I am the general manager of the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coal mine, a Singleton resident and a father. I want my community to continue to prosper, not be left behind, while we transition to a lower-carbon future. There has been media coverage of HVO's proposal to continue mining. Here are the facts.
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Our research and the International Energy Agency's most recent World Energy Outlook shows there is strong demand for our high-quality coal to 2050 from some of Australia's key trading and security partners to help them to meet the power needs of their people.
We are proposing to continue mining with no increase to currently approved annual production volumes. Because we will largely re-mine previously disturbed areas, our mine's continuation is a more efficient and less impactful proposal to supply this coal than a new or expanded mine.
The local and broader benefits of our proposal are massive. The net economic benefit to NSW is $7.8 billion (net present value terms). It will support 1500 ongoing local jobs and continue support for businesses, the economy and the local community.
In 2023, HVO's direct economic contribution to NSW was $2 billion. This includes payments to local workers and 780 businesses, many of them local. Our taxes, royalties and other payments to local and state government help to provide schools, hospitals and roads. These payments can also help fund the region's energy transition.
HVO and its workforce support local charities, community groups and events. Our apprentices, trainees and cadets gain skills and qualifications without leaving the region. HVO's current approval to operate expires in 12 months. If we stop mining, this significant economic and social anchor will disappear at the same time as other mines are ceasing operations.
There is significant support for our proposal from local businesses and residents. Of the 1060 submissions made on our proposal's environmental impact statement, 91 per cent of these were positive and 97 per cent from the Hunter region were positive.
Many locals are frustrated that anti-mining activists from outside the region make no effort to speak with them to understand how much worse off our community will be without mining in the short term. They disrupt and risk local people's lives and then go home. That doesn't help create a workable plan to get to net zero and feed our kids.
Over the past six years we have worked with experts, government agencies, and community members to refine our proposal to minimise and manage impacts.
Our proposal commits to continually seeking further site emissions reductions including regular reviews of new technologies such as lower emission equipment and a gas pre-drainage trial.
HVO and its joint venture owners, Yancoal and Glencore, support the transition to net zero. Assessing net emissions rather than gross emissions is the most responsible way to analyse the impact on achieving net zero targets. Opponents of our proposal quote gross emissions. They ignore the fact that 97 per cent of those emissions will be generated in other countries as they use HVO's coal. Those countries account for those emissions under their reduction plans and the Paris Agreement.
Claims that other industries will have to further reduce emissions because of our proposal makes no sense as HVO must comply with the national Safeguard Mechanism (SGM). This forces HVO and other large industrial operations to meet a continually declining emissions baseline to achieve net zero by 2050. We must eliminate or pay for approved offset measures for emissions above our baseline.
The NSW government's new net zero targets have more ambitious interim targets than the national ones. HVO has proposed that regulators apply the NSW targets to its SGM baseline. This makes us responsible for eliminating or offsetting more emissions.
Our transition doesn't have to be a choice between coal and renewables. With ongoing demand for coal and other mines closing, HVO's proposal is a sensible way to provide an economic platform to support our region's transition to net zero.
