Tony Windsor, the maverick rural MP who helped Labor keep office during the last parliament, says he is considering running again for the seat of New England after the Abbott government gave its approval for a huge open-cut coal mine on the Liverpool Plains.

The government on Wednesday gave approval for the $1.2 billion Shenhua Watermark coal mine, which is to be built by China's state-owned Shenhua Group about 25 kilometres south-east of the northern NSW town of Gunnedah.

Former MP Tony Windsor may run again for his old seat. Credit:Andrew Meares

Mr Windsor told Fairfax Media that, while "I haven't ruled it out, haven't ruled it in, it's a possibility" that he will take on the sitting member, Agricultural Minister Barnably Joyce, at the next election.