It’s still well down on the Coalition under Scott Morrison but Labor’s coal and gas project approvals keep rising. Zacharias Szumer reports.
The Albanese government’s fossil fuel approval tally has risen to 16 after Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved four coal mine extensions this week.
Well, the Minister has insisted that they’re all extensions, but questions linger (more on that later).
While at the time of writing only three extensions are visible on the EPBC portal, a press release sent around by Tanya Plibersek’s office said the government had approved four.
Three are in Queensland – owned by the ASX-listed BHP and two private companies: Vitrinite and Jellinbah Group – and one in NSW majority-owned by Japan’s Idemitsu.
https://infogram.com/december-2024-fossil-fuel-approvals-1h0r6rz3negel4e
The Australia Institute’s research director Rod Campbell said the release of the report just before Christmas was a “classic ‘taking out the trash’ tactic”.
A Plibersek press release stressed that “there are no new mines, they are all extensions of existing operations”.
That’s been questioned by the ABC’s Michael Slezak, who has dug up evidence of Vitrinite describing the newly approved project, Vulcan South, as “a greenfield development” and made clear that an adjacent operational mine and Vulcan South were “independent projects” to be “executed separately”.
Plibersek told Auntie that “independent scientific experts and the minister’s department classify the project as an expansion”.
As such, an X post made by the Minister yesterday sought to score a goal on what some might consider a minor semantic point.
What a difference a decade makes. pic.twitter.com/eyNm6T1g0f
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) December 19, 2024
It doesn’t really make a lot of difference to the climate whether the coal is mined from a new hole or an old one, such people would argue.
The Minister also highlighted that projects would comply with Australia’s net zero commitments and climate safeguard laws – something that shouldn’t be difficult considering the coal will be burnt overseas and thus not count as Australian domestic emissions.
Steely determination
The extensions are all for metallurgical coal used to make steel, for which Plibersek highlighted there was not yet any valid replacement.
So called met coal (metallurgical) is currently an essential part of how most steel is made, but its future mightn’t be as bright as some claim.
Australia’s world-topping met coal exports could peak in around two years before permanently trending down as replacement technologies are phased in, a 2024 analysis by the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) claimed.
“The accelerating steel technology transition means that coal can no longer be considered essential for steelmaking,” author Simon Nicholas wrote.
Well, well. Taking out the trash.@tanya_plibersek just approved three coal mines big enough to swallow Sydney. @TheAusInstitute https://t.co/fQY47q0VUX pic.twitter.com/vOeHqrqnVd
— Roderick Campbell (@R_o_d_C) December 19, 2024
The real question is how long that switch will take.
The industry clearly has fairly long-term plans. For instance, the three projects given the green light yesterday have approval periods running till 2053, 2062, 2088.
Koala-tree culling claims
In early October, Vitrinite was accused of illegally mining coal and destroying koala habitat without federal government approval at the adjacent Vulcan Mine.
At the time, the company denied the claims and Plibersek’s department said it was “making enquiries”. One of Plibersek’s staffers told MWM the investigation is ongoing.
Vitrinite has previously been found to have breached both state and federal environmental laws at the site.
Tanya Plibersek said that her government had “imposed 240 strict conditions across the projects to ensure the environment is protected”.
In late September, MWM reported that the Albanese government had approved or extended at least twelve fossil fuel projects and two carbon capture projects since taking office.
MWM’s tally only includes extractive projects – not supporting infrastructure such as gas pipelines or railways for coal mines.
Zacharias Szumer is a freelance writer from Melbourne. In addition to Michael West Media, he has written for The Monthly, Overland, Jacobin, The Quietus, The South China Morning Post and other outlets.
He was also responsible for our War Power Reforms series.