Nationals Leader Matt Canavan has accused the Federal Government of misleading Australians over scope three emissions, in the wake of the High Court’s decision on the Mount Pleasant coal mine at Muswellbrook.
Senator Canavan said Labor ministers had spent the past week dismissing the ruling as a New South Wales planning issue, while pursuing its own agenda.
“Labor is telling mining workers one thing in Australia and doing another behind closed doors and at the United Nations,” he said.
Senator Canavan said the Liberals and Nationals would introduce the Protecting Mining Jobs and Exports Bill, which would prevent Commonwealth, state and territory laws being used to block, delay or add conditions to resource projects because of emissions generated when the resources are used overseas.
“Australian miners should be judged on what happens at their mines, not made responsible for what happens to their exports on the other side of the world,” he said.
The High Court found last week that the Independent Planning Commission failed to consider whether to impose conditions on scope three emissions when approving the Mount Pleasant expansion. The NSW Government has described the ruling as narrow, saying MACH Energy can reapply through the Commission and that the mine’s current approval runs to 2032.
