newy.com.au – The NSW Government plans to legislate a higher production limit for Mount Pleasant coal mine until 2032, in an intervention it says will protect 400 Hunter jobs and require a legally binding commitment to maintain its permanent workforce.
Premier Chris Minns and Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos announced the plan on 19 October 2026, saying legislation would be introduced in the next sitting fortnight to address legal uncertainty following a High Court judgment on 7 October.
The government said mine owner MACH Energy had warned it would need to scale back production without legislative intervention, putting hundreds of jobs at risk and affecting businesses across the mine’s supply chain.
The proposed bill would authorise an increased annual production limit of 16.5 million tonnes until 2032. The government said that limit reflected the mine’s current workforce and production profile.
MACH Energy has agreed to maintain its current permanent workforce until 2032, according to the government. However, the provisions granting the mine statutory consent would not take effect until the company signed the jobs guarantee, making its staffing commitment legally binding.
The government put total employment at Mount Pleasant at 826 permanent workers and contractors. The guarantee described in the announcement applies to the current permanent workforce.
The intervention would not settle the mine’s longer term approval process. The government said MACH Energy had been scaling up operations in line with the Independent Planning Commission’s 2022 decision, which remains the subject of court proceedings. It expects the company to continue pursuing approval through that process to operate until 2048.
The bill would also impose additional conditions aimed at minimising Scope 3 emissions, which include emissions produced when customers burn the mine’s coal. The government said the conditions would align with the commission’s requirements for the Hunter Valley Operations mine and the NSW Coal Industry 2026-50 policy document.
Minns said the government remained committed to both emissions reductions and mining jobs.
“We have a responsibility to cut emissions and make sure there are good jobs in the years ahead, but we can’t turn our backs on the workers and families who rely on these jobs today.”
The planning and natural resources ministers will also prepare a technical appendix to the coal policy, providing guidance to industry and planning authorities on addressing Scope 3 emissions.
The government said the legislative intervention was specific to Mount Pleasant and would not be extended to other projects. Houssos credited the Mining and Energy Union and Muswellbrook Mayor Jeff Drayton for their advocacy.
