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25-10-2014, 07:52 AM
‘Broken system’ a risk to jobs: Rio coal boss
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 25, 2014 12:00AM
Sarah-Jane Tasker
Reporter
Sydney
Supplied Editorial drayton
The 500 staff at Drayton mine are set to lose their jobs. Source: Supplied
RIO Tinto’s Australian coal boss has hit out at the NSW planning system, saying it has reached a “state of crisis” and that urgent action is needed to protect jobs.
The state’s mining sector has rallied to raise concerns about a planning system it says is broken as the mining lobby warns that more than 8600 jobs in the Hunter Valley region are at risk.
Rio’s coal Australia managing director, Chris Salisbury, told The Weekend Australian that the company had been continually frustrated by delays in the NSW system and slipping timelines.
“If the system can’t provide certainty about the future of an existing mining operation that provides work for 1300 people and supports hundreds of local businesses, surely that shows there’s a serious problem,” he said.
The mining giant is caught up in the state’s planning process after an approval it had received to expand its Mount Thorley Warkworth coalmine in the Hunter Valley was overturned by the Land and Environment Court last year. It is now fighting to have an amended proposal approved but it has continually warned that the 1300 jobs at the mine are at risk if it can’t expand the operation.
“After more than five years in the planning system we still haven’t been able to secure the future of Mount Thorley Warkworth mine, which has been part of the Hunter Valley community for three decades,” Mr Salisbury said.
The state’s sector was shocked this week when the government-appointed planning assessment commission rejected a plan by Anglo American to expand its Drayton coalmine in the Hunter Valley.
The 500 people working at the mine are now set to lose their jobs as the mine will run out of coal by April-May next year.
The NSW Minerals Council yesterday released data showing that more than 4000 current mining jobs were at risk and more than 4500 potential new jobs may never arise because of a planning system that it says is failing to deliver for the people of NSW.
The industry body said that according to the ABS, there were 8800 more people unemployed in the Hunter now than when the current state government took office, adding that the Hunter Valley unemployment rate had risen from 5.8 per cent to 8.4 per cent.
Anglo’s chief executive of coal, Seamus French, this week said that the company did not accept the PAC process and did not believe that it protected the interests of local people or the state of NSW.
“If Drayton South does not go ahead there is no other employer positioned to fill this void and the impact on the local towns, local schools and long-battling local businesses will suffer as our people have no choice but to move away to pursue opportunities elsewhere,” he said.
On the Drayton decision, the PAC decided that the potential economic loss if the nearby horse studs — backed by multinational interests — chose to leave the area because of the mine expansion far outweighed the economic loss of the mine closing and 500 job losses.
The PAC was introduced by the former NSW Labor government in November 2008 as an independent advisory body to the planning minister. In September 2011, after the Coalition was elected, they delegated the power to make the determinations on major developments to the PAC.
NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said it was a concern that there was no accountability back to the government for the decision made by the PAC. “The government should be responsible for the decision that is made,” he said.
Mr Galilee also outlined that the government had failed to provide the PAC with the guidelines and policy parameters by which it should assess project applications.
“The PAC has had to make up policy that it believes is appropriate for particular projects,” he said. “That means uncertainty for proponents and inconsistency in outcomes.”
Mr Galilee said the lack of guidelines for the PAC had left it open to manipulation and he also argued that the public hearings around the process had become a “circus”.
He said there were examples of anti-coal activists doing musical performances to state their concerns at a PAC public hearing. He added that there was also one instance where someone used a puppet of the earth to make his point. “People with genuine issues have to compete with that sort of craziness,” Mr Galilee said.
“It is like a town-hall meeting ... it’s like a performance rather than a proper hearing of those for and against.”
THE AUSTRALIAN OCTOBER 25, 2014 12:00AM
Sarah-Jane Tasker
Reporter
Sydney
Supplied Editorial drayton
The 500 staff at Drayton mine are set to lose their jobs. Source: Supplied
RIO Tinto’s Australian coal boss has hit out at the NSW planning system, saying it has reached a “state of crisis” and that urgent action is needed to protect jobs.
The state’s mining sector has rallied to raise concerns about a planning system it says is broken as the mining lobby warns that more than 8600 jobs in the Hunter Valley region are at risk.
Rio’s coal Australia managing director, Chris Salisbury, told The Weekend Australian that the company had been continually frustrated by delays in the NSW system and slipping timelines.
“If the system can’t provide certainty about the future of an existing mining operation that provides work for 1300 people and supports hundreds of local businesses, surely that shows there’s a serious problem,” he said.
The mining giant is caught up in the state’s planning process after an approval it had received to expand its Mount Thorley Warkworth coalmine in the Hunter Valley was overturned by the Land and Environment Court last year. It is now fighting to have an amended proposal approved but it has continually warned that the 1300 jobs at the mine are at risk if it can’t expand the operation.
“After more than five years in the planning system we still haven’t been able to secure the future of Mount Thorley Warkworth mine, which has been part of the Hunter Valley community for three decades,” Mr Salisbury said.
The state’s sector was shocked this week when the government-appointed planning assessment commission rejected a plan by Anglo American to expand its Drayton coalmine in the Hunter Valley.
The 500 people working at the mine are now set to lose their jobs as the mine will run out of coal by April-May next year.
The NSW Minerals Council yesterday released data showing that more than 4000 current mining jobs were at risk and more than 4500 potential new jobs may never arise because of a planning system that it says is failing to deliver for the people of NSW.
The industry body said that according to the ABS, there were 8800 more people unemployed in the Hunter now than when the current state government took office, adding that the Hunter Valley unemployment rate had risen from 5.8 per cent to 8.4 per cent.
Anglo’s chief executive of coal, Seamus French, this week said that the company did not accept the PAC process and did not believe that it protected the interests of local people or the state of NSW.
“If Drayton South does not go ahead there is no other employer positioned to fill this void and the impact on the local towns, local schools and long-battling local businesses will suffer as our people have no choice but to move away to pursue opportunities elsewhere,” he said.
On the Drayton decision, the PAC decided that the potential economic loss if the nearby horse studs — backed by multinational interests — chose to leave the area because of the mine expansion far outweighed the economic loss of the mine closing and 500 job losses.
The PAC was introduced by the former NSW Labor government in November 2008 as an independent advisory body to the planning minister. In September 2011, after the Coalition was elected, they delegated the power to make the determinations on major developments to the PAC.
NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said it was a concern that there was no accountability back to the government for the decision made by the PAC. “The government should be responsible for the decision that is made,” he said.
Mr Galilee also outlined that the government had failed to provide the PAC with the guidelines and policy parameters by which it should assess project applications.
“The PAC has had to make up policy that it believes is appropriate for particular projects,” he said. “That means uncertainty for proponents and inconsistency in outcomes.”
Mr Galilee said the lack of guidelines for the PAC had left it open to manipulation and he also argued that the public hearings around the process had become a “circus”.
He said there were examples of anti-coal activists doing musical performances to state their concerns at a PAC public hearing. He added that there was also one instance where someone used a puppet of the earth to make his point. “People with genuine issues have to compete with that sort of craziness,” Mr Galilee said.
“It is like a town-hall meeting ... it’s like a performance rather than a proper hearing of those for and against.”