Mission Zero: Why we need a plan to support Australian workers

The degradation of the climate debate over the past decade by both sides has been disheartening - but now we need a plan, writes Tony Maher.

The federal government is now poised to make the historic announcement that Australia

will set a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

But far from being the end of the argument, it is only the beginning. The question remains

how does Australia get there while at the same time protecting its economy and the

interests of workers and consumers.

Today we bring together five voices from all sides of the debate to make their case for how fast or slow Australia should go, and in which direction.

Australia is heading toward net zero. Australia’s economy depends heavily on coal and will for many years to come. Both these things are true.

It’s been disheartening to witness the degradation of the climate debate over the past decade. On the right there’s been climate denialism, or the view Australia has no role to play “because we’re small”. On the other side are those who say to avoid climate armageddon Australia must lead the world on immediately abandoning all coal production and use.

The sensible middle has always been here and we’ve had no help from either extremity. Maybe now we’re moving toward a more rational conversation.

The first thing we need to do is understand that the export coal sector and the domestic coal power industry are very different.

Twenty-one coal-fired power stations still supply about 60 per cent of Australia’s total energy needs. But regardless of this week’s theatre over targets, coal power plants have been closing for years and the published plans of all power station operators show that the remainder will be progressively retired over the next couple of decades.

The main debate here is how we will treat the 35,000 Australians they currently support.

The National Party, supposed champions of regional Australians, has no track record of going into bat for workers affected by structural change in the domestic power sector. They didn’t lift a finger to support workers who lost their jobs when the Hazelwood power station shut in the Latrobe Valley at short notice in 2017.

Tony Maher is president of the Mining and Energy Union.

Coal export is a different story. Some try to downplay its significance but the raw numbers speak for themselves.

Coal comes second only to iron ore as our biggest export earner. We produce about 450 million tonnes of black coal annually, and export 90 per cent of it. About 40 per cent of that is metallurgical coal, worth about $33 billion. There is currently no practical and economical alternative for steel-making. The rest is thermal coal for power generation. That’s worth another $24 billion. Prices for both thermal and metallurgical coal are currently booming.

There are around 50,000 direct jobs in coal mining and another 65,000 jobs in the industries servicing mining communities. Add in dependants and over a quarter of a million Australians rely on the coal export industry.

Even as coal use shrinks globally, forecasts have Australia’s share of export trade continuing to grow. Nations that produce lower grade coal, produced inefficiently will leave the market first.

Customers for Australian coal are mostly in Asia. If we stop selling to these countries there isn’t a skerrick of evidence it will change the direction of their energy policy. Under global agreements, each country is responsible for reducing their own domestic emissions. We don’t ask Japan to stop exporting cars to reduce transport emissions abroad.

So let’s be clear sighted about the path we’re on. Australia’s export coal industry is currently booming and it will do so while customers keep buying our coal, regardless of our domestic targets. Meanwhile, let’s stop the huffing and puffing and come up with a plan to support workers and regions affected by structural change in our domestic power industry.

Tony Maher is president of the Mining & Energy Union