When mines close in Victoria, local people fear for their future and predict whole towns will die. But if the Coalition and Labor are serious about their climate change targets, are they also ready to replace the lost Australian jobs?
Greg Dunn, coffee in hand, has just finished a 12-hour night shift at the Hazelwood power station. He is tired, but in his low-key way, he is resigned, too. He rattles off the members of his family who have worked in the electricity industry in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, a list that almost certainly will end with him.
Dunn’s father worked as a boilermaker in the valley. His grandfather worked here too, back in gentler days when electricity was thought an essential service for governments to run. In the valley, it was the state electricity commission (SEC).
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We have this thing in Australia around power stations. They seem to have this sacred status
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‘Transition’ is the buzzword, a word tossed about with optimism, or resignation, or cynicism
We lost about 15,000 jobs in the Latrobe Valley … there were middle aged people who never worked again.
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