The New South Wales government was open to investing in coalmines if companies couldn’t raise adequate capital themselves, the premier, Dominic Perrottet, told a gathering on Sydney’s southern outskirts late last year.
The comments, contained in a recording provided to Guardian Australia, raise questions about how far the government would go to support fossil fuels if re-elected, according to Labor, the Greens and teal independent candidate Jacqui Scruby.
Addressing a question about rising electricity prices at an “afternoon tea meeting” on 3 November at the Engadine Bowling Club, Perrottet said higher bills hurt individuals and small businesses, with “a substantive impact on employment” as increases get passed on.
“[The government] is working very closely with the private sector in relation to securing the operations of coalmines because what we see is a substantive issue where private capital is not being invested in coal,” Perrottet said. “They don’t have the financial capacity to do it.
“Now we’re going to work very closely with them on that. We’re talking about what is absolutely … needed to secure society, being energy.
“There’s not just a profit obligation, there’s a moral obligation, a social obligation to the states. I’m engaged in those discussions. No doubt it’s a big challenge going ahead, but it’s not just the short term – it’s long-term thinking as well, because this problem is not going away.”
Guardian Australia understands the state energy minister and treasurer, Matt Kean, has not been involved in discussions about needing to prop up coalmine investments.
Kean last week intervened in the coal sector to require export-focused mines to set aside as much as 5% of production for domestic use as part of federal-state efforts to cap coal prices and lower wholesale electricity costs.
Guardian Australia sought comment from Perrottet’s office.
A spokesperson for the Labor opposition said the “government must be open with their plans to secure energy supply”.
The spokesperson pointed to a report by the Australian Energy Market Operator on Tuesday showing NSW and other states faced potential “reliability gaps” in power supplies as proof the Coalition had “dropped the ball”.
Scruby, who is running for the seat of Pittwater at next month’s state election, said Perrottet’s consideration of investing in coalmines amounted to “gaslighting the Australian public by saying they’re leading on climate while promising taxpayer funds to the coal industry”.
“The NSW Liberals must come clean about what they have promised the coal industry and whether they are planning to subsidise it,” Scruby said.
The Greens spokesperson for mining, coal and gas, Sue Higginson, said “it would be absurd for the government to invest public funds into propping up coalmines while the private shareholders are seeing record profits.”
“NSW voters deserve to know if this is the premier’s plan before the election next month,” she said. “Coal corporations should be using their massive profits to transition their workforce and industry on to a low-emissions pathway, not asking for public money to guarantee ongoing extraction of fossil fuels.”
Whitehaven, Yancoal and other coalminers in NSW have posted bumper results following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions on Moscow pushed up global energy prices as nations scrambled to find alternative supplies.
The acting executive director of the Market Forces campaign group, Will van de Pol, said the government must get serious about supporting a transition for workers.
“If the NSW premier is serious about protecting communities in coal regions as well as those already facing devastating climate disasters, he must commit to supporting workers to transition to sustainable employment while ensuring the coal sector is managed down in line with limiting global warming to 1.5C.”
