New South Wales (NSW) Labor has shifted away from its national counterpart’s climate change agenda to support a former coal miner as its candidate in the Upper Hunter by-election. NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay made the statement while announcing their candidate for the Upper Hunter by-election. “We do not support a moratorium on coal mines; let’s get that out of the way,” McKay said. The about-face comes as NSW Labor announced it would run a former coal miner and Jeff Drayton as its candidate. Drayton is district vice president for the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). McKay said that the by-election would be about the future of coal in the region but denied that her declaration damaged her party’s standing on climate change and environmental issues. “What frustrates me is that if you’re in this corner, supposedly you can’t accept that corner,” McKay said. “We need to be pursuing renewable energy, …