Greens candidate for Wollongong City Council Deidre Stuart questioned whether a full range of views were represented.

Ms Stuart noted members of the environmental movement were not present.

“There’s some great people across our society who have good ideas about how people can be upskilled.”

Ms Stuart said there needed to be similar engagement with the environmental consequences of mining, given the estimated multimillion-dollar bill to rehabilitate the Wongawilli and Russell Vale mines, if a buyer is not found.

“Let’s start with cleaning up all the mess,” she said.

Story by Connor Pearce in the Illawarra Mercury, 27 March 2024.