Energy Transition

Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie) (14:02): The move away from coal for thermal power production in New South Wales to clean renewables is inexorable and moving at a pace. There are good reasons for that and there is broad support for this clean future within this Government and, indeed, the former Government. This month, 200 coalmining workers at Centennial Coal's Mandalong Mine were told their jobs are soon to be lost. It was a move they did not see coming. The news has devastated not only the workers but also their families. It will have wider repercussions throughout the Lake Macquarie community. Concerns around the future of jobs at Eraring Power Station and of the mine workers at Mandalong and Myuna mines have been in focus since Origin Energy flagged the early closure of Eraring Power Station in 2022.

Indeed, in June this year, after a protracted process, Centennial Coal and Origin Energy struck a deal for a six-month extension, beyond the end of its current contract, for Mandalong and Myuna mines to supply coal to Eraring Power Station. This deal was to the relief of many, particularly miners and their families who were directly affected by potential job losses ahead of the closure of Eraring Power Station.

The deal provided a lifeline for jobs at both mines until the end of the year. Workers at the Mandalong mine were understandably completely blindsided by the news that some 200 jobs would soon be lost. Centennial Coal has blamed its failure to secure a new long-term contract with Origin to supply coal to Eraring on high production costs, coal price caps and an unreliable domestic market for the decision. Centennial Coal has also stated that restructuring the company was necessary so that it could cater to the export market and extend the life of the mine.

While a loss of 200 high-paying jobs is terrible, it is inevitable that more mining job losses are coming as we move away from traditional power generation and embrace renewable energy. We have known that this is coming, and there has been plenty of talk about how we can provide for a just transition to renewables—a transition that does not unfairly impact and fall disproportionately heavily and unequally on the workers and communities where mines and power stations have done the heavy lifting of energy production for many years. We appear nowhere near having the new jobs and retraining that we need for the eventual closure of those assets. We are certainly not ready for the loss of 200 jobs, let alone the risk to a further 350 workers at Centennial Coal's Myuna mine.

The Myuna mine is fully captive to Eraring Power Station and transports coal directly to Eraring via a conveyor belt. The mine has no opportunity to transport coal to other markets. If Origin Energy does not continue to take coal from Myuna beyond the end of the year, there is a real possibility that the mine will close. I understand that negotiations are ongoing between Centennial Coal and Origin Energy on that front, and I appreciate the conversation in good will that I have had and continue to have with Origin Energy in that regard. Origin Energy has gone on the record saying that it is no longer reliant on locally sourced coal from the Mandalong and Myuna mines, with 80 per cent of its stockpile coming from Hunter Valley-based mines further afield.

The Government needs to move on job losses now and prepare for new employment opportunities, particularly in the southern Lake Macquarie area. Developing policies and getting ready for what is happening in the future, while important, is not working for the immediate need. The future is here now. There must be something more that we can action. While new jobs will and are being created in the renewable energy sector and other industries that could, to some extent, replace the jobs that are being lost, the process is taking too long. Those jobs are not here yet. We need jobs available now, not just in the future.

The loss of those jobs will have a ripple effect throughout Lake Macquarie and the region. Workers face the prospect of having to choose between taking a lower paying job to stay in the area or having to upheave their families' lives and relocate to stay in the mining industry. That is not a "just" transition. We will be failing our communities if we do not do all we can to deliver well-paying jobs to workers displaced by the energy transition. I call on the Government to use what levers it has to do the best for those workers and their families, who have ensured that New South Wales has had reliable power for its homes, businesses and industries for years.