Mining coal in Australia in the 21st century is not lawless. It does not "ruin the ecology." It has CO2 impacts to be sure, but does not ruin the ecology.
On the plus side it provides indispensable, low-cost, electricity for poor people in Asia--people who wouldn't have electricity if not for coal.
Coal's only cheap when you don't bother to count all it's negative effects, which will predominately be borne by the poor people you're (slightly bizarrely) claiming to serve.
Coal isn't something worth celebrating, it should be phased out as quickly as possible. Every unit of coal not burned will let us burn twice as much natural gas in terms of CO2, and with far less pollution. And we have more gas than we can burn without blowing our carbon budget anyway.
On the plus side it provides indispensable, low-cost, electricity for poor people in Asia--people who wouldn't have electricity if not for coal.