Coal plan misses the Mark and the energy transition needs a review

3rd January 2023

The Shadow Treasurer Dr Steve Thomas says that the Government’s plan to maintain coal and  electricity supply over summer lacks coordination and looks like a desperate last minute attempt to  throw cash at the problem when it is too late. 

“On the 20th of December, the State Government announced they would inject an undisclosed  amount of taxpayer’s money into the Griffin Coal receivers to prop up a company the Government  themselves described as “insolvent” in the first line of their media release” Dr Thomas said. 

“In refusing to disclose the amount however the Government showed it was happy to treat the  people of this state like mushrooms.” 

“The Government’s media statement also noted that “The Government will seek to recover the  funding as part of any longer-term commercial arrangements”, which was a ridiculous statement  given the Government described the company as “insolvent” in the same release.” 

The Premier was forced into another backflip the next day, conceding that the Government was  unlikely to get the money back and admitting that “I suspect that these payments are payments that  we just need to make.” 

“On top of this cash handout to an “insolvent” foreign owned company, we are now seeing the  bizarre outcome of coal being imported from Newcastle in NSW and unloaded at the Bunbury Port”  Dr Thomas said. “It is then being trucked to the state’s coal mining hub of Collie in what could well  be a total of a thousand truck movements up and down the Coalfields Highway.” 

Two ships have been loaded with NSW coal for Collie. 

The Pan Poseidon was originally scheduled to arrive in Bunbury on the 13th of December but had to  wait around until the 22nd to berth and start unloading. It finally berthed on December 31st and is  expected to take two weeks to unload. 

The second ship – the Medi Perth – was due to arrive on the 27th of December but is not booked in  to berth and start unloading until the 27th of January 2023. It is also expected to take two weeks to  unload, with a scheduled departure on the 11th of February. 

“The result of this slow delivery is that the coal will not finish being transported and blended for use  until the middle of February at the earliest, when there is a couple of weeks of summer left” Dr  Thomas said. 

“By the time the coal is ready to burn, most of the heat of summer and therefore the risk period for  energy supply will be gone.” 

“You have to assume that the cash handout to Griffin Coal was supposed to boost production while  the Government waited on the slow delivery from Newcastle, but it’s not much of a plan and we  don’t know if it has succeeded in boosting production at Griffin.”

“You also have to wonder what the carbon footprint of shipping and trucking 100,000 tonnes of coal  from Newcastle to Collie is, as the Government shuts down coal generation to reduce emissions.” 

“The net result of the Government’s plan for power continuity has been to inject taxpayer’s funds  into an “insolvent” foreign owned company, and to support to importation of NSW coal to our own  coal mining centre in Collie at massively inflated prices” Dr Thomas said. 

“We cannot afford another seven years of this as the Government winds down its coal electricity  generation.” 

Media contact: Dr Steve Thomas 0427 908 717