Coal is delivering a sustainable future for our regions
Paul Flynn, Managing Director and CEO, Whitehaven Coal
W We firmly believe the local community should be the main beneficiary of our presence. We are focused on building local prosperity, and ensuring our regional towns thrive.
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BBMC Yearbook 2021
hile the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose major challenges for governments and businesses in a range of industries across Australia, it has also reinforced the vital role of the coal industry – Australia’s second largest commodity export – in sustaining and supporting regional economies through this period of ongoing economic recovery.
For some, sustainability and the coal industry are an unlikely match but the last 12 months have clearly demonstrated the important role coal has to play in providing a sustainable future for our regions. For Whitehaven Coal, sustainability is about how good assets and good operational practices combine to create enduring value for our stakeholders. Whether it’s a local business supplying our operations, a long-term customer accessing high quality raw materials or an apprentice learning new skills on which an entire career can be built, sustainability has always been at the heart of our company. Whitehaven operates four mines in the Gunnedah Coal Basin of NSW, with a 2,500-strong workforce and ROM coal production for FY21 of 20.6Mt. Our operating assets are complemented by two high-quality, near-term development assets – including Winchester South here in the Bowen Basin. Over our more than 20-year history, including 14 years as a publicly-listed entity on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), we are proud to have developed a growing reputation for excellence in project delivery, safe operation, and targeted investment in the local economy and community.
We see our purpose as supporting and sustaining regional communities by exporting high-quality thermal and metallurgical coal from Australia to the world. We firmly believe the local community should be the main beneficiary of our presence and are focused on building local prosperity, and ensuring our regional towns thrive. The benefits of our presence go beyond our workforce and beyond the life of any single mine. Ultimately, we aim to leave an economic and social legacy that outlives our mining operations, and lives on in the areas of education, health, skills and infrastructure. Alongside other local industries such as agriculture, the opportunities we provide through employment, development and procurement build a more diversified and skilled regional economy. In FY21, Whitehaven spent $344.7 million with local suppliers in North West NSW and regional QLD. Of this, $5.15 million was spent with 14 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander businesses for goods and services ranging from on-site training to office supplies. As an Australian company, we have a proud history of prioritising jobs for local communities.
