ACLAND, QUEENSLAND // Acland used to be a thriving little town. It had a school, two churches, several shops and a railway station. But in recent years, as an open-cast coal mine crept ever closer, residents have fled - and now only one householder remains, Glen Beutel.
Unlike his neighbours, Mr Beutel, 59, has refused offers by the mining company, New Hope Coal, to buy his property in the town, 160 kilometres west of the state capital Brisbane.
Over the past decade, he has watched Acland, on Queensland's fertile Darling Downs, gradually die around him. But he is determined to stay put, a symbol of Australians affected by the mining boom underpinning the country's economy.
Already the world's biggest coal exporter, Australia plans to double or even triple exports by 2020, with most production taking place in Queensland and New South Wales.
The National
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