legacy issues from older projects, which have not been properly rehabilitated.
And in the east, Gippsland Critical Minerals is developing the Fingerboards Project, which will have an enormous impact on an important food bowl, right next to the Mitchell River.
In recent months, Friends of the Earth campaigners have been visiting the regions and listening to farming communities to better understand their position on the mines.
“Most of the people we have met are multi generational farmers” said Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator Cam Walker. “They grow crops like wheat, canola, lentils and barley for both local consumption and export, and as many of them said ‘we are feeding the world through our work’. Yet they face the loss of their farms and livelihoods for decades if mining proceeds. The heartbreak attached to this is obvious”.
“Almost every person we have met has told us that they feel ignored by governments and that they wanted the mining companies gone from their communities. They repeatedly told us that the EES approvals system was ‘broken’, and that the assessment and approvals processes for these large projects felt like ‘box ticking’ exercises with a pre determined outcome. There is lack of transparency about the impacts of mines, and no trust in government oversight of mines once they are up and running and that endless ‘workplan variations’ allows companies to slowly increase impacts and reduce protections over time. They feel ignored by ministers, MPs and the government in general and most political parties.”
The constant message we have heard is that previous rehabilitation has failed and that the bonds required are insufficient to ensure proper rehabilitation in the future.
“We heard deep fears about the health impacts of these mines due to the fact that radioactive materials are released into the air and can blow long distances. There were many stories of locals being impacted by various and unusual cancers, yet there have been no studies carried out to monitor any long term health impacts of critical minerals mines.
“We heard a strong desire to see formal protection for this important farm land. The preferred model is for the creation of a land classification system, in legislation, which would see key areas protected from large scale projects like mines.
The Nationals are backing the Planning and Environment Amendment (Agricultural Land and Food Security) Bill 2026, which would ensure agriculture is recognised as the strategic asset it is, rather than treated as just another land use in Victoria’s planning system. “But given the scale of the impact of these mines and the deep and sustained opposition from impacted farming communities, the issue of critical minerals is not yet receiving the broad political support it deserves”.
An interim step – a moratorium on all projects
Each of these projects are subject to an assessment and approvals process. However, local farming communities feel that the assessment system is broken, ignores their concerns and allows approval of destructive projects. And there has been no attempt by the regulator or the state government to understand the cumulative impacts of these projects combined across an important food production area.
Friends of the Earth has been calling on the state government and all candidates and parties to support an immediate halt on any further assessment or approval of any aspect of critical minerals projects until there has been an independent and comprehensive analysis done of the cumulative impacts of these projects.
“We are urging all candidates and parties with an interest in food production to show their support for farming communities by publicly backing the call for a moratorium on all critical minerals until there has been a comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impacts of all these projects” concluded Mr Walker.
Our open letter calling for a moratorium is available here.
