When an open-cut coal mine was established near Acland in 2002, company executives promised a new era of prosperity for the small Queensland town. "They said there would be jobs, jobs, jobs, and Acland would boom," recalls Glen Beutel, a resident.
Ten years on, the company, New Hope, is producing four million tonnes of coal annually, but Acland is almost deserted. As the mine has crept ever closer, locals have moved out. Only Beutel has resisted the company's offers to sell up, and - apart from a family who rent a house from him - he is the sole remaining inhabitant of the once thriving town on the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane.
The fertile downs are one of Australia's most productive food bowls, but beneath the soil lies a rich seam of black coal. As Australia - already the world's biggest coal exporter - seeks to triple production by 2020, the area has become a flashpoint for conflict, pitting mining companies against farmers and rural communities.
NZ Herald
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