The NSW Minerals Council has released a research report undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Monash University which claims that NSW will lose billions of dollars in mining revenue and thousands of jobs if the current draft Strategic Regional Land Use Policy goes ahead.


The  economic study carried out for the NSW Minerals Council found that under a medium impact scenario the draft plans will result in the loss of an average of around $1 billion a year in royalties for the next twenty years.


The study also found that under the same scenario, the draft plans would cut a full one percent from the State's forecast economic growth in 2018, lower consumption and investment, and result in over 8000 less jobs across NSW.


"Slowing the State's biggest export industry will have an impact that will be felt right across the economy," NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said.


“Losing a billion dollars a year is a big budget cost that will hit hard. It's funding that could be spent on better infrastructure and services for the community. It's also funding that’s needed in regional NSW where mining occurs,” Mr Galilee said.


“To put this in context, current mining royalties of $1.2 billion a year are estimated to be enough to fund 13,000 nurses or 11,000 teachers or 2,500 buses every single year,” he said.


The research found that the regions covered by the draft Plans will be hit hard:

  • Nearly 16 per cent lower gross regional product of the Upper Hunter region by 2018;
  • 5000 fewer coal mining jobs in the Upper Hunter in 2018, leading to an overall impact of nearly 1000 fewer jobs across the Upper Hunter region;
  • 5 per cent hit to gross regional product of the New England North West region economy by 2021 and nearly 800 fewer coal mining jobs in the region over the next decade.

“This research confirms that the draft Plans are skewed against mining in NSW,” Mr Galilee said.


The research also finds that the decline in mining triggered by the draft Plans will lead to declines in other sectors, including construction, hotels and cafes and transport services.


The findings form part of the NSW Minerals Council’s submission on the NSW Government’s draft Strategic Regional Land Use Plans released for the Upper Hunter and New England North West regions in early March.


The NSW Minerals Council’s submission provides a detailed assessment of the impact of the draft Plans, including the economic cost to the State of more restrictions on the already heavily regulated mining sector.


“The Government intends to roll-out this policy across the entire State so it’s critical that we get it right. The economic price is too high to ignore the facts and get the balance wrong.”


The NSW Minerals Council has also launched www.landusefacts.com.au to outline facts about mining in NSW and dispel myths about land use and the minerals sector.


A copy of the economic modelling is available here.