An end to coal mining in NSW would not seriously damage the Illawarra, according to Greens candidate Elena Martinez.
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But the NSW Minerals Council said the move would ‘‘destroy the Illawarra economy’’.
The NSW Greens launched their coal election policy at the weekend, which included the phasing out of coal mines in NSW and an end to coal exports in five years.
Ms Martinez, who is running for the seat of Keira, said the phasing out process had always been Greens policy but the latest new evidence about the effects of global warming made the need for action more pressing.
She said new research indicated Australia had to leave 80per cent of its coal in the ground if temperature increases were to be restricted to two degrees.
‘‘If we’re going to accept that there is a problem with climate change, we’ve got to say, ‘Are we going to do something about it?’,’’ Ms Martinez said.
‘‘We can’t just pretend that emissions don’t exist from coal, because they do.’’
She said the Greens were working to combat the false idea the region’s economy was heavily dependent on coal – pointing out health and education were the Illawarra’s biggest employers.
‘‘Coal is only the 13th highest employer,’’ she said.
‘‘There are 12 other industries employing more people than coal, which is right down the bottom with about 2per cent.
‘‘It actually is not a big industry in the Illawarra any more so there’s a lot of scare tactics saying we can’t do without the coal industry and that’s just not true.’’
Ms Martinez said the Greens’ approach was to phase out mining gradually while replacing lost jobs with those in renewable sectors.
The NSW Minerals Council released a statement that claimed any move to end mining in the region ‘‘would drive up electricity prices, destroy thousands of Illawarra jobs, threaten thousands of Illawarra businesses, and destroy the Illawarra economy’’.
‘‘The Greens have shown once again that they are living in a parallel universe,’’ council chief executive Stephen Galilee said.
‘‘Coal is our state’s most valuable export commodity and directly employs 2790 people in the Illawarra. Coal mining also supports over 600 Illawarra businesses,’’ he said.
