YOUNG people, especially young women, see that coal town Muswellbrook's days are numbered. They continue to leave town, despite the temporary reprieve of coal as a result of the world's energy crisis ('Time to pay back the shire that fed the state coffers', Opinion, 4/7). I am not sure Muswellbrook Shire, or any other coal mining area, is owed anything by NSW.
Mining towns have always contributed disproportionately to state coffers. Locals are not owed anything morally or legally for the mining royalties that companies have contributed. The discovery and mining of a valuable mineral or fossil fuel is an accident of geography. Well paid mine workers have always moved on from mining towns, as mines have closed down, leaving an ageing population to live out their lives.
