By Mike Foley
Three massive coal mine expansions will go ahead after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved the projects as she fends off demands from the Greens to insert tougher rules for fossil fuel projects into her stalled bid to establish a national Environment Protection Agency.
Plibersek announced this week that she had given the green light to the NSW coal mine expansions, two in the Hunter Valley and one at Narrabri in the state’s north-west. All three mines produce thermal coal, which is burnt in power stations to generate energy.
The Mount Pleasant mine, which will be extended, looms above a property in the Hunter Valley.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Her approvals extend the life of the Mount Pleasant mine to 2046, the Ashton mine to 2032 and the Narrabri mine from 2031 to 2044.
The mine owners said the projects would create more than 1000 jobs, while environmentalists slammed the decision, saying it would add to fossil fuel pollution driving the world to dangerous levels of global warming.
Plibersek said there were no legal grounds to block the projects, which would be subject to the government’s safeguard mechanism law that requires large industrial projects to offset their emissions to keep Australia’s climate targets on track.
“The Albanese government has to make decisions in accordance with the facts and the national environment law – that’s what happens on every project, and that’s what’s happened here,” Plibersek said.
The Albanese government won the 2022 election pledging more ambitious climate action than the Coalition, including a target to cut national emissions by 43 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Gavan McFadzean said the government “continues to disappoint” on its promises.
“This decision is the opposite of climate action,” McFadzean said. “Together, these coal mines will generate more than 1.3 billion tonnes of lifetime emissions.”
However, the Minerals Council of Australia said activists had made multiple legal challenges to these projects, which ultimately failed, and delayed important economic activity. The council called for reforms to simplify the approvals process and speed up decision-making.
“Today’s decision highlights the need for balanced, fact-based environmental and economic considerations,” chief executive Tania Constable said.
Plibersek has brought forward draft laws for an Environment Protection Agency, which would have powers to approve or block development applications and enforce compliance with relevant laws. The bill is stalled in the Senate, with the government unable to cut a deal for an EPA with either the Greens or the Coalition.
While the opposition appears unwilling to back an EPA, the Greens have said they would negotiate if the government commits to a climate trigger, which is a rule that could block fossil fuel projects if they are forecast to emit too much carbon.
However, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this month that “I don’t support adding a trigger to that legislation”, and the reform remains in limbo.
Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said on Wednesday that a climate trigger was needed to prevent further coal mine developments.
“The government must rule out approving any new mines until Australia’s environment laws are fixed,” Hanson-Young said.
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