The New South Wales Government will introduce legislation to protect 400 jobs at MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant coal mine in the Hunter, after a local community group celebrated a historic High Court win against the mine’s expansion.
As part of the intervention, MACH Energy has agreed to a Jobs Guarantee with the NSW Government to maintain its current permanent workforce until 2032.
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“The NSW Government has been working closely with MACH Energy since the decision, with the company advising that without legislative intervention, it would need to scale back production, putting hundreds of jobs at risk and affecting businesses across the mine’s supply chain,” the state government said in a statement.
In a landmark judgment delivered earlier this month, the Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group (DAMS HEG) won the High Court case over the Mount Pleasant coal mine’s expansion.
The High Court upheld the unanimous NSW Court of Appeal ruling that the Independent Planning Commission had failed a mandatory legal obligation when it approved the expansion of MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant coal mine without considering how pollution from coal the mine exports would affect the region through increased bushfire risk, drought, flooding, and extreme heat.
DAMS HEG representatives say the NSW Government’s plan to legislate for higher production at that one mine looks like legislative overreach.
The group is now asking the government to publish the Bill and answer how much coal the mine has been producing, and under which approval.
DAMS HEG says workers’ livelihoods matter, and that protecting them should not depend on a special law for one company.
DAMS HEG president Wendy Wales, a retired science teacher who lives next door to the Mount Pleasant mine, said, “We have never wanted anyone in the Hunter to lose their livelihood. What was asked was whether our governments properly consider the cost of climate harm unleashed by the burning of export coal.
“The government’s own release says the mine has been scaling up on an approval the courts have set aside. A law written for one company, days after the High Court ruled against that company, is an inappropriate use of the NSW legislative process.
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“The laws should reflect a balance where the overall welfare of citizens and environment is paramount and industry serves the needs of all citizens.”
