Open letter to Premier Minns
Bushfire survivors and other climate affected people from NSW are calling on the Premier to respect the High Court’s historic ruling and not make a special law for Mount Pleasant.
In October 2026, a small community group led by two retired teachers won Australia’s first ever High Court climate change case. The court found the Mount Pleasant coal mine expansion was approved without properly considering its climate harm.
But NSW Premier Minns plans to pass a special law letting the same coal mine increase its production, bypassing the usual planning process and undermining the court’s historic decision.
As climate-impacted citizens, we’re asking the Premier to respect the ruling and do not trade the safety of NSW citizens for the profits of the coal lobby.
Read the full letter and add your name at the form below.
“A law written for one company, days after the High Court ruled against that company, is an inappropriate use of the NSW legislative process.”
An Open Letter to the Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Chris Minns MP
Dear Premier Minns,
We write to you as survivors of bushfires, floods, storms, and extreme heatwaves across New South Wales (NSW). We are the everyday Australians who have watched our homes destroyed, our communities struggle, and our livelihoods shatter under repeated climate-fueled disasters. The people of NSW expect a government that protects the public interest, not an administration that bends the law to shield multinational corporations like MACH Energy from the consequences of their pollution.
The High Court of Australia—echoing the principles established by the International Court of Justice—has made the reality crystal clear: NSW is responsible for the emissions generated by the coal we extract and export. Pollution from coal burned overseas does not stay there; its impact returns home in the form of longer, more dangerous fire seasons, more frequent and devastating floods, increasingly uninsurable property, and soaring costs of living. This pollution is directly harming the people of NSW, while wreaking havoc on the NSW economy.
With another dangerous summer arriving, frontline communities like ours are once again bracing for the impact of extreme weather made worse by climate change. To alter state environmental laws and grant coal giants special immunity at this precise moment is to turn your back on the people you're supposed to represent and protect.
The great failure of a Premier folding to an overseas-owned corporation is not so much that it looks like corporate blackmail, though it does;
not so much that it undermines the fundamental integrity of our judicial and planning system, though it will;
not even that it ignores the science by dismissing the impact of our exported emissions, though it does;
nor that it perpetuates the myth of sustainable coal expansion, though it will.
The great tragedy is that it leaves your own constituents, exposed to yet further climate harm.
We urge you to remember whose side you are on - the side of the everyday people of New South Wales, not multinational coal executives seeking special treatment - and urge you to take the following immediate steps:
Stop Approving Coal Projects: Stand firm against pressure to amend the EP&A Act, respect the High Court ruling, reject the Mount Pleasant expansion, and end all new coal mine approvals and extensions in NSW.
Fund the Future Jobs and Industry Authority: Provide enforceable, properly funded transition frameworks that protect workers and coal communities through a planned phase-out, ensuring workers are never used as political pawns.
Consult Impacted Communities: Meet directly with disaster survivors across NSW to hear our lived experiences before finalising and launching the updated Net Zero Plan.
Premier, do not trade the safety of NSW citizens for the profits of the coal lobby. Uphold the rule of law, protect the people of NSW, and lead the state toward a safe, climate-resilient future.
Sincerely,
Climate-Impacted Communities & Disaster Survivors of New South Wales