In nearby Rosebery residents reliant on the local zinc, copper and lead mine continue to wait to find out if its owners will be allowed to build a tailings dam. The company says the dam is critical for operations, while environmentalists say it would destroy the habitat of several endangered species.
00:05For more than four years, the residents of Rosebury on Tasmania's west coast have been waiting for the Federal Environment Minister to approve or reject the local mine's plan to build a new tailings dam.
00:19If they can make a decision on the salmon farming and other areas, why can't they do it here?
00:23While they're sitting in their nice houses, getting good wages, getting good monies, we suffer out here if it doesn't happen.
00:29The Rosebury mine is the biggest employer in town. Its owner says without a new tailings dam to store waste, the mine would be forced to close.
00:38For the locals, no mine means no town, and they blame conservationists.
00:44If they could shut this mine down, they'd be the most happiest people in the world.
00:47There's a need for certainty for the community. I guess security for the mine and that we actually get a decision very shortly would be what most people are hoping for.
00:58They're not the only ones waiting on a decision.
01:02Down the road, environmental campaigners from the Bob Brown Foundation have been protesting on and off at the proposed dam site for years.
01:10We're at the edge of a large area of forest which is just on the Pyman River.
01:15It's a beautiful stunning nature that is going to be completely destroyed, entirely swamped by toxic mine sludge if the tailings dam was to be allowed to proceed.
01:24I'm standing very close to the site of the proposed tailings dam. Its fate at the moment rests in the hands of Minister Murray Watt, who says he has hundreds of similar decisions to make around the country.
01:37To be frank, I haven't had a single briefing on that project since I took over the role of Minister.
01:42So once I've been briefed on that I'll be in a position to give you some more information.
01:46Minister Watt is confident he'll deliver a decision on another project, the proposed wind farm at Robins Island in Tasmania's northwest, by the end of this month.
01:56The West Coast Mayor wants the Rosebury tailings dam decision made faster.
02:00This one is a priority for us here in Tasmania as well, and especially the West Coast, so we'd like to see him, you know, put it high on his list.
02:09For now, the project's supporters and opponents can only wait.
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