Mr Mick Buffier group executive of Xstrata was outspoken on the government's response to climate change and the increasing and inconsistent costs of regulatory compliance and royalties.

Mr Buffier's message was that coal remains an important economic driver for New South Wales. And with 15 operating mines and a significant project pipeline, Xstrata is the biggest producer with cash spends in the last financial year of around USD 2.2 billion.

He devoted some time to outlining Xstrata Coal’s view of the Federal Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. He said that "The CPRS represents a very significant challenge to this industry and also the economic input into NSW. The industry’s been singled out, it’s been treated unfairly, and it’s been excluded from the Emissions Intensive Trade Expose scheme when it does qualify. The majority of our competitors in developing nations and unlikely to face any carbon costs in the foreseeable future."

He said the proposed CPRS is the toughest in the world with 75% permit auctioning compared to other schemes, and that fugitive emissions have been included unlike other schemes in Europe and that being proposed in the USA.

(Sourced from www.theajmonline.com.au)