Family First National Director Lyle Shelton has backed the NSW Minerals Council's call to axe the Net Zero Commission, warning the revelations prove Labor and Liberal are on a unity ticket putting Net Zero ideology ahead of families and costing NSW a fortune in higher energy bills.
The Daily Telegraph revealed Net Zero Commission chairman Nicholas Rowley privately warned the Independent Planning Commission that extending Yancoal/Glencore's Hunter Valley Operations mine to 2045 would be inconsistent with the state's legislated climate targets, sparking fury from an industry that says the mine supports 1500 direct jobs and up to 18,000 across the region.
"This is exactly what happens when politicians of every stripe chase a Net Zero target instead of putting families first," Mr Shelton said. "Whether it's Chris Minns' Labor Government funding a $5 million taxpayer-backed activist unit to sabotage coal mines, or the Liberals who signed NSW up to these reckless targets in the first place, families are paying the price for a Labor-Liberal unity ticket on Net Zero ideology."
NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee branded the Commission "a $5 million taxpayer-funded anti-mining activist group masquerading as a government agency", warning 25,000 coal mining jobs and billions of dollars would be lost if its advice were followed, with at least 8000 jobs at risk in the next five years alone.
Coal Australia chief executive Stuart Bocking echoed the call to abolish the Commission, and Muswellbrook Mayor Jeff Drayton has urged the public to back the mine and its workers, warning up to 18,000 regional jobs are at risk by 2030 as Hunter Valley Operations, the Ashton mine, BHP's Mount Arthur and Glencore's Mangoola mine all face closure within years.
"Families are sick of paying more for less because Labor and Liberal are both wedded to the same Net Zero ideology," Mr Shelton said. "Family First is the only party with the guts to say it: scrap Net Zero, dump the Paris Agreement, keep our coal-fired power stations open, unlock our gas reserves and green-light nuclear power. That is how we put families first — with cheaper, reliable energy and secure jobs, not activist commissions attacking the industries regional communities depend on. If elected, Family First will abolish the Net Zero Commission and fight for an energy policy that puts NSW families ahead of ideology."
