This is the seventh major symposium organised by Illawarra Branch over the past five years and the fifth dealing with various aspects of coal. It is clear that all of you here need no convincing that black is beautiful! This symposium is on a broader canvas, covering the overall field of occurrence, preparation and utilization of black coal throughout Australia. It is thus the most comprehensive treatment of the subject by the Institute since the symposium organized in 1950 by the Sydney Branch with the co-operation of the then newly formed branches in Newcastle, Illawarra, Central Western N.S.W. and Southern Queensland, all of which shared coal as a major interest. The 1950 symposium was adopted as a volume in the series of seven published by the Fifth Empire Mining and Metallurgical Congress in 1953. This historical reminiscence brings to our minds the circumstances in which these new Institute branches were formed. This happened in the year of the presidency of the late Frank Hockey, and at the time the Australian black coal industry was in many ways at a very low ebb. It was the time of extreme shortage of coal following World War II, and the industry was beset by industrial unrest on such a scale that daily bulletins were posted listing the number of idle pits, of idle miners and of tons of lost production._x000D_
There could not, of course, be any thought of export marketing. Some of the more picturesque bulletins recorded the number of pits at which the ceremonial emptying of billies took place, and the number of pits at which the aroma of the horses' breath was insupportable. At an Institute conference at the time it is on record that the late lamented Austin Edwards, that tireless mineral researcher, author and editor, in his gentle way chided the personnel of the industry and the members of the Institute for having allowed a situation to develop in which a whole generation of Australian children could grow up without ever having seen coal or knowing what it was. It is sad that most children and most Australians have still never seen coal, and think of it as something dirty and uninteresting. The desperate situation of the black coal industry inspired moves by people in industry and in governments, whose plans and efforts have been recorded elsewhere, to modernize coal mining methods, to introduce coal preparation, and generally to restore the mines and the mining communities and to re-cast the steel industry and electricity generation._x000D_
Amelioration of the traditionally troubled industrial relations was an integral part of this overall programme, and whilst one would wish this aspect had progressed further the situation has, in fact, improved immensely. New investment in exploration, mining, preparation, transport and utilization both by the existing coal mining groups and by new entrants, Australian and overseas, have played a large part in bringing about the transformation of the industry to such a point that Australian needs are being fully met and a large export market is being supplied - a situation that few would have dared to hope for in those dark post-war days. Forecasts of exports from New South Wales and Queensland show coal becoming a dominant foreign exchange earner for an indefinite term. Old King Cole may have vanished from our children's nursery rhymes but King Coal is here to stay, providingthat costs in the industry can be kept within competitive limits. It is all too easy for an industry to price itself out of the export market by inflation, by increased costs for a variety of reasons, and through currency readjustments. A second proviso is that we must continue to encourage a balanced attitude to environmental matters.