Hunter candidates clash over net zero in coal mining heartland

Three of the men vying for the seat of Hunter have clashed over coal mining and basic maths in their candidates’ debate.

Basic maths, net zero emissions targets and the future of mining have all featured in a debate between three men who are vying for the Hunter electorate.

Labor candidate Dan Repacholi, the Nationals’ James Thomson and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation contender Dale McNamara met for a people’s forum hosted by Sky News on Wednesday.

The topic of mining unsurprisingly featured prominently in the debate, which was held in the industry’s Hunter Valley heartland where residents are contemplating the future of coal.

Veteran MP Joel Fitzgibbon is retiring after more than 20 years as the Labor representative for the seat, which he has held since the 2019 election on a slim three per cent margin.

Announcing his retirement late last year, Mr Fitzgibbon took a swipe at the “idealist progressives” that he said had kept his party in opposition and urged Labor to return to its working class base.

His traditionally blue-collar electorate has been held by Labor since 1910 but discontent over mining and emissions reduction has chipped away at the party’s vote.

The Nationals’ James Thomson, Labor's Dan Repacholi and One Nation's Dale McNamara faced off at the Sky News People's Forum debate on Wednesday. Picture: David Swift

Mr Thomson on Wednesday threw his support behind the Coalition’s net zero by 2050 policy.

“We’re supporting coal jobs, but we also support diversifying our economy,” the high school teacher said.

Mr Repacholi also said he supported the emissions reduction target but he would do “whatever I need to do to represent the people of the Hunter”.

Mr McNamara railed against his two competitors for supporting their parties’ respective pledges to reach carbon neutrality.

“I see dark times and bad times for the Hunter if we get net zero emissions,” the Singleton businessman declared to viewers.

“If I’m elected I’ll be fighting against the zero emissions target.”

Mr McNamara later conceded he had an vested interest in the matter given he “builds underground mining equipment”.

He criticised his Labor competitor Mr Repacholi for recommending people preference the Greens.

“And the Greens have said, tomorrow, if we get the balance of power, we will shut down gas (and) coal projects,” Mr McNamara claimed.

Mr Repacholi and Mr McNamara clashed over voting preferences. Picture: David Swift

Asked if he was preferencing the Greens, Mr Repacholi said he was “preferencing an independent” and the Greens would be in the “bottom five” on his how-to-vote cards.

Mr Thomson pointed out there were only nine candidates running, meaning the Greens candidate would be in fourth place.

Defending himself, Mr Repacholi suggested his Nationals competitor “do your maths”.

“You’ve got the bottom five — five, six, seven eight, nine. So the bottom five equals nine, you’ve got four on top of that,” he said.

The host of the debate Laura Jayes interjected, saying: “All right, I’m glad we can all count to 10”.

Trained engineer and former steelworker Janet Murray is running for the Greens in the seat on a platform of supporting local people to transition out of the coal industry.

“I’ll be fighting for our communities to get the support they need to survive and thrive after coal — not telling workers their jobs will be safe for decades, as Labor does,” she says on her official website.

The Hunter electorate encompasses the coal-rich region stretching from Lake Macquarie in the south to northwest of Newcastle.