Topics: Tahmoor coal mine

 

E&OE

 

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

Well, of course, we've been bringing you the news of what's been happening at Tahmoor Colliery. Last Friday, the workers at RStar mining, about 250 of them, were told they would no longer be paid because the owner of Tahmoor Colliery, GFG Alliance, and its billionaire owner, Sanjeev Gupta, were not paying their bills. So, hundreds of workers stood down. It's got a lot of people asking the question, how can Sanjeev Gupta continue to own the mine? Why isn't he selling? The Federal Member for Hume, of course, the Tahmoor mine within his electorate, Angus Taylor has been in correspondence with Sanjeev Gupta, as we've been hearing in our news. I spoke to Angus Taylor about what he has been saying to Sanjeev Gupta, and what he's heard in response.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Look, obviously, the Tahmoor Colliery is a really important part of the community in my electorate. It's been running for more than 40 years, and when GFG, Sanjeev Gupta took over the mine in 2018 it's gone well until now, but from February this year, of course, it's been in shut down and whilst the workers have been paid until now, we've seen a significant number of the 400 workers, 250 of the 400 being stood down and so, I felt now was the time to step in. I've asked GFG to do one of two things, pay the workers and show us the plan to restart the mine, or step aside and let someone else come in who will run it properly. We just can't put up with this continuing on. There's too many people's lives being impacted. It's been devastating for families and small businesses in our community. A number apparently are owed money, and the workers want to work, and I think they deserve better than what they're seeing at the moment.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

So, you've basically said, pay your bills, pay your creditors, pay your workers, or sell?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, not just that, pay the workers and get the mine going again, or sell it to someone who will. We know that this can be a good mine, and it can make money, it has done in the past, which is, of course, the objective of the exercise for an investor, but it's shut down, and the workers aren't able to do their jobs. So, we need someone running and owning this mine who want to run it and own it as a proper mine and that's not the case at the moment.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

Can you give us a sense of what he’s said to you in in return, in response? Has he responded to your letter and what's he said?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Yeah, he has and, you know, we hear lots of words that things are going to improve. Well, they need to improve. We either need to see the mine restarted by him or restarted by somebody else. He has been procrastinating on this for a long time; it's got to come to an end. Enough is enough, and it's time, time to see it up and running again. Look, this is a huge part of my local community. Not only has it been going since 1979, the Burragorang Valley has been a mining area for a long, long time. It's an embedded part of the community, and it's incredibly important it continues on if GFG is not the right owner, because it can't operate the mine, someone else needs to take it on, and he needs to make that possible, which he hasn't done so far.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

Okay, but he didn't give you any indication that he was thinking of selling in his response?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

There's no assurance, no, there's no assurance on timeline, or commitment to either of those things at this point and there needs to be.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

Okay, so it sounds like you were not very satisfied with his response to you?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, it's not where it needs to be at this point, that's for sure, Mel and we need to see action, and I'm going to continue to argue and fight for that, because my community deserves better than what it's seeing now, I acknowledge that GFG took on the mine in 2018 and things went well for a number of years, but now it's not going well, and it needs to be fixed.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

We’ve heard from reliable sources, and as you said, this has been going on for months. I mean, this is since nearly the beginning of the year. We're talking nine months or so now of the mine not operating, not drawing coal, paying its workers, yes, until recently, when the RStar miners stopped being paid from since Friday, but we've heard since then, from reliable sources, this is a profitable mine. It is a mine with a future. It is a coking coal mine with high quality coal, and there are people interested in buying it. Do you know much about whether there are other companies interested in buying it, and why Sanjeev Gupta wouldn't take that opportunity to sell when we know he is in financial dire straits?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, everything you said about the mine is absolutely right. It's coking coal, it's for steel. It's in great demand. The price is strong. It can be profitable. All of those things are absolutely right. So, so why isn't it operating? Because GFG has been in financial trouble. It's been drawing cash from the mine and not being prepared to put it back in when it's been necessary to do that, and that has left it in the position it's in. So, are there potential buyers? Yes, there's no question about that. I've spoken to several. I won't disclose those details at this point, but there is no question that there are participants in the industry who are very, very interested in the mine and if GFG is not going to operate it, then let them do it, pass it on, sell it to them, and let them get on with the job. Now, no doubt, GFG is looking to get the best possible price. But if that is at the expense of the workers in the community, it needs to be done quickly, and a drawn-out negotiation process is not what anyone needs at this point.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

So that's your sense that Sanjeev Gupta is just holding out for a better price?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, you know, I can only speculate, Mel, but when you've got a profitable mine that can be up and running relatively quickly, a very willing workforce who want to work, they don’t want to sit around. I mean, this is the extraordinary thing. You might think, ‘oh, well, everyone can go and take a holiday’, but worker after worker at the mine has said to me, no, I want to get back to work, so continuing on with this on an indefinite basis, which is where we seem to be at the moment, is just not on.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

Just a couple of final questions about, what, if anything various governments can do? Is there anything the federal government can do? Any sort of intervention that might be available to them here to either force Sanjeev Gupta's hand? Or, I don't know, do more, to assure that creditors and workers are paid.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Well, I think the first and most important thing is people like me can put pressure on GFG to make a decision here and get on with it, and that's what I'm going to continue to do. That's my job, and that's why I've done what I've done. We have seen state governments in other areas take action, largely because the state government tends to oversee the administration of mines like this, and in South Australia in particular, we've seen them take action. I would much prefer that GFG just gets on with it, to be honest, Mel, but it will be up to the New South Wales Government as to whether they want to take action. What I will do, though…

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

We know that the New South Wales Resources Minister, Courtney Houssos, says she's watching the situation closely. They do have this test of being a fit and proper person that makes you worthy of a licence to mine what's in the ground, and pay the royalties to the state government, which, of course, have probably not been forthcoming. There's no coal coming out, but I'm wondering if this fit and proper person test, I mean, it includes things like, if you have a history of bankruptcy, you do have to show financial stability, technical competence, all of these sorts of things. Does that work as a standard? Is the bar too high? If someone who is not paying his bills, is not drawing his coal out of the ground and therefore is not paying royalties. How can it be that a fit and proper test does not affect him continuing to hold a licence?

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Yep, well, that's probably a question for the state government, but I think the state government should be applying pressure for him to either restart the mine, or step aside and let someone else run it properly, and it's what I'm going to be asking for. I think the state government needs to do the same thing. I know the State Member has been asking for similar things, and we should all be continuing to apply pressure. Enough is enough. A lot of time has transpired. The workers and contractors have been patient, but people's patience does run out. Enough is enough.

 

MELINDA JAMES:

 

Angus Taylor, thanks so much.

 

ANGUS TAYLOR:

 

Good to be with you.

 

ENDS.