By Timothy Fernandez

January 22, 2020 - In Austrlaia, the University of Wollongong (UOW) has withdrawn from hosting a long-running coal conference amid concerns over planned climate protests.

The Coal Operators Conference had been hosted by UOW's mining engineering faculty since 1998 and was scheduled to take place from February 12 to 14.

The university said it made the decision after considering the needs of the community at this time and adjusted its priorities accordingly.

Climate activists had planned to blockade the event, and say the announcement is a strong indicator that the community supports tougher action on climate change.

"It's a win for the climate movement," said Martin Cubby, organiser for the Illawarra Climate Justice Alliance (ICJA).

"The university holding a conference about how to extract more coal and make more profits from the coal industry should be unacceptable in this town."

The announcement came as the large Currowan fire that's been burning for 53 days and destroyed around 500,000 hectares on the NSW south coast has finally been contained.

"We know they've been happening in large part due to climate change which is caused by the burning of coal."

UOW student representative and activist Jasmine Duff said more and more people were showing up to protests which forced the university to act.

"They didn't want to do it at all, but they've had to respond to the threat of the blockade that was planned," she said.

Council Disagrees Over Future of Coal

The Illawarra has a rich history of coal mining stretching back to the discovery of "black gold" by William Clarke in 1797.

But the future of one of the region's oldest industries is under unprecedented scrutiny.

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery recently doubled down on his support of the Illawarra's coal industry at the opening of a new mine training facility.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Cr Bradbery also took aim at climate activists, accusing them of hypocrisy for criticising coal while using cars and bicycles made of steel.

His comments came just over a month after Wollongong City Council voted to declare a climate emergency and agree to reduce its emissions in its carbon-intensive economy to net zero by 2030.

Wollongong's industrial sector contributes 72 per cent of the city's total emissions, and council agreed that the industry would have to do some of the heavy lifting to meet the target of 2.7 per cent in emission reductions per year.

Greens councillor Mithra Cox said the Mayor's comments were reckless given council's environmental commitments.

"It's utterly irresponsible that our decision-makers are not taking this seriously or not treating this with the seriousness it deserves," she said.

"If you say you believe in climate change but we should keep burning coal, it's like saying you know you're driving off a cliff but you're going to keep driving."

Cr Bradbery defended his comments, claiming the coal and steel industries had been unfairly targeted by environmental activists.

"I'm concerned that they're picking on Wollongong and the Illawarra, saying what we do will make a major difference," he said.

"We need to share the burden of carbon emissions, whether that be the livestock industry, whether that be the steel industry — those who enjoy the profits of those industries must also share the burden."