Hunter Valley to ‘die on vine’ if no net zero authority, unions warn

Unions are warning if closing power stations were not ‘replaced by other viable industries’, it would ‘lead to ­multigenerational employment (and) social dysfunction’.

Unions are warning the government’s proposed net zero economy authority is needed or “regions like the Hunter Valley will die on the vine” as a result of mass power station closures. Picture: Escape

Unions have warned the government’s proposed net zero economy authority is needed or “regions like the Hunter Valley will die on the vine” and entire communities will come under “real threat” as a result of mass power station closures.

Appearing before a senate hearing into the government’s legislation aimed at establishing a new authority to help workers benefit from the economic transformation, union leaders said on Tuesday the survival of regional communities was at stake.

Mining and Energy Union general president Tony Maher said that if closing power stations were not “replaced by other viable industries”, it would “lead to ­multigenerational employment (and) social dysfunction”.

Scott King, an MEU delegate at the Eraring Power Station – a coal-fired power plant in Lake Macquarie due to close in August 2025 – said the proposed authority was an opportunity “for all my workmates, all of the people in the community to continue to prosper”. “If we don’t have something like this, regions like Hunter Valley will die on the vine,” he said.

Australian Services Union national secretary Robert Potter said the authority was “about the regions”. “To turn a blind eye to what is a transformation that’s coming … will see some of these communities under real threat unless the government can have this net zero authority,” he said.

Paul Glatter, ASU South Australian branch vice-president and shift supervisor at Torrens Island, the state’s largest gas-fired power station, set to close in mid-2026, said the ­impact of “mass power stations closures … as we push towards our net zero target is unprecedented”. “The ability to decimate our local and state economies is huge. But with this Bill, I am hoping that we have the ability to prevent this by leveraging the skills and expertise of our sector.”

ACTU legal and policy director Ben Moxham warned that “coal plant closures over the past decade have been devastating”.

“Recent research shows that those workers a year after redundancies are earning 69-70 per cent less than they were previously. That’s because these facilities are in regional, remote places … so they (workers) struggle to find similar work or any work at all.” 

The legislation set out the ­obligations on employers closing businesses to “support transition on training, advice, redeployment, paid time off to access those supports to give them the best chance of landing another job”.

“The Fair Work Commission can come in to help facilitate that process and ultimately make sure that that outcome is implemented,” Mr Moxham said.

“Given 10 coal-fired power stations will close by 2035, given the pace of change that we need, the authority is so vital to get up and running as soon as possible.”

Australian Industry Group head of workplace relations policy Brent Ferguson said there was a “lack of clarity” in parts of the Bill. “It does propose to create quite significant new obligations on employers in the provision of things such as financial, career advice, paid time off to attend to a whole range of activities and more. It doesn’t really place any clear parameters around that,” he said.