New South Wales Coal Mining Boom

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Coal is Australia’s second largest export and is the primary source of Australia’s energy; however recent coal commitments in NSW have brought to light the continued debate on the true effects of coal on community and the average Australian’s pocket.

Despite the increasing price of coal, New South Wales has reported increases in productivity and export volume. Currently NSW is home to sixty coal mines and thirty development projects with the government owned Cobbora Mine (predicted to open in 2015), expected to produce up to 9.5 million tons of coal annually and BHP’s Illawara site predicted to be bumped up by its new addition, the Appin Area 9 project, to 9 million tons annually.

There is some concern in areas around these coal sites, that the costs will be felt by those that are not involved in the mining industry, as the mine sites themselves are given government subsidies, like wholesale energy. In fact, latest figures released show electricity prices in NSW have increased by 18% on average while high energy users like mine sites have reportedly not seen prices rise for 12 years.

With the federal government pouring money into infrastructure around coal mining, committing to the $855million rail upgrade for the Hunter Valley Corridor – state taxpayers are not only forking out for subsidies around the production of coal to produce their electricity, they are also paying increased electrical costs. On top of this, there are environmental issues to consider, The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE, 2009) has estimated the total healthcare bill in Australia from coal-fired power station pollution to be $2.6 billion a year.

Recent community objection to coal mining in NSW came from The Mudgee District Environment Group which recently held a meeting in which the majority of residents in attendance questioned the justification of the long term cost to taxpayers by going ahead with the Cobbora Mine. In addition, it was raised that Cobbora Holding Company’s coal contracts with three energy companies could pose problems with rail with lines already nearing capacity. Further objection came from Greens MP John Kaye who said there is little justification for the project and that more effort should be put into renewable energy.

With Prime Minister Julia Gillard commented recently in Ipswich, that despite the target of 20% renewable energy by 2020 "we are going to be reliant on fossil fuels for a long, long period of time." And figures suggesting that a push towards renewable energy and power generation would actually push power prices higher than the carbon tax – it does not look like there will be a move away from the lucrative coal industry any time soon.