Latrobe Valley employment
Mr NORTHE (Morwell) (14:28): My question is directed to the minister for energy. Minister, as you will be aware, AGL has announced today that it is intending to bring forward the closure of its Loy Yang A coal-fired power station from 2048 to between 2040 and 2045. This announcement follows the abrupt closure of Hazelwood in 2017 and the scheduled early closure of Yallourn in 2028. Can the minister advise the Latrobe Valley community what the state government is doing and intends to do to support workers, contractors, businesses and suppliers through the closure of these power stations and in particular what future employment opportunities will exist for individuals and families impacted by power station closures in my electorate?
Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (14:29): Can I thank the member for Morwell for his very timely question given the announcement this morning by AGL with respect to not just of course the power station here in the Latrobe Valley but also one of the ones that they own in New South Wales. Certainly AGL’s announcement today really does point to the importance of governments to be prepared, to think ahead, to work with communities and to invest in a future that is bright and provides confidence and provides a sense of optimism. And that is exactly what is at the heart of our actions as the Victorian government. Nothing is closer to our heart as a government than jobs, whether it is jobs in the Latrobe Valley or whether it is jobs in any part of this great state, and what I will say is that we need to have a look at the record that we have in that regard. The member for Morwell certainly raised the circumstances, or at least the events, of the closure of Hazelwood and of course the closure of Yallourn in 2028 as an indication of how things should not be done and how things can be done. Certainly when the privatised Hazelwood power station was announced for closure, a decision made on the other side of the world, we stood ready, intervened and created a significant opportunity for—
A member interjected.
Ms D’AMBROSIO: Absolutely right. We created the Latrobe Valley Authority and have invested $2 billion since 2014 in the region. Since 2016 alone 4000 jobs have been created thanks to the Latrobe Valley Authority and the investment that we put in, but of course these things do not just start and stop at a particular time. We know that transition for areas of our community, including the Latrobe Valley, is years in the making. Creating jobs that are sustainable and the skills that come with that on the back of an industry that has served all of us very, very well for many, many decades needs a transition, and it is only this government that will deliver that.
In terms of the future, I can say to you that the future is one that we absolutely are committed to. We have designated the Latrobe Valley and south of that to offshore in the Gippsland region as one of our six renewable energy zones. We have already allocated $540 million to develop these renewable energy zones. These will be the future, and the Latrobe Valley and its residents are well placed to take advantage of that. We have made some announcements around offshore wind. Two of those proponents that received grant funding from us are off the shore of Gippsland, and there will be a really fantastic story for jobs, maintenance and skills that will come in the not-too-distant future.
Mr NORTHE (Morwell) (14:32): Minister, in addition to the early closure of power stations in the Latrobe Valley which have had and will have a massive negative economic impact in our region, the government is also intending to end native timber harvesting by 2030, which will further erode employment opportunities and business confidence in our community. Given the potential for further massive job losses in the Latrobe Valley through the energy and timber sectors alone, and nearly five years after the closure of the Hazelwood power station, why has the state government failed to work with local industry, business and community members in developing a transition plan for the Latrobe Valley, and will the minister and the government finally commit to undertaking this critical piece of work with urgency?
Ms D’AMBROSIO (Mill Park—Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Minister for Solar Homes) (14:33): I thank the member for the supplementary question, and I will disagree with the member on some of the assertions in that, respectfully. The fact is we established the Latrobe Valley Authority. It is about working toward the future and consulting with the communities. The Latrobe Valley Authority has a really strong presence in the community. With any areas of our economy that are subject to transition—there have been many in the past decades and there will be more into the future that happens with innovation and that happens with technology; there is nothing new there—the commitment from this government is that we will continue to work with those communities and create the jobs, the local skills and the local employment opportunities. I simply refer to the record that we have, and it is a strong record. Never do we want to see the things we saw in the mid-1990s when in the Latrobe Valley unemployment hit 14.7 per cent. It is far from that now, and I know that I, the Minister for Regional Development and other ministers in this government stand ready and are delivering for those people.