From New Hope to no hope: Labor hurts coal workers in mine standoff

Coal worker Harry Redmond feels his job is collateral damage in the standoff between mining company New Hope and the Queensland government.

New Hope Coal employees Robby Sharp, left, Brent Stewart, Harry Redmond and Dale Sharp at the Port of Brisbane on Tuesday. Picture: Glenn Hunt

The way coal worker Harry Redmond sees it, his job is collateral damage in the standoff between mining company New Hope and the Queensland government over the depleted and deeply contested Acland pit.

Mr Redmond is one of 23 New Hope staff from head office and the docks in Brisbane to be made redundant this week, adding to the 150 miners laid off as production winds down at the vast Darling Downs open-cut mine.

At a time like this, when people are losing jobs left, right and centre­ over COVID-19, it doesn’t make sense to Mr Redmond for him and his workmates to be shown the door. Not when Queensland’s highest court greenlit a $900m mine expansion that would have saved their jobs and hundreds more at risk.

“I can’t see the logic in it,” said Mr Redmond, 66, completing one of his last shifts at New Hope’s coal terminal at the Port of Brisbane.

“The coal is in the ground, ready to be mined, and we’re ready to go. It’s a kick in the guts … especially for the younger blokes.”

New Hope chief executive Shane Stephan sheeted the blame home to Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor government, warning that further jobs would go due to delay and uncertainty around the planned­ stage-three expansion of the mine near Oakey, 160km west of Brisbane.

The five jobs that went at the coal-loading terminal, including Mr Redmond’s, were culled from a workforce of 33 at the port.

New Hope has said that after 18 of 130 HQ positions are shed, the remaining staff will be given a 10 per cent pay cut and moved to a nine-day fortnight.

“We have delayed this move as long as possible,” Mr Stephan said. “However, the business ­cannot absorb the losses at New Acland indefinitely without ­putting the entire business at risk … without our approvals we have no certainty.

“I find it inconceivable that, with the current economic position­ of the state, this government is happy to see more jobs lost when we could be creating jobs for Queensland.”

An alliance of farmers and environmentali­sts has fought Acland stage three at every turn for the past 13 years: in the Queensland Land Court, Queensland Supreme Court and Queensland Court of Appeal.

The company argues that the mine is unviable without expansion because the existing ore body is nearly tapped out, with annual production falling from five million tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes.

New Hope believed it had cleared the final hurdle last September when a panel of judges led by Court of Appeal president Walter Sofronoff found the Land Court proceedings had been tainted by “extreme and irrational animus” towards the company by presiding member Paul Anthony Smith. Orders were issued that should have paved the way for the mine to be approved.

Instead, the Oakey Coal Action Alliance persuaded the High Court to hear another appeal that could take 18 months to finalise. If the mine’s opponents succeed, the case will be sent back to the Land Court and the process will start all over again.

Queensland Mines Minister Anthony Lynham said his hands were tied. “The government’s position on the New Acland coal mine expansion has been consistent since our commitment before the 2017 election: to accept the decision of the courts,” he said.

“We will await the outcome of the High Court processes before finalising the remaining approvals for this project.”

But Mr Stephan insisted there was ample precedent for the state to approve a coalmine while litigation was on foot — notably Ms Palaszczuk’s intervention last year to fast-track Adani’s Carmichael project after the prevarication by federal Labor helped drive down the party’s election vote in regional Queensland.

The High Court appeal had “absolutely no bearing” on the state government’s ability to green light Acland stage three, Mr Stephan said.

“Over the past two years, we have fought and won a series of legal battles against these objectors. Their latest appeal does not challenge findings on groundwater or any other environmental issue that is relevant to any decision made by the government.

“It is clear they want nothing more than to delay the final decisions on stage three with no regard whatsoever for the lives of the real locals.”

Rejecting this, Oakey Coal Action Alliance secretary Paul King said it was a “cruel hoax” on the workforce to suggest there was a future in coalmining.

While the job cuts at New Hope were serious, Mr King said, “their time is limited and what is required is a smooth transition to new industries”.

For Mr Redmond and his mates, the sad end to their careers can be measured in the number of trains arriving from Acland: only five a day, down from 18 when ­operations were in full swing.

The veteran logistics operator has worked at the port for 12 years, driving bulldozers and ship loaders in rain and shine, enjoying the work and the camaraderie. He used to vote Labor, but no more.

“I don’t agree with their policies,” he said. “They used to be for the working man and now they are not. It is not just our jobs that are on the line here … Queensland Rail is putting off train drivers, ­engineering contractors in Toowoomba relied on work from the mine and fuel companies in Brisbane are losing out.”