NSW introduces mine jobs legislation after High Court setback

The NSW government has introduced legislation aimed at protecting about 400 jobs at the Mount Pleasant coal mine in the Hunter Valley after a High Court decision stalled expansion plans. Climate campaigners have criticised the intervention as undermining the effect of the ruling.

Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos said the government would allow the legal process to continue but did not want workers, their families and nearby communities left in uncertainty. MACH Energy is returning to court as it seeks to extend the open-cut mine's operations by more than two decades.

Residents involved in the legal challenge said the government's approach placed coal expansion ahead of community health and wellbeing. In the High Court judgment, Justice James Edelman cited estimates putting the proposed project among the world's 650 largest greenhouse-gas-emitting projects.

The legislation's introduction is a step in parliament, not proof that every approval for the expansion has been secured. The dispute continues to pit employment and export income against concerns over emissions and the role of court scrutiny in major development decisions.