Mining and energy union boss slams Queensland power ‘debacle’

The boss of Queensland’s mining and energy union has launched an attack on the Palaszczuk government’s signature policy to phase out coal-fired power by 2035.

Queensland Mining and Energy Union president Stephen Smyth. Picture: AAP

The boss of Queensland’s mining and energy union has launched an attack on the Palaszczuk government’s signature policy to phase out coal-fired power by 2035, slamming it as a “debacle,” “fraught with danger” and a broken promise.

Stephen Smyth says his Labor-affiliated union was blindsided by the plan, accusing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Energy Minister Mick de Brenni of abandoning the ALP’s traditional blue-collar base in the regions.

“It’s really caught us by surprise, this plan; they’ve treated the communities in regional Queensland with contempt, they’ve condescended to us,” Mr Smyth, the Queensland Mining and Energy Union president, said.

Ms Palaszczuk announced her long-awaited $62bn energy plan in October, promising to shut Queensland’s fleet of state-owned coal-fired power stations early, replacing them with renewables – particularly pumped hydro – by 2035.

Mr Smyth’s union and the Electrical Trades Union both signed a $150m Energy Workers Charter and Jobs Security Guarantee on the day the energy policy was launched, to give power-­station workers access to training and new careers.

While he applauded the charter, Mr Smyth said the energy plan it supported was fundamentally flawed, and based on “pipe dream” technology such as green hydrogen and pumped hydro.

He said it threatened the state’s energy security and could lead to blackouts. He also claimed state-owned power stations were being dangerously run into the ground.

“The energy plan is just a debacle … it’s fraught with danger,” Mr Smyth said. “We’re worried about energy security; (not enough) maintenance is happening at these stations.

“We’ve still not got anything that can replace coal-fired power stations now.

“It’s dangerous for our members who work (at the stations), the close calls they’ve had.

“When you’ve got the principal union of the energy generation sector, ourselves, (having) no consultation on a decision that’ll have a massive impact on our members, it’s not good enough.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni. Picture: Liam Kidston

He said other new technology such as carbon capture and utilisation and storage should receive more investment.

One of the state’s largest coal-fired power plants, Callide in central Queensland, was forced to shut down entirely for hours on Friday after all four of its generation units failed.

Three are still offline after serious failures, including a cooling tower collapsing and a boiler shooting out hot gas last week.

Mr de Brenni defended Queensland’s renewables plan, saying it had been welcomed “both here and abroad by industry, conservationists and the energy workforce because it delivers both an orderly transition and economic growth, job opportunities and emissions reductions in unison”.

“As part of the plan, Queensland’s transition from coal-fired generation to renewable energy will be guided by independent experts to ensure the system remains reliable and secure,” he said.

Mr de Brenni said even with most of Callide offline, as well as the state-owned Kogan Creek power plant out of action, Queensland still had enough electricity supply to exceed demand. More than 18,000 megawatts of generation capacity – including rooftop solar – is connected to the grid, and there is 2797MW currently offline.

Queensland Conservation Council energy strategist Clare Silcock said the state was approaching a “nervous summer,” because there hadn’t been enough investment in renewable energy technology such as wind power and batteries.