{"id":427163,"date":"2026-01-21T06:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/427163\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:37:10","slug":"taxpayers-on-the-hook-for-more-as-collie-coal-mine-gets-a-5-year-lifeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/427163\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayers on the hook for more as Collie coal mine gets a 5-year lifeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coal mining in Collie will continue to be propped up by WA<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Government<\/a> payments to keep the foreign-owned coal mine operating reached $308 million last June.<\/p>\n

In Collie on Wednesday, the Premier confirmed a new five-year extension would be needed to prop up the privately-owned Bluewaters power station to provide certainty for its operators, its industry customers and its workforce.<\/p>\n

The Government plans to close the nearby State-owned Muja power stations by 2030.<\/p>\n

Mr Cook insisted on Wednesday the extra funding for Griffin Coal was not a sign that deadline is in doubt.<\/p>\n

\"PremierCamera IconPremier Roger Cook speaks to the media in Collie this morning. Michael Wilson Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a rock-solid commitment that we will retire the State-owned coal fired power stations by 2030.\u201d Mr Cook said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mr Cook told Parliament last year the mine\u2019s private owner and its customers should cop the mounting bill, not taxpayers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis funding support will cease in June 2026,\u201d he said on May 27.<\/p>\n

Pressed on why he changed his mind, Mr Cook pointed to energy reliability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI now have the confidence to say that we can extend the agreement by five years, which will further provide for energy security while we move through the energy transition,\u201d he said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we did not intervene, it would have meant we were switching the lights off in Western Australia. That\u2019s not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

He insisted the cost to taxpayers will be \u201csignificantly\u201d less than the $308m spent since 2022, but couldn\u2019t say by how much.<\/p>\n

\"PremierCamera IconPremier Roger Cook, Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson and local member Jodie Hanns speak to the media in Collie this morning. Michael Wilson Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

\u201cI will reveal all those costs in Parliament once the agreements have been finalised,\u201d Mr Cook said.<\/p>\n

A new Collie Basin Consolidation Taskforce will be formed, aiming to merge Griffin and Premier Coal to improve efficiency.<\/p>\n

The taskforce will report back within six months.<\/p>\n

Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said she was confident WA\u2019s path out of coal was realistic, though she conceded it was \u201cchallenging\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned WA\u2019s South West grid faces an electricity generation shortfall of almost 2 gigawatts by 2033, but Ms Sanderson said enough green energy projects were in progress to fill the gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every project will succeed. (There\u2019s) $50 billion worth of projects across the pipeline,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn one local government alone, I think Narrogin has billions of dollars worth of projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there is significant potential investment, even if half of that is realised, we will meet demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PremierCamera IconPremier Roger Cook, Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson and local member Jodie Hanns speak to the media in Collie this morning. Michael Wilson Credit: Michael Wilson\/The West Australian<\/p>\n

She agreed community and industry support was key to delivering the State\u2019s energy transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cLarge-scale wind is really critical to to the energy transition,\u201d Ms Sanderson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a number of interdependencies and challenges around wind. I don\u2019t think community opposition is one of them. I think community education is actually something that we can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry was quick to welcome the Griffin Coal extension, and warned that reliability and affordability must not be sacrificed as WA shifts gear to renewables.<\/p>\n

\u201cKey resources operations rely on coal as a reductant or heat source in their production processes,\u201d CME WA chief executive Aaron Morey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustry 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coal mining in Collie will continue to be propped up by WA taxpayers until at least 2031, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,99,75,6827,84,128,7239],"class_list":["post-427163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-environment","tag-mining","tag-politics","tag-science","tag-state-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}