Calls are growing to merge Western Australia’s two remaining coal miners in a bid to limit the ongoing damage from job losses and cutbacks.
Premier Coal yesterday announced the loss of between 70 and 100 jobs at its mine site near Collie, 170 kilometres south of Perth, citing slowing demand for coal-fired power.
WA’s two remaining coal-fired power stations, the privately owned Bluewaters and state-owned Muja, sit on opposite sides of the mining town, with Premier and Griffin Coal their chief suppliers.
But the growth of home solar and battery storage, and the WA government’s 2030 deadline to retire the state’s coal-fired power infrastructure, has significantly reduced demand for coal, and the miners, both foreign-owned, are reliant on state support to continue operations.
Too much or not enough?
The government now faces a situation where it is subsidising Griffin to keep mining coal, while Premier lays off staff because it has too much to viably sell.
Premier Coal operates one of WA’s two remaining coal mines. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
The latest job losses have led to renewed questions around whether both coal miners should be merged into a single operation.
Collie MP Jodie Hanns said she would push that case with Premier Roger Cook, despite the difficulties involved in merging two private companies.
“Yesterday’s announcement was a commercial decision by a private company, and it is very disappointing from the government’s perspective,” she said.
“The best outcome for the Collie workers and the community is a combined mine asset, so I’ll be pushing that with the government, and it’s certainly something the coal taskforce will be looking at.”
Roger Cook says a merger of the two miners would be a complex process. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
Mr Cook said discussions with both companies were ongoing, with the government focused on supporting impacted workers.
“I know everyone, both in the industry and community, believes a single operator at the Collie basin is in the best interests of sustaining coal mining while we move through the clean energy transition,” Mr Cook said.
“Conversations continue, and we know they’re continuing constructively.
“But it’s complex work. There’s a lot of commercial interests and community interests and industry interests.”
Union wants just transition
Meetings with workers impacted by Premier’s cutbacks are expected to continue for a number of weeks.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary Steve McCartney said unions had been pushing for the miners to be merged for years.
The AMWU wants more training and redeployment options for mine workers impacted by the cuts. (ABC South West WA: Madigan Landry)
An initial proposal to dissolve both Griffin and Premier and form a new entity was rejected by the government as impractical, he said.Â
He said the government’s recent extension of Griffin Coal’s $300 million bailout could also have additional consequences for the transition.
WA gives embattled Griffin Coal another lifeline, citing energy security
“The difficulty is that Griffin has got a five-year guarantee,” Mr McCartney said.
“So there’s a good chance they probably want to hang in there for a while.”
Coal mines ‘mismanaged’
Shadow Energy Minister Steve Thomas said any merger would be a difficult proposition, and the situation reflected two decades of mismanagement of the state’s coalfields.
“You’ve got one coal company putting jobs off because they’ve got too much coal and no market,” Dr Thomas said.
Steve Thomas says further job cuts are likely at both Premier and Griffin. (ABC South West WA: Madigan Landry)
“And you’ve got the state government paying probably $30 million a year to the other coal company to keep producing coal.
“The inconsistencies are hilarious here.”
With the government winding down the state’s coal assets, he said Premier’s cuts were likely to be the first of many.Â
He said the government needed to ensure the transition programs for workers and the wider community were as fair and efficient as possible.