Today's High Court decision on the Mount Pleasant coal mine is a direct threat to the Hunter, to thousands of future mining jobs, and to Australia's standing as a reliable energy exporter.
The Albanese and Minns Labor Governments must act immediately to fix the law.
The ruling means local planning authorities must now consider the climate impacts of coal used in other countries before approving a mine in NSW.
A project extension the Independent Planning Commission approved in 2022, after years of assessment, has been sent back to square one. Many more projects in the NSW planning pipeline now face the same uncertainty.
This is absurd. Under the international rules Labor champions, emissions are counted where coal is used, not where it is mined.
Holding Hunter miners responsible for power stations in Japan, Korea and India is a recipe for endless legal challenges. This will reduce Australian jobs, not global emissions.
If Australian high-quality coal is not exported, our trading partners will not stop using coal.
They will buy it from other countries, often lower in quality and higher in emissions. The only result will be lost jobs, lost royalties for hospitals and schools, and lost investment for regional communities.
This is precisely why the Coalition has said it would claw back federal funding for the Environmental Defender's Office, and why we fought the Albanese Government's reckless environmental law changes, rushed through last year in a deal with the Greens.
Those laws force mining projects to make duplicative climate disclosures which risk opening new avenues for legal challenge.
Today's ruling shows exactly where that leads – more red tape, more lawfare, and more uncertainty for the industries that underpin our economy.
The decision turns on the wording of NSW planning law. That means it can be fixed and fixed quickly.
The Nationals call on the Minns Government to act immediately to introduce legislation amending the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. It must make clear that overseas emissions from Australia's exported resources are not a consideration in project approvals.
If the NSW state government won't act, the Albanese Labor Government should legislate to fix this issue and provide certainty to workers, business and our international energy partners.
Hunter workers cannot afford Labor's silence. Every day of delay is another day of uncertainty for the region's families, businesses and the investment our economy depends on.
