Alan Jones takes aim at Tony Abbott in 30-minute spray about Shenhua mine

It can't be fun to be on the receiving end of a blast from Alan Jones.

But that's the position Prime Minister Tony Abbott found himself in on Wednesday, when the broadcaster told his listeners on radio station 2GB that the Abbott government's approval of the Shenhua Watermark coal mine was "disgraceful", "beyond belief", and tantamount to selling their soul to mining. 

Beginning an almost 30-minute reprimand of the mine, on the Liverpool Plains in north-western NSW, Jones said he had been deluged with emails after "what can only be described as a disgraceful, but not final, decision by the Abbott government and the Environment Minister [Greg] Hunt".

"The NSW government have the final say on all of this," he said on The Alan Jones Breakfast Show.

"Quite frankly, Tony Abbott and [NSW Premier] Michael Baird are going to have to understand that governments rise and fall, sometimes, on a single issue. And the single issue, about selling this country out to foreign interests, no matter whose interests they are, is now emerging as a massive issue in this country." 

He said other open-cut projects in the Hunter Valley looked like a "crater of the moon", and an "industrial wasteland" will be left behind behind when the mine – a "desecration" – closes.

"This matter may go to court, but I'll tell you what, all hell has broken loose," Jones said.

"This is a people revolution and this is not going to be pretty. There has never been rage in Australia like we are seeing on this issue.

"This isn't over. It hasn't even begun. And, frankly, any government that doesn't see the stupidity of this doesn't deserve to be in government."

Abbott didn't appear on Jones' program, but he did speak shortly afterwards to Jones' fellow 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley during which he said he was satisfied the mine had passed all required tests.

"Now, I can fully understand people being absolutely passionate to protect the Liverpool Plains. I've been on the Liverpool Plains, they're some of the best farming area in this country," he said.

"Mining and agriculture have coexisted for 100-odd years in this country, they can and should continue to coexist in the future.

"As all the science tells us, it's not going to have an impact on the water table. And frankly, if it's not going to damage the farming areas, if it is going to bring billions of dollars worth of economic activity and hundreds of ongoing jobs, I think we should say 'let's go with it'."

During an interview with Jones in June, Abbott slammed wind farms, saying they were "visually awful, they make a lot of noise".

2GB is owned by Fairfax Media, the publisher of this website.