Labor helps bankroll Al Gore as Hazelwood power station jobs go

TAXPAYERS face a $150,000 bill to fund a “resilience” conference starring anti-coal campaigner Al Gore while hundreds of workers lose their jobs with today’s closure of Hazelwood power station.

Victorian taxpayers will stump up $150,000 to help sponsor a Melbourne conference featuring former US vice-president Al Gore while hundreds of workers lose their jobs with Hazelwood power station’s closure.

TAXPAYERS face a $150,000 bill to fund a “resilience” conference starring anti-coal campaigner Al Gore while hundreds of workers lose their jobs with Friday’s closure of Hazelwood power station.

Critics have condemned the Andrews Government’s sponsorship of the conference — co-sponsored by Melbourne University — featuring the former US vice-president and global warming campaigner, who has lobbied to shut down plants like Hazelwood in favour of renewable energy.

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The Andrews Government’s policies to slap taxes on brown coal and set ambitious renewable energy targets have been cited as factors in Hazelwood’s demise.

As Hazelwood shuts, it can be revealed the state Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning invested $150,000 for the Ecocity summit featuring celebrity climate activist Mr Gore.

Hazelwood plant unit controller Gary Sevenson said Mr Gore would leave a trail of carbon emissions flying to Australia.

“There needs to be some sort of action on carbon and climate change but the way it’s been handled locally has been pretty disappointing,” he said.

“Removing a station the size of Hazelwood is going to leave a big dent in the national energy market where we’ve seen wholesale prices increase.”

Taxpayers face a $150,000 bill to fund a “resilience” conference starring anti-coal campaigner Al Gore. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Meanwhile, hundreds of workers will lose their jobs with Friday’s closure of Hazelwood power station. Picture: Jason Edwards

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Evan Mulholland, from free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, said the government and other event sponsors should be condemned.

“If Daniel Andrews is so pleased to sponsor the trip of Mr Gore with taxpayers’ money, then he should take him up to the Latrobe Valley and make him explain to the Hazelwood workers why they’re losing their jobs because of the climate policies he advocates,” he said.

“Australians don’t like being lectured by well-off foreigners like Mr Gore on how to run our country, especially when the end result is higher power prices and workers losing their jobs.”

While Mr Gore has reportedly charged up to $200,000 to speak at events, a Melbourne University spokesman said no fee was involved. Organisers will help pay for his travel and accommodation costs.

Former US Vice President Al Gore. Picture: Supplied

Mr Gore, US vice-president from 1993-2001, became an international climate celebrity with his 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, and this week he launched a sequel.

He will speak at the Ecocity World Summit 2017 in July. In a 2015 visit to Melbourne, he met ministers from three state Labor governments including Victoria’s, and later told a Melbourne University event they “understand this crisis and the nature of the opportunity (such as renewable energy)”.

He called for “moral courage” on climate change and said he was “stoked” parts of Australia were moving on the issue.

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio said the government didn’t close Hazelwood.

“It’s a disgrace that on the day Hazelwood closes, the flat-earthers at the IPA would use Hazelwood workers as political footballs,” she said.

“As they well know, the private company Engie made a commercial decision to close Hazelwood and divest from coal across the globe.”

But Opposition environment spokesman Brad Battin said Mr Andrews’ priorities were clear. “Hang out with celebrities and ignore the fact that nearly 1000 workers in the Latrobe Valley just lost their jobs,” he said.

The City of Melbourne is Ecocity host city sponsor and will hold a welcome reception, while Melbourne University is among the other sponsors.

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@JMasanauskas