Greens pledge $19 billion to assist coal workers transition to new industries

Greens leader Adam Bandt said every coal worker would have access to a decade of financial support as they transitioned into new industries such as renewables, minerals mining and green manufacturing or to retrain or as they prepared retire.

"Change is happening quickly but there's no plan for coal workers," Mr Bandt said.

"Governments are leaving coal workers exposed. With coal closures being brought forward and our coal customers moving to zero emissions, Australia is sleepwalking into the closure of the coal industry, but every single worker is being told by the Liberal and Labor parties that they have nothing to worry about."

Mr Bandt will meet with Hunter coal workers to discuss how the Job-for-Job Guarantee program will work if the Greens win the balance of power at the upcoming federal election.

Funded by taxing billionaires and coal and gas companies, the plan includes three interlocking components:

The Job-for-Job Guarantee package will provide 50 per cent of a coal worker's wage for a decade, provided as a wage subsidy to employers who provide an equivalent paying job.

Workers over 55 will be able to receive the wage subsidy for up to 12 years as they transition to retirement.

Workers who cannot find alternative work can receive the subsidy directly.

A generous financial support package to support coal workers move to new industries was a central component of a successful strategy employed in Germany to phase out its coal industry.

Mr Bandt said the Greens' plan built on and supported the work and proposals being developed by local communities such as the recent plan put forward by the Hunter Jobs Alliance - Future-proofing the Hunter.

This announcement sits side by side with the Greens' initiatives to invest billions of dollars to grow new industries in affected regions.

In addition to the Diversifying Coal Communities Fund, the investment mandates of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and Export Finance Australia will be amended to prioritise the financing of the plans developed by local authorities.

The Greens have already announced a jobs-rich $40 billion plan to convert Snowy Hydro into a massive renewables generator, with a big build of solar, wind and storage, creating over 110,000 jobs, many of which will be in current coal and gas areas and able to access the Job-for-Job Guarantee subsidies.

The Greens will also announce further plans to grow new industries in coal and gas areas, including in manufacturing, steel and energy, as well as in the mining of minerals necessary in a zero emissions world. The Greens plan is based on Australia exiting thermal coal by 2030, but will also extend the timetable for the phase-out of metallurgical coal until 2040, ensuring there is enough time to transition to replacements in the manufacture of green steel and other products.

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