Hemmed in by big coal: 'A bad feeling is constantly hanging over us’

It’s a hot summer’s afternoon at Riverside station, 50km north of the purpose-built mining town Moranbah in the central Queensland highlands. Jeanette and Allan Williams are drinking tea and eating Christmas cake around the kitchen table with three of their six children. Holly and twins Claire and Charles have returned to live and work on the family’s 80,000-hectare cattle enterprise. Running more than 16,000 Brahman cattle, the family breeds and fattens their stock on prime cattle country that grows brigalow trees and buffel grass.

 Allan and Jeanette Williams, who have coalmines encircling their cattle station. 

The homestead, which sits on top of the world’s highest-quality coal deposits, has been under threat for more than 15 years. A proposed underground mine at the family’s adjoining property, Red Hill, is likely to cut through to Riverside and under the house.

Read Paula Heelan’s story from The Guardian - “Hemmed in by big coal: 'A bad feeling is constantly hanging over us’.”

Hot and humid: Melbourne is about to get very muggy

Melburnians are going to continue sweating for another two days, with a forecast of 39 this afternoon and muggy conditions settling in.

Melburnians were getting their exercise in early at the Tan
 before the temperature hits a high of 39 degrees. 

The humid conditions are not expected to ease until Tuesday.

Saturday night was warm and sticky, with a minimum temperature of 22.7 at 3.10am and humidity around 91 percent. 

Don't bother changing the sheets yet though. Sunday night is going to be even hotter with a predicted minimum of 27 degrees and continuing high humidity.

Read the story by Jan Gilmore from today’s Melbourne Age - “Hot and humid: Melbourne is about to get very muggy.”