newy.com.au – The NSW Government says it will introduce legislation aimed at protecting up to 400 jobs at MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant coal mine while a court process over its planning consent continues.
The proposed Mount Pleasant Mine Bill 2026 follows a High Court judgment concerning the mine’s 2022 Independent Planning Commission consent. The Government says the planning application has been returned to the Land and Environment Court and workers risk being stood down while that process continues.
If passed, the bill would allow production of up to 16.5 million tonnes of coal a year until 2032 or until a new consent is granted. Ministers say the proposal would allow the mine to maintain its current production and staffing levels.
MACH Energy would have to sign a Jobs Guarantee Agreement covering all permanent workers at the mine, including those facing an immediate risk to their jobs. The planning consent authorised by the bill would not take effect until that agreement was signed.
The company would have to report permanent workforce numbers quarterly and would face fines for any reductions made without ministerial approval. The Minister for Natural Resources would also have a last resort power to order mining operations to stop if the company breached the guarantee.
“Families across the Hunter have worked in our coal mines for generations. They don’t need uncertainty hanging over their heads at Christmas – they need to know their jobs are safe, and this Bill delivers that,” Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley said.
Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos said the mine had been approved under the previous government’s framework.
“While MACH Energy works through the court process, we need to make sure the mine’s workers – to put it simply – keep their jobs.”
The Hunter accounts for about 15,000 of NSW’s roughly 25,000 direct coal mining jobs, according to the Government. It attributes $16.4 billion in state economic output and more than $1 billion in royalties in 2025 to the region’s 19 coal mines.
The bill would also impose emissions conditions on the consent, including limiting coal exports to countries whose emissions reduction policies align with the Paris Agreement. The Government says these would be consistent with conditions attached to the Independent Planning Commission’s recent approval for Hunter Valley Operations.
The Government released its NSW Coal Industry 2026-50 policy earlier this year, setting out its approach to extensions and expansions of existing mines and emissions reductions.
The planning and natural resources ministers are developing an appendix to that policy for authorities deciding future coal mine applications. The Government says the aim is to carry the same emissions approach into those decisions.
