Hunter Jobs Alliance

07/09/2026

You can't claim to protect workers and dismiss the legislation that enforces it.

The latest comment by Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) exposes exactly that. In a response to the Planning Commission, HVO argues the Future Jobs and Investment Bill shouldn't be given "significant weight" because there's "no certainty" it'll ever pass.

More than 20 years ago, HVO was required to develop a mine exit strategy to protect workers and minimise the socioeconomic impacts on the Singleton and Muswellbrook communities. The strategy disappeared, and HVO then sought to remove the requirement. They now use the very socioeconomic impacts they failed to plan for as an argument for extending the mine.

Mining companies must be legally required to plan early, fund and facilitate worker transition, and be held accountable.

19/08/2026

Trying to make sense of the Tomago aluminium smelter deal?

Here's an informed perspective from Roy Green: https://tinyurl.com/tomago-aluminium-deal

The deal to save the Tomago aluminium smelter is no ordinary bail-out. It’s the result of more than year’s negotiations with a return to the taxpayer, the workforce, the shareholders and the planet.

17/08/2026

Mining companies aren't required to plan or pay for the impacts on workers and supply-chain businesses when a mine closes.

Dartbrook closed without comprehensive workforce transition arrangements. Ashton is proceeding through a staged closure, while Mangoola has no comprehensive workforce transition plan ahead of its 2030 closure.

Justin Page, HJA Coordinator, wrote in the Newcastle Herald last week, calling for enforceable obligations so coal companies must plan early, contribute financially, and be held accountable for supporting workers through closure.

12/08/2026

FUTURE OF TOMAGO SECURED

The Commonwealth and NSW Governments have struck a $2.5 billion deal with Rio Tinto to keep Tomago Aluminium running beyond 2028, protecting 1,000 direct smelter jobs and thousands more across the region.

Tomago has committed to invest at least $1.1 billion back into the site, including a demand-response program that could make it a world leader in grid flexibility. The deal also underpins close to 3GW of new renewable generation and firming capacity, decarbonising more than 10% of the NSW grid in the process.

This is backing an industrial future for the Hunter, with investment in jobs and decarbonisation that will sustain our region. It's the standard we'll keep pushing for the Hunter.

07/08/2026

The NSW Future Jobs and Investment Bill would force mining companies to give three years' notice before closing a mine, and to prepare a transition plan for workers facing redundancy.

Companies won't do this voluntarily — Hunter Valley Operations had its own mine exit strategy removed before it's 18-month extension.

Hunter Jobs Alliance is part of a coalition of Hunter groups that's written to the NSW Government urging it to pass this bill without further delay.

03/08/2026

The Future Jobs and Investment Bill is still stalled in the NSW Parliament.

The bill would establish a Future Jobs and Investment Authority to coordinate long-term workforce transition and regional investment, and require mining companies to prepare workforce transition plans.

Last week’s news that Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) had its mine exit strategy removed before its 18-month extension, alongside the recent unexpected Ashton coal closure announcement, highlights why transition planning can’t wait. Workforce planning must be embedded in legislation years before mine closures.

Urgently passing the Future Jobs and Investment Bill is an important step towards putting those obligations in place.

31/07/2026

The approval of the Hunter Transmission Project is critical in strengthening the state’s electricity network and an important milestone in the NSW's transition. Once completed, it will help close a critical gap left by the retirement of ageing coal-fired power stations and the development of NSW’s five Renewable Energy Zones.

The project is expected to support around 830 construction jobs, including more than 160 jobs in the Hunter, while supporting around 1,500 direct and indirect jobs across NSW. It will also create opportunities for local manufacturers and suppliers in the delivery of this major infrastructure project.

Hunter Jobs Alliance has joined the Nature Conservation Council NSW and other organisations in supporting the project’s approval, while recognising the importance of strengthening the region’s nature reserve network. We support an approach that delivers the infrastructure needed to secure NSW’s energy future while protecting and enhancing the environment.

22/07/2026

Evidence presented at the Independent Planning Commission hearing into the proposed extension of Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) has revealed that a requirement for the mine to have a mine exit strategy to manage the social and economic impacts of closure was removed.

When an 18-month extension of HVO was approved in April 2025, the mine exit strategy condition was quietly deleted. It appears that HVO and the NSW Planning Department worked together to remove this key condition just when it was needed most, less than two years before mining was due to cease.

With the Federal transition authority (NZEA) excluding export coal mines from support and the NSW transition bill (FJIA) still stalled in parliament, coal companies are still not legally required to plan for, or financially contribute to, managing the social and economic impacts of mine closures.

Hunter Jobs Alliance has been warning for years that whilst governments are talking about transition, they have failed to put institutions and policies in place to protect coal workers and coal communities.

The Hunter Valley Operations project is no longer required to have a mine exit strategy.

14/07/2026

The Independent Planning Commission is considering the proposed Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) mine extension, with public hearings taking place at Branxton Community Hall this week. The case highlights a fundamental gap in worker support: the Net Zero Economy Authority's Energy Industry Jobs Plan (EIJP) excludes export coal workers, including the 1,500 workers across HVO North and South.

Despite 90% of Hunter coal being exported, the EIJP is currently focused on power stations and the mines that directly supply them, leaving the majority of Hunter coal workers without transition support. Hunter Jobs Alliance Community Organiser Sam Wilkins said, "If the government is serious about a fair transition, the EIJP has to step up and support these workers."

Mayor predicts "interesting couple of days" in hot debate.

14/07/2026

The first significant post-mining land transformation plans at the Mt Arthur Coal Mine site and Macquarie Coal Complex have been revealed today.

The plans identify the potential to create more than 7,000 jobs by repurposing these sites into industrial precincts supporting advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, warehousing and logistics, while capitalising on the Hunter's existing rail, road, power and water infrastructure and skilled workforce.

950 hectares of BHPs Mt Arthur have been identified for early activation, tipped to create about 5900 new jobs. Bringing these sites into strategic planning early creates opportunities to attract investment, support new industries and ensure employment opportunities continue as mining operations transition.

Two Hunter coal sites set for major industrial transformation.