Future Jobs and Investment Bill 2025

 I am pleased to contribute to debate on the Future Jobs and Investment Bill 2025. I thank the Minister for Natural Resources for preparing the bill, which proposes a new framework to replace the Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund—a scheme that was in itself never designed to be equitable for coal‑producing communities. When that scheme was introduced, we were legislating to support communities facing an energy transition on the not‑too‑distant horizon. Today, we are legislating to support communities through an energy transition that is happening now. This transition is not only about changing how energy is produced, distributed and consumed as we move away from primarily coal-fired power generation to renewables; it also has a human cost, which we are seeing in real time as the lives of workers in coalmines and coal-fired power stations are upended. Those workers need to be redeployed, reskilled or upskilled to remain employable in a rapidly changing workforce. Many could face relocation away from their family and established community ties.

More broadly, the downturn in domestic and global coal demand will result in losses to regional economies. There is an urgent need to create jobs and new industries that will be sustained over the long term. We are seeing this play out right now in Lake Macquarie. We truly are at the coalface of the transition. Since we last gathered in this place, my electorate has seen the expected closure of Eraring Power Station extended to 2029. That will help to keep the lights on while more renewables are rolled out. It gives power station workers two additional years of employment and that is welcome news for the community. We have also seen Origin Energy and Centennial Coal reach an agreement about the continued supply of coal to the power station for another three years. This will keep some 300 workers at Myuna Colliery employed, along with over 1,000 more in the regional supply chain. The deal follows months of negotiations, which created stress and uncertainty for workers, local businesses and the community as we faced the very real possibility that Myuna Colliery would close almost immediately.

For those workers, the energy transition is not an abstract concept; it is a reality, changing life as they know it. They deserve to know when they need to start looking for work and where. They need to be aware of the skills they will require to find work in a changing market. They need transparency and certainty. This is exactly why we need a strategic, community‑minded framework that provides structured support for workers and builds diverse and sustainable regional economies. We need a framework that is proactive and heads off the social and economic shocks that can be expected from mass closures, and we need this help now—before the energy transition continues to gather such steam that it gets away from us. We cannot let our communities fray because workers cannot get good jobs close to a mine. I therefore welcome the Government's bill and foreshadow that I will introduce amendments to increase ministerial accountability, entrench community consultation and improve transparency.

The bill may not look exactly like the type of support and intervention that some groups have called for or, indeed, what we have seen in the past. Many of us in the Hunter as well as Independent and crossbench members of the Legislative Assembly have called for some time for decisive action to help workers in coal regions. Establishing such a significant framework of course takes time. We do not want to rush it and have it fall short. I know the Minister is keen to get this model up and running so that coal regions, starting with the Hunter and the Central West, can get support. Extensive consultation on this bill has meant the proposed future jobs and investment model differs in key aspects from the model put forward in the May 2024 issues paper. The Minister has assured me that the bill's regulations will also be the subject of extensive consultation so that we can get the details of the scheme right.

I accept the Minister's advice that some concerns raised by stakeholders, including around the minimum content of workforce plans and membership of the Future Jobs and Investment Board, are better dealt with in regulation. This will allow the framework to remain flexible and responsive to the evolving and different needs of the four coal regions. I will follow this consultation closely and look forward to discussing the issues with the Minister at a later date. While the scheme is relatively flexible, there should be no hesitation about amending the bill's provisions, if passed, to ensure the scheme is operating effectively. I acknowledge the concerns of stakeholders including Hunter Renewal, the Hunter Jobs Alliance and the Association of Mining and Energy Related Councils NSW around the operation of part 7 of the bill.

This includes the very reasonable concern that coalmines may try to avoid transition planning. We cannot have a situation where a mine lays off most of its workers but does not undertake transition planning because it does not intend to permanently end the extraction of coal within the next three years—for example, where it puts the mine into extended care and maintenance. In circumstances of the absence of an automatic trigger in the bill, the Minister must be alive to this risk and actively, as well as proactively, exercise ministerial power to require the preparation of a workforce plan. If it otherwise becomes evident that part 7 is not working as intended to support workers and communities, it must be reviewed and amended. I call on the Minister to address those concerns when he replies to the debate.

I also think it is inevitable that the bill's provisions will be amended over time to ensure they are dynamic and adapt to the needs of coal regions and workers as the transition progresses. This transition will be decades long and the legislation must remain fit for purpose in managing an orderly and just economic adjustment. As stated in the bill's objects, a vital part of managing this adjustment is supporting the development of diverse and sustainable economies for coal regions. Central to the creation of a sustainable economy is environmental sustainability. As members can gather from its name, one of Lake Macquarie's biggest assets is the natural environment. I look to my colleague the member for Swansea, who represents one of the most beautiful coastal electorates also situated on Lake Macquarie.

Our lake is our greatest natural asset. It is part of what makes our region such a beautiful place in which to live. Over many years, we have rehabilitated soil and water that was contaminated by extraction and production. But there is still work to be done.

For example, I have raised with successive governments the need to dredge LT Creek at Fassifern to address degradation resulting from historic mining operations. We do not want to see the investment in new industries undermine and cause a shift away from the progress that has already been made. I know there is some disappointment that the bill does not explicitly incorporate environmental considerations, but the Minister has advised that those considerations are best placed in the regulation and that she will consult with agencies and stakeholders on this topic. I expect that, in practice, environmental concerns will also be raised by the authority, including local divisions, in its advice and recommendations.

In the past, legislation that has assured support for coal regions facing change has not delivered. At this critical time, more must be done to ensure that we look after those communities, including my own, which have looked after New South Wales for generations through electricity generation. The transition away from coal-fired power is inevitable, but hardship for coal communities in the face of this change is not. In supporting the bill, I need to reflect on how difficult it has been to get to this point. I acknowledge the Minister and her staff for their assistance, particularly Riley Campbell. I also thank my research officer, Francesca Arciuli-Matar, who did a huge amount of work engaging with the Minister's office and key stakeholders. I thank everybody for their efforts in trying to look after our coal mining communities into the future.