NSW could lose 138,000 jobs to Liberal, Labor’s net zero schemes

New data has revealed as many as 138,000 jobs will be put at risk by the net zero policies being put up by both major parties ahead of the state election.

As many as 138,000 jobs, most of them in rural and regional NSW, will be put at risk by the net zero policies being put up by both major parties ahead of next month’s state election, leaving voters with little choice according to new analysis from the Institute of Public Affairs.

Research released Tuesday showed that not only would the net zero policies of both parties have a devastating effect on rural and regional electorates, but the agriculture sector would be hardest hit with more than 63,000 jobs under threat followed by those in coal mining (nearly 21,000) and primary metal and metal manufacturing (more than 15,000 jobs).

The electricity sector would also be smashed, with more than 14,000 jobs put at risk by the analysis.

Labor has promised to legislate climate targets and establish a “Net Zero Comimission” while locking in a target of net zero emissions by 2050 with a 50 per cent reduction on 2005 emissions by 2030.

The NSW government already has a target of reaching a 50 per cent reduction by 2030, but last year Treasurer Matt Kean also put forward a goal of a 70 per cent reduction by 2035. At the time Mr Kean also said that the targets would “support” 13,000 jobs.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has announced accelerated emissions reductions targets for NSW

The IPA’s analysis also found that promises to find new work for those who lose their jobs to net zero policies were also hollow.

According to their research barely 10 per cent of the jobs that are likely to be lost due to bipartisan emissions reduction targets would be made up by new so-called ‘green’ jobs, with the vast majority of jobs in agriculture, mining, and power generation irreplaceable.

A Hunter Valley coal miner takes a break from building NSW. Mining jobs will be among those at risk no matter who wins the March election, one analysis says.

Among the electorates the IPA said would be hardest hit were Upper Hunter, with 26 per cent of local jobs at risk, Barwon in the state’s west with 20 per cent of its jobs at risk, and Cootamundra, with nearly 19 per cent of its jobs at risk.

While the federally legislated net zero target would still apply, the IPA analysis found that the accelerated state-based 50% reductions in emissions by 2030 target, which is beyond the federal law, as well as the policies of both parties to impose a legislated state-based net zero target, ensures that NSWannot escape the job loss related effects of each party’s net zero commitments.

Of the ten most at-risk seats, six are held by Nationals, two by independents, and one each by Labor and the Liberals.

Labor leader Chris Minns has promised a “Net Zero Commission”

At the same time, the analysis also found that the ten seats in the NSW lower house that owuld be least affected are all classed as inner city or inner metropolitan.

“On a global scale, any emissions reduction from these policies would be negligible at best, yet the leaders of NSW are willing to inflict all this pain on families, for barely any environmental gain,” said Daniel Wild, deputy executive director of the IPA.

“Many regional communities face the risk of being wiped out as local industries they rely on for employment, and the rest of the country relies on for energy and food, are destroyed due to emissions reduction mandates.

“We need our political leaders to back our regions, which have so much promise and potential, but are being held back by shortsighted policies which risk closing critical industries, and ending well paid, full-time jobs.”