When Amber Betteridge moved her family to Queensland’s Gemfields to hunt for sapphires, she never imagined she’d become locked in a “David versus Goliath” fight against the Queensland government.
Soon after she arrived, the state government put forward a proposal to limit small-scale mining claim tenures to 15 years to crack down on people living on claims without mining them. It was a nightmare for Ms Betteridge, who wanted certainty for her young family.