If you want a case study in how the Hunter is being sold out, look no further than the Hunter Joint Organisation’s latest defence of their net zero agenda. When questioned by MHV News about why they’re promoting climate ideology, the Chair gave the most telling response yet:
“If we want money from the $250 million net zero fund, you have to talk the talk—otherwise you get nothing.”
Sue Moore – Singleton Mayor and Chair of the Hunter Joint Organisation
Let that sink in. Our elected officials are now openly admitting they’re saying what they need to say to get a piece of Canberra’s green transition handout. Not fighting for our jobs. Not standing up for the workers. Just “talking the talk” to keep the cash flowing.
This isn’t strategy. It’s surrender.
And while they tell us they’re “not about closing coal mines,” we all know what’s coming. The Chair even admits that two Muswellbrook mines will shut down within six months of each other—12,000 jobs, gone. HVO? On life support if approvals don’t come through. The writing is on the wall, and they’re already planning the funeral.
And what’s the grand plan?
Post-mining land use.
Solar farms. Eco-tourism. “Innovation precincts.” All buzzwords for a future that cannot and will not replace the economic engine that mining has been for generations.
We’re being gaslit. Told the mines will stay open “as long as approvals continue”—but approvals are exactly what net zero lobbyists and government bureaucrats are working to stop. It’s a shell game.
Here’s the hard truth:
Every vote for a pro-coal candidate is a vote to stop the collapse of the Hunter.
Because when the mines go, it’s not just miners who suffer. It’s the mum-and-dad cafés, the corner pubs, the entire supply chain from Singleton to the Port of Newcastle.
And don’t be fooled by Peter Dutton’s nuclear daydream—it’s decades away and won’t lift a finger to help the Hunter survive today.
Dan Repacholi’s six-figure salary will keep coming no matter what happens to Muswellbrook. Can you say the same about your income?
Our leaders are already practicing their lines to secure net zero funding.
But the people of the Hunter need to send their own message—loud and clear, at the ballot box.
This isn’t just a policy debate.
This is survival.
Vote like your town depends on it—because it does.