THERE are all sorts of ways to cut the numbers. But whichever way you do, the amount of money the NSW government is expected to reap from the Hunter's coal industry this financial year is remarkable.
The Newcastle Herald can reveal that $3.6 billion royalties, more than double last year's $1.4 billion, will bolster the state's coffers in 2021-22, mostly due to coal.
In the same 12 months, no extra money is slated to flow back to coal communities despite the extraordinary economic downturn the Hunter region faces without an effective transition plan in place - well ahead of the global shift to renewables.
The funding commitment to the Royalties for Rejuvenation fund is standing still at $25 million, while the Resources for Regions program will also remain unchanged this year.
The Hunter's coal industry has delivered more than $8.7 billion in royalties over the past decade, but just 2.1 per cent of that has come back directly via the much-celebrated Resources for Regions program launched in 2012.
Those numbers caused outrage among community leaders on Thursday as Hunter Valley residents pleaded with the Independent Planning Commission to refuse plans to extend the lifespan of Muswellbrook's Mt Pleasant coal mine by 22 years to 2048, and double it's annual yield.
Business Hunter chief executive officer Bob Hawes said it made "enormous sense" to see funds flow to the region from coal royalties.
"Business Hunter supports ongoing and enhanced provision of coal royalty funds returning to our region from where they are derived to deliver meaningful regional development programs," Mr Hawes said.
"It makes enormous sense that where the government and the community are in agreement that a significant task lies ahead to make sure the Hunter Region pulls through a future period of structural adjustment and it will require, amongst other things, funds to support it, that we begin provisioning those funds and if coal royalties are flowing strongly, they are a logical source of the funds."
Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell said he "advocated every day" to boost funding of the Resources for Regions program, but to say the region only received 2 per cent of royalties was not true and "did not reflect the overall benefit of royalties to the region".
Singleton Mayor Sue Moore was intensely critical of the $25 million Royalties for Rejuvenation fund which she described as a token of what was needed to support the Hunter through the closure of power stations and coal mines.
"Things aren't happening fast enough," she said. "We were told it had to be legislated - it's been legislated, and it really needs a statutory body so it can deliver projects and outcomes. From what I've been told it's been watered down to not much more than a grant program ... and $2 million has been taken off the top for admin fees and the like, so there's not even $25 million in there ... and $25 million is nothing."
Hunter Jobs Alliance Coordinator Warrick Jordan said the region needed $65 million per year. "There's a strong policy rationale for doubling the annual allocation to $50 million as well as funding the structural change authority a lot of people are asking for, which would cost in the order of $15 million a year."
"Given both the Hunter's contribution and how much value the region would offer for boosted investment in diversification, it would be a bargain at twice the price."
NSW Treasury confirmed the Resources for Regions program would be increased by $220 million in the 2022-23 budget toward "further supporting the ongoing prosperity of mining communities across the State"
