The Hunter's community and union alliances have called on the NSW government to "go back to the drawing board" on its economic transition authority, slamming a proposed model as too bureaucratic and lacking in useful funding.
Hunter Community Alliance and Hunter Jobs Alliance members gathered in Newcastle on Thursday to protest against the government's Future Jobs and Investment Authorities issues paper published in May.
The government has proposed a multi-tier structure to govern the FJIA program, which aims to support four NSW regions facing economic transition away from coal mining and power generation.
Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos announced the FJIA program in May at Mt Arthur Coal in Muswellbrook.
The legislated authorities will replace the Royalties for Rejuvenation and Expert Panels scheme set up by the previous government.
The new model includes transition authorities in each of the four regions, Hunter, Illawarra, Central West and North West, a Future Jobs and Investment Advocate, an Office of the Future Jobs and Investment Authorities and a Future Jobs and Investment Board.
The advocate and four authorities would advise the Minister for Natural Resources, while the FJIA office would coordinate and attract investment into coal-reliant regions.
Hunter Jobs Alliance coordinator Justin Page said the government's proposal "isn't good enough".
"They need to go back to the drawing board, come to our community and co-design a proper, well funded transition authority to support our communities and workers," he said.
"They've overcooked it. It's overly bureaucratic.
"They had the expert panels in place from the previous government. Not one cent of royalties has flowed to communities or worker transition programs.
"We think the proposed model is at risk of doing exactly the same thing."
The Hunter employs about 60 per cent of the 24,000 coal workers in NSW and generated about 60 per cent of the state's record $4.8 billion coal royalties in 2022-23.
The industry also supports jobs for about 37,000 workers indirectly in the Hunter coal supply chain.
The issues paper says a Future Jobs and Investment Fund will "utilise" the existing $25 million set aside each year in the Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund, though this money is preserved in a Treasury TCorp facility until 2028-29 and $2.5 million of it will be spent on FJIA operating expenses.
"Under current arrangements, funding through the Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund cannot be accessed until 2028-29, or until the fund reaches $250 million," the issues paper says.
"The NSW government will assess opportunities to use this funding source to support the work of the Future Jobs and Investment Authorities."
Mr Page said $22.5 million was not enough given it would be spread across four regions and multiple layers of bureaucracy.
"I can't see how four authorities, a board, a jobs advocate, an office in regional NSW, a secretariat ... they're going to exhaust all the funding on bureaucracy," he said.
"$25 million across four regions is not going to cut it.
"With basically seven levels of government all advisory bodies, we can't see how the support programs are actually going to be implemented.""
He said tying up the $25 million until 2028 was a policy decision which could be undone.
The jobs alliance wanted a Hunter-based authority with the "autonomy to make decisions" while reporting to the Premier's Department and Cabinet Office.
"There's so many layers of government, resources, mining, skills and training, education, planning, environment," Mr Page said.
"Falling under one minister doesn't give it the credibility it needs.
"The [federal] net zero authority reports to the Prime Minister."
Cessnock resident and Uniting Church member Pam Kilduff said the government's transition plans should address environmental and community concerns and not just jobs and industry investment.
"I live in Cessnock, and every day I need to clean the veranda of coal dust, the toxic, small-particle coal dust that every person in the Hunter is breathing every day," she said.
"It's not good enough. They've got to talk to us. It's not just about jobs; it's about lives."
Fellow umbrella group Committee for the Hunter has prepared a submission on the issues paper which supports the FJIA's focus on investment and jobs but also calls for more funding and less bureaucracy.
"It is important that FJIAs are designed to add value and do not create more layers that slow things down," the committee's submission says.
The committee says the FJIAs' "core business" of a "central worker transition function and services" is missing from the document and companies in the supply chain will need more support.
Hunter industry groups welcomed the state government's plans to assist communities as they transition away from coal.
