Unions, industry welcome Collie coal’s lifeline as taxpayers foot the bill and the future remains unclear

Coal mining in Collie will continue to be propped up by WA taxpayers until at least 2031, after a new State agreement was locked in only six months after Roger Cook vowed to turn off the tap. Government payments to keep the foreign-owned coal mine operating reached $308 million last June. In Collie on Wednesday, the Premier confirmed a new five-year extension for Griffin Coal was needed to provide “certainty” to its customers, including the privately-run Bluewaters power station, and workers. “If we did not intervene, it would have meant we were switching the lights off in Western Australia. That’s not acceptable,” he said. The Government plans to close the nearby State-owned Muja power stations by 2030. Mr Cook insisted on Wednesday the extra funding for debt-stricken Griffin Coal was not a sign that deadline is in doubt. “We have a rock-solid commitment that we will retire the State-owned coal fired power stations by 2030.” Mr Cook said. “What this provides is certainty to the customers of Bluewaters. It provides certainty to the owners of Griffin coal. It provides certainty to the workers of Collie.” But Mr Cook told Parliament last year the mine’s private owner and its customers should cop the mounting bill, not taxpayers. “This funding support will cease in June 2026,” he said on May 27. The Opposition seized on the backflip and said it was a result of mismanagement. “The Government either didn’t understand its energy transition or deliberately misled the people,” Shadow Energy Minister Steve Thomas said. “Industry understood, and Collie understood that they were not going to get out of coal on the time frame they currently put forth. “The government likes to kick the can down the road. It’s just been a very long kick this time. He’s given himself up to five years to sort out a solution. The problem is that, if it’s just more subsidy for the next five years, you get to the end and you still have a foreign owned, insolvent company. “The government will have to pick up (rehabilitation) on top of its current costs.” The Premier insisted the cost of the new bail-out deal will be “significantly” less than the $308m spent since 2022, but couldn’t say by how much. “I will reveal all those costs in Parliament once the agreements have been finalised,” Mr Cook said. Unions said the decision was inevitable and overdue, but welcomed the announcement of a new Collie Basin Consolidation Taskforce that will aim to merge Griffin and Premier Coal to improve efficiency. “We’ve seen the financial instability, the safety risks and the uncertainty for families in Collie,” Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union state secretary Steve McCartney said. “A consolidated approach should have been on the table much earlier.” But he said taxpayers and workers should not be responsible for the “bad bets” of foreign investors. Mining and Energy Union WA district secretary Greg Busson said locals were relieved, for now, but still facing an uncertain future after 2030. “Some of the close dates are a bit ambitious, but I’m buoyed by the fact that the Government are continually monitoring and reacting to that,” he said. There’s concern tourism won’t fill the jobs gap while green steel and magnesium industries, still in their infancy, ramp up. “There’s plenty of proposals in front of us, some are pretty close,” Mr Busson said. “It’s a hive of activity (today) and there’ll be just about a million caravans going out to Lake Kepwari, mountain bikes and stuff like that. But that’s the low hanging fruit. That’s the seasonal jobs. It’s not entry level jobs. It’s not sustainable for community.” Local Labor MP Jodie Hanns has a personal stake in the town’s transition. Her husband works at the state-owned Muja power station. She’s vowed to ask for a top-up if the current $547 million support package isn’t enough. “I will be knocking on the Premier’s door,” Ms Hanns said. “Five years gives the certainty that everybody needs, things change very quickly in the energy system . . . the batteries have only just fired up in the last two to three years.” The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned WA’s South West grid faces an electricity generation shortfall of almost 2 gigawatts by 2033, with the Government pinning its hopes on renewables to catch-up. Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson insisted the looming deadline for coal is still realistic but conceded it would be “challenging”. “Not every project will succeed. (There’s) $50 billion worth of projects across the pipeline,” she said. “In one local government alone, I think Narrogin has billions of dollars worth of projects. “So there is significant potential investment, even if half of that is realised, we will meet demand.” She agreed community and industry support was key to delivering the State’s energy transition. “Large-scale wind is really critical to to the energy transition,” Ms Sanderson said. “There are a number of inter-dependencies and challenges around wind. I don’t think community opposition is one of them. I think community education is actually something that we can do better.” Greens MP Brad Pettit said the pace has been far too slow and taxpayers are paying the price. “This must be a wake-up call for the Cook Government to set a serious 2030 renewable energy target,” he said. “Throwing good money after bad outcomes will only further slow down the pathway to achieving net zero; the sooner all coal, not just state-owned coal, closes in WA, the better.” The Conservation Council of WA accused Labor of “kicking the energy transition can” further down the road. But Griffin Coal’s receivers called it a “welcomed outcome” to underpin the mine’s operation. And industry leaders warned that reliability and affordability must not be sacrificed in the rush to renewables. “Key resources operations rely on coal as a reductant or heat source in their production processes,” Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Aaron Morey said. “Industry supports the pursuit of net zero by 2050 but the pathway is not linear. It will require adjustments along the way to ensure the viability of our existing operators and to safeguard high-paying jobs in our regions.”