David Pocock slams Maules Creek coal mine expansion after arrest 10 years ago

SENATOR David Pocock has condemned the expansion plans of the NSW coal mine that he protested against - and was subsequently arrested - while he was still in the Australian rugby union team.

The former Wallaby was arrested in 2014 for locking on machinery at the Whitehaven Maules Creek mine, which quietly uploaded plans to expand the mine's footprint to its website this week.

The controversial mine, which was the subject of heavy protest of nearby farmers, has been investigated or fined by the NSW government 19 times since it was established, including stealing water, building illegal pipelines and polluting the surrounding environment.

Senator Pocock said he opposed the mine, located 120km north-west of Tamworth, almost a decade due to the impact it would have on farmers and the climate, and his reasoning had only grown stronger since the mine was established.

"Since then we have seen the effects of climate change - drought, fires and floods," he said.

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"Whitehaven has been investigated for alleged breaches of the law on 35 occasions. While farmers were struggling through the last drought, Whitehaven stole one billion litres of water, and were fined just $200,000.

"The company has no credible transition plan and is banking on climate inaction. Continuing to expand the fossil fuel industry will leave us unable to protect the people and places we love."

The expansion plans would increase the mine's lifespan by ten years, until 2043, allowing Whitehaven to extract another 126 million tonnes of coal and continue employing the mine's 800 staff.

The mining giant has not put a figure on the size of the development, but a map shows expanding by roughly a quarter to the north and east.

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Despite conducting a Community Consultative Committee meeting at the end of May, Whitehaven did not mention its expansion plans, instead quietly uploading them to the website a week later.

Lock the Gate member and Maules Creek resident Ros Druce said Whitehaven had shown "callous disregard" for the local community on its way to racking up dozens of fines.

"So far, no penalty has been significant enough to make this repeat offender change its ways," Ms Druce said.

"The Minns Government must take action against Whitehaven where the Perrottet Government failed. At the very least, Whitehaven must not be rewarded with permission to build any new coal projects or expansions."

Senator Pocock said the company had also failed to offset the hundreds of hectares it had destroyed from the Leard State Forest, which houses the nation's largest population of critically endangered Box-Gum Woodlands.

Boggabri farmer Sally Hunter said Whitehaven knew increasingly ambitious emission reduction targets both domestically and in customer countries mean the end is nigh for coal.

"Rather than sensibly introducing a diversification plan to support local workers, the company is going hell for leather to rip what it can out of the ground before the market finally crashes, leaving everyone high and dry," Ms Hunter said.

"Failing to prepare for the inevitable risks leaving economies in places like Boggabri and Narrabri destitute when the crash comes. It's time for government intervention to prevent vampires like Whitehaven from sucking our region dry."

Senator Pocock, who had his 2014 charges dismissed despite pleading guilty, said the life cycle emissions from Australian coal mines were about the same as the domestic emissions of Australia, France and the UK combined.

"We need to be focusing on developing the future of mining in critical minerals for a low-carbon economy, not making climate change worse by expanding coal mines," he said.