● Rio argues expansion case, despite backflip

IT’S true, the mining industry talks a lot about the jobs and the economic contribution the industry makes to the Hunter.  This shouldn’t be too surprising considering 12,000 local people are directly employed in mining in the region, with thousands of others in jobs supported by mining, from hospitality to health workers, mechanics to manufacturers. 

The industry has to fight hard to remind decision-makers how important mining is to the jobs of real people.  Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the industry is not just made up of mining companies, but also thousands of individuals doing their best to earn a living to support themselves and their families. 

We’ve already seen 4000 Hunter mining jobs lost over the past two years and the region as a whole has reached an unemployment rate of 12.4per cent – twice the state average. Under these circumstances, we need to ensure that those deciding on the policies for our industry understand the implications of their decisions go beyond the costs to companies – real people are affected too.

That’s why it’s been so encouraging that even during these tough times we’ve seen so many people rally around the industry, declaring their support for mining and mining families.  This has been more so in those Hunter communities close to mines.

Recent research of community attitudes towards mining conducted by ReachTel across the Singleton and Muswellbrook areas found that 81per cent of respondents in Singleton and 72per cent of respondents in Muswellbrook believe jobs should be given ‘‘high’’ or ‘‘highest’’ priority when decisions about whether major projects such as mines should be approved.

The research also found that the vast majority of respondents – nearly 87per cent in Singleton and 77per cent in Muswellbrook – believe mining is ‘‘important’’ or ‘‘very important’’ for the economic future of the community.

The finding is reinforced by the support for mining events, such as the thousands of people who participated in the Hunter Coal Festival this year, and the many thousands more who wore hi-vis to support miners and cheer on the Newcastle Knights when they defeated the Panthers at the Voice for Mining Family Day at Hunter Stadium.

Mining cannot take this support for granted.  As a spokesman for a Hunter mining company said at the recent Hunter Coal Festival lunch, mining companies must respect ‘‘wedon’t have a God-given right tooperate, extend or build and that we understand that we’re part of the community’’.

The mining industry takes its presence in the community very seriously. Our miners and their families are part of the community, and many are from local families who have been proud miners for generations. 

Unlike more remote mining regions in Queensland and WA, the Hunter mining industry doesn’t have a fly-in-fly-out workforce. Most of our workers live, work and raise their families in communities near where mining takes place – Singleton, Muswellbrook, Branxton, Denman, Maitland, Cessnock, Lake Macquarie and many other towns throughout the valley. They breathe the same air, see the same views, drive the same roads, and send their children to the same schools as their neighbours and friends. 

That’s one of the reasons why Hunter mining companies established the Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue. It’s been operating for nearly four years and has proven to be an effective and practical way that miners, community and business leaders, environmental groups, residents, regulators and other industries can get together to identify and discuss the challenges of living in a mining community, and how to work together to meet these challenges.

 Through the the Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue, we have seen new ways of thinking and working together to look at the impacts of mining.  

The industry recognises that we need to demonstrate our good intentions through actions, not just words. To this effect, a range of practical on-the-ground projects have been identified and initiated, including measurement of progress on rehabilitation, cattle grazing trials on rehabilitated mine land, better local advocacy for infrastructure funding, and the use of weather forecasting to help plan mine operations. 

It’s a promising start and a good foundation to build ongoing trust and relationships between the people who work in mining and those who have genuine concerns about aspects of mining operations.

Mining doesn’t pretend to be infallible. There have been times when mistakes have been made, and had to be rectified. There have been occasions when we have not performed to the standard expected of us. And there are always going to be some who will be cynical of our intentions, no matter what we do.

 However, the people working in mining in the Hunter do care about the local community, because they are proudly part of the Hunter community, and will be for generations to come. 

Stephen Galilee is CEO of the NSW Minerals Council.