Memorial Day Service to Remember Lives Lost to Coal Mining
MEU
The Hunter mining community will gather at the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall this Sunday for the Mining and Energy Union’s 29th Annual Memorial Day Service, to remember and pay our respects to the lives that have been lost in coal mining fatalities in the Northern District Coalfields.
This year’s service will carry particular poignancy following the death of United Wambo mineworker and MEU member Paul Phillips, who was fatally injured at work on 3 August.
Paul’s death is the latest tragedy in a history represented by the 1,794 names now recorded on the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall, spanning more than two centuries of coal mining in the region.
Mineworkers and their families, families who have lost loved ones in the mining industry, union members and representatives, mining industry representatives, and local, state and federal political representatives will gather for the annual service. Members of the community are also welcome to attend.
MEU Northern Mining & NSW Energy District President Robin Williams said Memorial Day was a deeply important tradition for the Hunter’s mining communities.
“Behind every name on this wall is a person who went to work and never came home, and a family and community who had to live with that loss,” Mr Williams said.
“This year that reality is painfully fresh. Paul Phillips lost his life at United Wambo only weeks ago, and his death has had a profound impact on his family, his workmates and the wider mining community.
“Memorial Day connects the history of our industry with the responsibility we carry today. Mining has changed enormously over generations, but the fundamental promise to every mineworker must be the same: you should be able to go to work and return safely to the people who love you.
“We gather to remember those we have lost, to stand alongside their families and to renew our commitment to doing everything possible to prevent more names being added to this wall.”
The service will feature longstanding commemorative traditions, including the Mineworkers’ Pipe Band leading the ceremony, the miners’ safety lamp, wreath laying by families and representatives from across the mining community, and hundreds of floral tributes lining the black granite Memorial Wall.
The Jim Comerford Memorial Wall has been a place of remembrance for Hunter mining families for 30 years and records the human toll of coal mining across the Northern District Coalfields.
EVENT DETAILS
10.30am, Sunday 13 September 2026
Jim Comerford Memorial Wall
Federation House
Mining and Energy Union – Northern Mining & NSW Energy District
67A Aberdare Road, Aberdare NSW
Media are invited to attend.
Vision: Mineworkers’ Pipe Band; miners’ safety lamp; wreath-laying ceremony; families who have lost loved ones in the mining industry; mineworkers and community representatives; floral tributes at the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall.
Contact details:
Emily Holm
0400 382 271