2026 kicked off with a fight to save jobs at Myuna Colliery, which has supplied Eraring Power Station at Lake Macquarie for more than forty years.
At the time of writing, Myuna’s 300 strong workforce was on tenterhooks, not knowing whether a coal supply deal between their employer Centennial and Eraring’s owner Origin Energy could be secured for the life of the power station.
The fight for jobs at Myuna is about protecting well paid local work – but it’s also about something bigger: the need for a fair energy transition, and the failure of corporate giants to deliver it.
We welcomed Origin’s decision last year to extend Eraring’s life until 2029. It created much needed certainty for the state’s energy system and bought a few more years of stability for energy workers navigating a tough and rapidly changing labour market. But that commitment was not extended to Myuna, the fully captured mine that has reliably supplied Eraring since the day both sites were commissioned.
Despite operating as a pair for more than four decades – with coal travelling straight from Myuna to Eraring via conveyor – as of February, Origin and Centennial had failed to secure a coal supply deal beyond the end of March, with Origin failing to offer a price to cover Myuna’s operating costs.
If a deal is not reached, 300 direct jobs at Myuna will vanish, sending shockwaves through the Lake Macquarie region. Local businesses, sporting clubs, community facilities and volunteer organisations all rely on the economic activity Myuna generates, along with well over 1,000 indirect jobs. The consequences for families, apprentices, young workers and long serving coal miners are enormous.
The stand-off between Origin and Centennial over Myuna’s future has made Origin’s public statements about supporting workers and contractors ring hollow through the power station’s (now delayed) closure.
When the Federal Government’s Net Zero Economy Authority visited Eraring last year, Origin spoke proudly about standing by their workforce and supply chain through the transition. They told government and the community: “The Eraring supply chain – our workers, contractors and suppliers – is one”.
On that point, Origin is right: Myuna and Eraring were built as one system. Both were once publicly owned assets under the Electricity Commission of NSW before privatisation handed control to profit driven corporations. Then in the thick of a highly complex energy transition, taxpayers were put on the hook for that decision. To keep Eraring open beyond 2025, the NSW Government had to put $450 million on the table – nine times what the power station was sold for in 2012.
Origin posted a $1.5 billion profit last year. The company could always afford to strike a fair coal supply contract that keeps Myuna operating until Eraring’s closure in 2029, but in a privatised energy system their focus is on the bottom line, not justice for workers and communities.
Unions fought hard for the creation of the Net Zero Economy Authority (NZEA) because we know corporate goodwill won’t deliver a just transition. Communities like Lake Macquarie deserve certainty, not market driven decision making that leaves workers stranded.
It would be devastating if at this moment – just as the NZEA begins real work – 300 jobs of Myuna coal miners are lost before getting the benefit of nationally co-ordinated transition support.
We’ve been calling on Origin CEO Frank Calabria and the board to honour their commitments, support the local community and take coal from Myuna for as long as Eraring operates. We have also urged Centennial to do everything possible to reach a deal; and the NSW and Federal Government to provide any additional support they can to keep Myuna operating for the life the power station.
The outcome at Myuna remains to be seen. The fight for a fair deal for all workers affected by energy transition will continue for as long as it takes.
Robin Williams
District President, MEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy
