STATE and federal governments are “letting the Hunter down” by failing to admit that “coal is over”, the Greens say.
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On Friday, Greens leader Richard Di Natale was in Newcastle to call for the phase-out of all coalmining in the next decade.
The party plans to introduce a bill to NSW parliament that would limit mining of the coal used in power stations to 1 billion tonnes – or half the projected output for the coming decade.
Companies would be allowed to bid for mining rights, which the Greens say would raise $7 billion to be used to support communities transition from coal.
In the 2015-16 financial year, the Hunter accounted for about 65 per cent of the 247 million tonnes of raw coal produced in NSW, and the industry dominates the Port of Newcastle's $18.7 billion trade, accounting for 96 per cent of tonnage.
The industry accounts for about 13,000 jobs in the Hunter, with Singleton and Muswellbrook particularly dependent on the industry for employment.
However more than one in five NSW coalmining jobs have gone since employment peaked four years ago
But Jeremy Buckingham, the Greens mining spokesman, said it was not “coal or nothing” for the Hunter.
“Coal will end in Newcastle, it’s about whether we have a plan,” Mr Buckingham said.
“It is a scientific fact that we cannot continue to burn coal and protect the climate.
“We can have a planned transition, or we can have a chaotic collapse in a decade or so which will leave communities like Singleton and Muswellbrook in the lurch.”
But the NSW government and the Minerals Council said the plan would “devastate” the Hunter.
NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin said the policy would “have a devastating impact on jobs in the Hunter, not to mention the threat to the state’s economy”.
Senator Di Natale said the Liberal Party was letting the Hunter Region down.
“They’re letting this community down because they’re saying we know that this industry has no long-term future but we have no plan for what comes next,” he said.
The Greens would cap thermal coal production at 180 million tonnes in the first year of the phase-out, reducing to 20 million in the final year before ceasing entirely.
NSW Treasury currently forecasts 9.2 billion tonnes of coal would be mined by 2056.
