AXE FALLS AT ACLAND

ONE by one, workers were called into meetings with management at New Acland Coal and told they won’t have a job by the end of next month.

Announcing the redundancies yesterday, general manager Dave O’Dwyer described the mood at the mine as “sombre” and “really tough”.

“So by the end of this week we will have had conversations with 150 people ... letting them know that their jobs at New Acland Coal Mine will be finMine ishing up,” he said.

The cuts have been foreshadowed for months, with New Acland management telling the State Government it would be forced to shed 150 jobs if it did not receive its outstanding Stage 3 expansion approvals by September 1.

THE AXE has fallen at New Acland Coal Mine.

Management teams across the various departments at the mine have begun meeting with 150 workers one-on-one to tell them they no longer have a job.

Those conversations will continue through until Friday.

The job losses have been foreshadowed for months, with New Acland management telling the State Government it would be forced to cut 150 workers and ramp-down production if it did not receive its outstanding Stage 3 expansion approvals by September 1.

Despite a Court of Appeal decision in favour of New Acland a week ago, mine management and its parent company New Hope Group said it had not heard anything official from the State Government.

New Acland Coal Mine general manager Dave O’Dwyer said people had been given their six weeks’ notice, and would be leaving the business in late October.

“We were very hopeful that we’d get word from the government in time to make sure this didn’t happen, and continue forward with our full workforce,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

He said the mood at the mine site was “really tough”.

‘‘ AND THE MOOD AS I LEFT SITE THIS MORNING TO COME INTO (TOOWOOMBA) WAS PRETTY SOMBRE.”

DAVE O’DWYER

“There’s no doubt about it. Today was the first of the crew conversations and they’ll happen through until Friday. And the mood as I left site this morning to come into (Toowoomba) was pretty sombre,” he said.

“I suspect it will be that way for quite some time.”

There was no chance to rollback the redundancy process now that it and the mine’s ramp-down process had begun, Mr O’Dwyer said.

He did say that if the mine received its approvals, it was possible it would ramp back up at a later date.

“The government still has the opportunity to get some good news out of Acland and we just ask them that they give us that nod on our approvals and let us get about our business out here.”

The State Government last week said it was reviewing the Court of Appeal’s draft orders.

The court dismissed both grounds of the Oakey Coal Action Alliance's appeal, and found a 2017 Land Court decision recommending against the expansion of the mine was infected with an apprehension of bias.

The court ordered that applications for a mining lease and an amended environmental authority for New Acland Coal Mine's Stage 3 expansion be referred back to the Land Court.

New Acland said its submissions to the court would be seeking to avoid having to go back to Land Court.

Submissions from New Acland Coal and the Oakey Coal Action Alliance are expected to close next week.