NSW plans law to raise Mount Pleasant coal output

The story in brief

What you need to know

• The government says the bill would set an annual production limit of 16.5 million tonnes until 2032. It would not take effect unless MACH Energy signs a guarantee to maintain its current permanent workforce. The bill text is not yet available.23
• The government says 400 jobs are at risk without intervention. Its release also reports that 826 permanent workers and contractors are employed at the mine. The sources reviewed do not explain how the 400 figure relates to that wider workforce total.24
• The High Court dismissed MACH Energy’s appeal on 7 October 2026. The case concerned a 2022 approval for an expansion and extension of the mine’s life to 2048. The Court’s case summary records that Scope 3 emissions accounted for 98 per cent of the project’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and that no conditions to minimise them had been imposed.14
• The government says the new law would include conditions to minimise Scope 3 emissions. Environmental advocates and the lawyer for the community group involved in the case have criticised the proposal as legislative overreach.234
• The government presents the measure as a targeted, one-off response to protect jobs. Lock the Gate Alliance disputes the claim of an immediate jobs threat, arguing that a separate approval already allows the mine to operate until 2032. The sources reviewed do not independently establish how many jobs would otherwise be lost.23

Conservation context

Why this matters

The proposal links employment claims and coal production with questions about emissions and the role of legislation after a court ruling. Its final terms will determine how the promised emissions conditions are set out, while the competing claims about jobs remain unresolved in the reporting.123

The developing story

What happens next

The government says it plans to introduce the bill in the next sitting fortnight. Until its text is available, the proposed law’s legal effect, the detail of its emissions conditions and the scope of the jobs guarantee cannot be assessed from the sources reviewed.234

Established evidence

What we know

• The government announced the proposed bill on 19 October 2026; it has not been introduced or passed.24
• The stated production limit is up to 16.5 million tonnes a year until 2032, conditional on a jobs guarantee.23
• The High Court dismissed MACH Energy’s appeal over the 2022 expansion approval on 7 October 2026.14
• The government says the bill would impose conditions to minimise Scope 3 emissions, but the detailed conditions have not been published in the sources reviewed.234

Open questions

What we don't know

• The bill’s precise scope, duration and legal effect, including how it would relate to the existing approval and the court ruling, are not clear from the reporting.34
• The proposed Scope 3 conditions, and how their effectiveness would be assessed, have not been set out in the sources reviewed.234
• It is not clear how many jobs the guarantee would cover or how the government’s figure of 400 jobs at risk relates to its reported total of 826 permanent workers and contractors.24
• The sources reviewed do not establish the number of jobs that would otherwise be lost, or resolve the disagreement over whether there is an immediate jobs threat.23

Source coverage

Read the reporting