The operator of the Hunter Valley coal mine that this week secured the intervention of the premier to allow a controversial expansion is targeting children in marketing materials spruiking coal, and has stated its goal is to influence the school curriculum.
The April 2026 annual community consultation report for MACH Energy’s Mount Pleasant mine near Muswellbrook says it will “continue working with school children, primary and high schools and local TAFE leaders to promote education and discuss possible opportunities to influence curriculum or extracurricular activities”. The same report in April 2025 used identical language.
Company documents from 2025 list sponsorships, visits or other engagement with at least eight Upper Hunter schools – six primary and two high schools, across both the public and Catholic systems. These include sponsoring a business lunch or breakfast at Muswellbrook High School and donating a steer to Scone Public School.
The mine operator’s community newsletters feature a “Kid’s Corner” featuring activities such as a colouring-in image of Santa driving an excavator, or a count-the-objects game inviting children to count lumps of coal and excavators alongside light bulbs, kangaroos and leaves.
These are published alongside “fun” or “interesting” facts about coal including that more than 220 tonnes of coal are required to build a wind turbine, and that “NSW coal is considered some of the highest quality coal, which is why it is in such strong demand in our region of the world.” There is no mention of climate change or any pollution caused by digging up or burning the fossil fuel.
Comms Declare chief executive Belinda Noble said the company’s expansion plans and educational ambitions could not be separated. “Clearly this is part of a social licence campaign designed to embed support in the community while they try and expand their operations,” she said.
Premier Chris Minns on Monday announced special legislation to ensure the company’s planned mine expansion could go ahead despite the High Court upholding an earlier ruling that the consent was invalid because the decision-maker had failed to consider the local impact of global climate change.
Comms Declare, a not-for-profit organisation that highlights fossil fuel marketing, published a report, Cradle to Career , earlier this year, outlining more than 260 fossil fuel-funded programs operating nationally, reaching children and young people through schools, museums, sporting organisations, universities and other institutions.
Noble said the use of selective facts in the Mount Pleasant marketing to children was typical. More surprising the explicit acknowledgement in the consultation report that the company aimed to influence what is taught in schools.
“They said the quiet part out loud, which is good for anyone who cares about fossil fuel influence on children’s education, because now we know there’s definitely an agenda,” Noble said. “It’s in black and white, and it’s time for politicians to act.”
NSW Education Minister Prue Car said: “NSW public schools deliver the syllabuses developed by the NSW Education Standards Authority. NESA advises it has not engaged with this group from a curriculum perspective.”
The company newsletter with Kid’s Corner was not distributed to schools, the government said.
NSW’s school sponsorship policy excludes organisations promoting tobacco, alcohol and gambling products, but not fossil fuels. Instead, teachers and principals must review and approve external material and ensure it does not advance the interests of any particular group. At the same time, schools are encouraged to engage with local industry, while mining consents can require companies to provide community benefits.
Noble said it was not fair to expect teachers and principals to push back in communities where mining is central to the economy and may be the town’s biggest employer.
“The government needs to intervene and make it very clear in NSW that corporate influence is not acceptable in children’s education, particularly when it comes to damaging industries like coal, oil, and gas,” she said.
Earlier this year, the ACT banned fossil fuel sponsorships in schools, and Victoria requires sponsorships to consider climate change.
In August, the NSW parliament’s joint standing committee on net zero future recommended the NSW government “consider assessing limitations that can be placed on fossil fuel advertising or sponsorship agreements” including in educational settings. The government is considering its response to that report, which is due to be tabled in parliament in early November.
MACH Energy was approached for comment, but did not respond. Stephen Galilee, chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, said it was more anti-coal campaigning from “activists determined to see 400 miners lose their [jobs] just before Christmas.
“Like most industries, the NSW mining industry provides educational information about how mining works in NSW, the benefits it provides to the economy and to regional communities,” Galilee said.
“We also provide information that highlights the careers opportunities in the mining sector, including surveying, engineering, environmental management, geology and more.”
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