February 23, 2023
The Mining and Energy Union has called on the Federal Government to urgently establish a federal Energy Transition Authority to help workers facing job losses when coal mines and coal-fired power stations close.
Seventy workers from coal-fired power stations and domestic thermal coal mines have been meeting in Sydney this week to discuss the impact of the energy transition on workers and urge the Federal Government to provide co-ordinated support.
“Given the speed at which coal-fired power stations are now accelerating toward closure. the Federal Government has to establish an Energy Transition Authority this year or it will probably be too late,” Mining and Energy Union general president Tony Maher said.
“If Australia doesn’t get an Energy Transition Authority established in time it would be a moral failure, because it’s wrong to expect blue collar workers to bear the brunt of the nation’s climate change action when the costs could easily be shared.”
The two-day meeting has brought together delegates from 25 facilities from Tasmania, Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.
