The Minns government has announced it will bypass the independent planning process and legislate an increase in coal production at MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant mine, following the landmark High Court decision that found the mine’s expansion approval was invalid because the climate pollution from exported coal had not been properly considered.
Former public interest environmental solicitor and Greens Spokesperson for Climate Change and Planning, Sue Higginson MLC, says the government has capitulated to the company and will allow extraction up to 16.5 million tonnes of coal annually until 2032, four million tonnes more than its existing approval, after MACH Energy threatened that hundreds of workers could lose their jobs before Christmas without government intervention.
‘This is an incredible new low for the Minns Labor government, bypassing the planning process and the law as laid down by the High Court of Australia,’ said Ms Higginson.
‘One thing is clear, under Labor the coal mining giants are writing the laws, and they are laws that will cause significant unassessed climate pollution and hurt communities.
‘This community has been working tirelessly to uphold the law and hold this mining giant accountable. Mach Energy have been acting outside the law and mining more coal than they were allowed under their current approval for sometime, and rather than require the corporation to operate under the law, the premier has capitulated to their threats and taken the side of the billionaire coal company over the community.’
Dangerous precedent
‘Minns’ new law is explicitly to allow more coal to be mined and exported, contrary to the High Court’s decision,’ Sue Higginson continued
‘This is significant over reach by Premier Minns and NSW Labor, writing special laws to protect specific projects sets a dangerous precedent, nobody and no coal company should be above the law of the land and receive such special treatment. It threatens our democracy.
‘The multi-national mining corporations, that are now threatening to sack workers before Christmas if they don’t get their way, are the same billionaire corporations that have failed to plan for the transition to net-zero and that have made record profits off the back of the climate crisis.
‘The NSW government does have a responsibility to look after the people of NSW, and that should mean looking after workers that are left behind by climate polluting corporations that were only ever interested in their own profits.
‘But, you don’t do this by selling out to the mining giant that is holding the gun,’ Ms Higginson said.
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