Fossil fuel giants miss invitation to Albanese’s jobs summit

The nation’s peak oil and gas body, the sector’s biggest company and the owner of the largest coal-fired power plant have not been invited to the Albanese government’s jobs summit.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen met with 70 energy sector leaders on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The nation’s peak oil and gas body, the sector’s biggest company and the owner of the largest coal-fired power plant have not been invited to the Albanese government’s jobs summit.

The Australian can reveal the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association won’t be in attendance and the nation’s largest independent oil and gas producer, Woodside Energy, was not invited.

Electricity generator and retailer Origin Energy, which is part-owner of, and supplies gas to, Australia Pacific LNG, was also not on the invite list. Origin operates a string of coal- and gas-fired power stations, including the country’s largest coal-fired plant, Eraring, in NSW.

The Australian also understands Santos – whose assets include the controversial proposed Narrabri Gas Project in NSW – will not attend.

Their absence comes despite the fact national energy transition will be a major issue discussed at the two-day conference as Labor pursues its 2030 target of a 43 per cent reduction in emissions on 2005 levels.

While APPEA will not attend, the Australian Energy Council will represent electricity and gas retailers.

Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen met with 70 energy sector leaders on Tuesday, including representatives from the AEC, the Clean Energy Council, Energy Consumers Australia, the Australian Aluminium Council, the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network and the Clean Energy Investor Group.

The Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group and the ACTU also attended the event, dubbed a “mini” energy summit.

Treasury’s issues paper for next week’s jobs summit – released last week – stated there was a “huge opportunity to maximise jobs and opportunities from the increasing use of renewable energy (and) tackling climate change”.

“The impacts of climate change, the shift to cleaner and cheaper energy, and the adoption of new and emerging technologies, which have implications for business models, workforce needs and government policies,” Treasury paper said.

“How can government and businesses maximise the opportunities presented by the structural trends impacting the economy, including the climate and energy transition, while ensuring the benefits are shared fairly?”

The Australian reported on Tuesday that CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ would not be sending representatives, despite the four big banks collectively employing almost 150,000 people. The government has defended the decision, saying Jim Chalmers has met with each of the big four banks’ CEOs over the past month, and that the industry would be represented by Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh.

When pressed on Tuesday to explain the apparent snubbing of the banking giants, Anthony Albanese said “there is a range of forums and opportunities for people to participate and, of course, the financial sector will have a number of representatives”.

“The truth is, we could have a thousand people here in Parliament House and those thousand people would all have merit. There are some limits so we have tried to make sure it is a representative group,” the Prime Minister said.

“The Treasurer has met with the CEOs of all of the four banks. The other thing that we’ve had is that this summit isn’t just about the two days that are held here in Parliament House next Thursday and Friday.

“It’s also the more than 60 summits and hearings that we have held right around the country.”

The Australian has confirmed Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker will be in Canberra for the summit next week, alongside BHP boss Mike Henry and For­tescue chairman Andrew Forrest.