33,000 new Aussie mining jobs: Where they’ll be in NSW, Vic, QLD
There will be new jobs for blue collar workers in the mining hot spots of Queensland’s Gladstone region, NSW’s Hunter Region and Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. See what’s coming.
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Almost 20,000 blue collar jobs could be created over the next decade in two primary industry powerhouses on Australia’s eastern seaboard — plus another 14,000 in the Latrobe Valley, new research shows.
Analysis commissioned by News Corp Australia on opportunities for blue collar workers in the mining hot spots of Queensland’s Gladstone region and NSW’s Hunter Region reveals an estimated 19,000 jobs will be created by 2032 if they are transformed into Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts.
These are highly industrialised areas where there is already a high level of energy production and demand – often linked to mining and manufacturing – which can be refitted for clean energy purposes.
As well as making the most of existing infrastructure and demand, the precincts would also be a boon for regional areas which are likely to be most affected as global demand for coal softens over coming years, replacing those local jobs with new jobs in the same communities.
The breakdown by the think tank Beyond Zero Emissions, WWF-Australia and leading economic analysts ACIL Allen, predicts more than 5000 jobs in Gladstone, including 2,729 technicians and tradies and an estimated 1,596 machinery operators and drivers.
In the Hunter it is estimated there could be more than 14,000 blue-collar jobs, including 8,259 technicians and tradies, 3,480 machinery operator and driver jobs, and 2,926 labourer jobs.
On top of this, it is estimated 14,000 local jobs could be created if a Renewable Energy Industrial Precinct was established in the Latrobe Valley, new research by Beyond Zero Emissions has found.
BZE said Australia’s first offshore wind project, Star of the South, would anchor the valley’s industrial future and reaffirm the region as the energy heart of Victoria as well as create new jobs for the local skilled workforce.
Other industries attracted to the region would include critical mineral recovery industries, battery storage and onshore energy developments which can help repower the local food manufacturing industry.
“Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts will repower Australian manufacturing and make our manufacturers competitive on the global stage,” BZE CEO Heidi Lee said.
“The precincts offer an incredible return on investment. More than any other sector, manufacturing delivers innovation, productivity growth and high-quality jobs. Manufacturing has a particularly powerful multiplier effect – the ability to create jobs indirectly – due to manufacturers’ reliance on extensive supply chains.
“Renewable Energy Industrial Precincts join the dots between the Government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy, the Technology Investment Roadmap, the National Hydrogen Strategy and development of Renewable Energy Zones.”
Two companies in the Hunter, battery systems manufacturer 3ME Technology and Batt Mobile Equipment are already producing battery electric drive systems for underground mining. The pair partnered to successfully retrofit the 20 tonne Volvo integrated tool carrier used in hard rock underground mining, and now BME has attracted a $4.5 million modern manufacturing grant to build more zero emissions mine vehicles.
“A Renewable Energy Industrial Precinct will enable us to ramp up impactful collaborations in the Hunter that support the rapid decarbonisation of our mining sector,” 3ME Technology CEO Justin Bain said.
“It means we can make our battery systems minus the carbon emissions, and increasingly that is what the global market is looking for.
“A Renewable Energy Industrial Precinct in the Hunter will prove critical for zero-emissions mining and the manufacturing of equipment used in zero-emissions mining. Australia is already recognised as a global leader in Mining Equipment, Technology and Services and we see our work as part of that next evolution for this established local industry.”
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Originally published as 33,000 new Aussie mining jobs: Where they’ll be in NSW, Vic, QLD
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