Family of killed miner calls for stronger sentencing for mining corporations

The four years since mine worker Gavin Feltwell died on the job have been the longest of his widow, Michelle's, life.

Mr Feltwell, 59, was working a night shift underground at the Moranbah North coal mine in Central Queensland.

He and five crew members were removing a conveyor when a torque arm slipped from the slings, fatally striking him in the head.

Mrs Feltwell was woken at midnight to the sound of a police officer knocking on her door calling her name.

"I thought I was dreaming," she said.

The next few hours and days are a blur in Mrs Feltwell's mind.

"He was my world, he was my other half," she said in between tears.

But she had to muster strength to contact their two adult children, Rachael in Brisbane and Daniel in another time zone in Canada.

"The moment I saw that I was getting a call from mum, my heart dropped," Daniel Feltwell said.

"I knew something must be pretty bad for her to be calling me at that time.

"I still get anxiety every time my phone vibrates."

No conviction

An investigation into what caused the accident was immediately launched by the state government's independent regulator, Resources Safety and Health Queensland.

The contractor running the mine at the time, Mastermyne Contracting Services, was charged 18 months later, in November 2023, with failure to discharge health and safety obligations causing death or grievous bodily harm, under the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999.

During the investigation, the family would get updates on the case, but it felt like living in limbo.

"You'd sort of start moving, not forward, but ahead in little bits and pieces, and then it all comes screaming back at you because there'd be a phone call going, 'Oh, it's been another mention, but it's just deferred again because of whatever reasons,'" Mrs Feltwell said.

Mastermyne Contracting Services pleaded guilty to the charge.

On the day of sentencing, Mrs Feltwell "couldn't face" the prospect of being in court.

"I had my sister on the phone as I was listening to the proceedings … remotely," she said.

"It was horrible, you've just got this pit in your stomach and you know that it's not going to be a great result."

Mastermyne Contracting Services was fined $310,000 and ordered to pay court and legal costs of $54,973.44, with no conviction recorded.

Fine felt like 'nothing'

"It just doesn't feel like there's any justice at all," Mrs Feltwell said.

"The government's inability to make these charges be carried out to the letter of the law, to the full extent … they've got the capacity to do so much more and it just never happens."

The maximum penalty for a corporation that has not discharged its health and safety obligation, resulting in the death of a person, is 15,000 penalty units, equivalent to $2,067,750.

Mastermyne Contracting Services is a subsidiary of the ASX-listed Mastermyne group of companies.

In the group's 2025 financial report, it reported an underlying profit of $3.2 million, after $19.6 million for the 2024 financial year.

Daniel Feltwell said the $310,000 fine felt like "nothing".

'No deterrent for mining corporations'

Scott Leggett has worked in the mining industry for 35 years, currently in a senior role overseeing safety.

"There is absolutely no deterrent in that at all for mining corporations to change the way that they go about doing business," he said of the court outcome.

Gavin Feltwell's name lies on a plaque at the Moranbah Miners Memorial, a project Mr Leggett has been a driving force behind.

"The last thing that I want is having another name on the wall," he said.

Another change Mr Leggett successfully lobbied for was the reintroduction of the Mining Warden's Court, which was abolished in Queensland in 2001.

After writing letters to government ministers for years, it was Mr Feltwell's death that put Mr Leggett over the edge.

He wrote another letter, this time "scathing", which got the attention of Queensland Mines Minister Dale Last.

The LNP government announced in October 2025 that mining and resources coroner Wayne Pennell had been appointed the role, to conduct mandatory inquests into reportable mining fatalities on Queensland mine, quarry, petroleum and gas sites, and suicides of mine workers if deemed to be in the public interest.

While it was "surreal" his hard work had paid off, Mr Leggett was still cautious.

"We're not there yet … it's only one step, so we've got to actually see how it plays out and make sure that it plays out with the initial intent that it's supposed to have," he said.

Daniel Feltwell does not want another family to go through the grief and pain his family has.

"Australia was considered like the gold standard of safety in the mines," he said.

"And it just feels like over the years, it's become less about people being safe and more about just trying to get as much money out of the ground as possible."