The Australian state of New South Wales plans a bill allowing Mount Pleasant to produce up to 16.5 million tonnes of coal a year through 2032, with consent tied to a jobs guarantee.
Premier Chris Minns announced the plan Oct. 19. On Oct. 7, the High Court of Australia dismissed MACH Energy’s appeal over a 22-year expansion approved in 2022 by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC), leaving in place the invalidation of that consent. The expansion would have extended operations to 2048.
Scope 3 emissions accounted for 98% of the expansion’s projected greenhouse gas emissions, the court said. Its judgment says the IPC had not considered whether to impose conditions to minimize those emissions as far as practicable.
The NSW Planning Portal lists a separate approval for up to 12.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal annually through Dec. 31, 2032. Compared with that limit, the proposed 16.5-million-tonne cap is 4 million tonnes higher, or 32%—a calculation from the two figures.
The government says MACH Energy advised it that production would have to be scaled back without legislation, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. The government says the company has agreed to a Jobs Guarantee requiring it to maintain its current permanent workforce through 2032; the proposed consent would take effect only after the guarantee is signed. The government describes 400 jobs as at risk and says the mine employs 826 permanent workers and contractors. It has not said whether contractors would be covered by the guarantee.
The Guardian reported that Georgina Woods of Lock the Gate Alliance disputed the jobs warning and pointed to the mine’s existing approval through 2032. Sue Higginson, the NSW Greens spokesperson for climate change and planning, said the proposal was “bypassing the planning process and the law as laid down by the High Court of Australia.”
The government says the bill would apply only to Mount Pleasant and add Scope 3 emissions conditions modeled on those for Hunter Valley Operations. The bill text and specific conditions have not been released.
The government plans to introduce the bill in the next sitting fortnight but has not announced a specific date.
