Hunter power station worker Glenn Kollner has joined an ACTU media conference in Canberra urging the Senate to pass legislation to support the government's Net Zero Economy Authority.
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Mr Kollner, a 40-year veteran of the Hunter power industry, said the government's proposed transition authority was crucial in ensuring workers had an organisation with the finances and people to support them regardless of which party was in power.
The 55-year-old assistant power operator worked at the now-decommissioned Liddell Power Station before transferring to nearby Bayswater, which is due to shut between 2030 and 2033.
"We're in a bit of trouble when it closes," he said from Parliament House.
"Most of my colleagues are pretty anxious. I won't retire until I'm 67, and my son works at Bayswater, too."
The proposed net zero authority is designed to coordinate an orderly economic transition from fossil fuels to clean energy and manufacturing, brokering job-creating investment and supporting workers.
The Hunter's two other coal-fired power plants at Eraring and Vales Point are due to close no later than 2029 and 2033 respectively.
Mr Kollner, a Mining and Energy Union delegate at Bayswater, said governments needed to ensure power stations had enough workers to keep them operating as they neared their closure dates.
"We're banking on renewables, but we haven't really done much in the past 10 years," he said.
ACTU president Michele O'Neil said the authority would help Australia grow new clean industries such as critical minerals and hydrogen power, a focus of renewables investment in the Hunter.
"It's urgent for power station workers now, and there's no time to waste," she said.
Ms O'Neil urged the Greens and crossbenchers to support the urgent passing of the Net Zero Economy Authority bill, which is up before the Senate this week.
The authority is designed to help workers retrain and redeploy and to drive new jobs and investment.
Mr Kollner met independent senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie on Monday and was planning to talk to other senators on Tuesday.
He said the Hunter was better placed than other coal power regions such as Lithgow and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria because the mining industry would remain a large employer.
"The mines will keep going past 2035, and we have a very skilled workforce at the power station," he said.
The Net Zero Economy Authority legislation passed the House of Representatives a month ago.
Greens leader Adam Bandt told Parliament in early June that the party was "reserving its position" in the Senate on the net zero authority, which he said was an exercise in "greenwashing" by the government.
The Greens have supported a transition authority with a wage guarantee for workers and government investment to grow new industries in regions like the Hunter.
"That is, unfortunately, not what we're seeing with this bill," Mr Bandt told Parliament.
"We're seeing an increasing trend from Labor of greenwashing.
"Please stop with the climate fraud where you pretend to care and bring in bits of legislation that have 'net zero' in front of it and then keep opening new coal and gas mines.
"You send mixed messages to the communities in the Hunter, the communities in Queensland and the communities in Western Australia."
Mr Bandt told the Newcastle Herald on Tuesday that the net zero authority legislation, which covers mostly power station workers, would "leave nine out of 10 coal and gas workers out in the cold".
"The government could expand the scheme and make sure every coal worker has a job in the renewable economy, but they have so far refused to do so," he said.
He would not say whether the Greens would vote against the bill in the Senate or seek to amend it.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
