Thursday, 10 February 2022

Eastern Victoria Region

Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:41): (1617) My constituency question is for the Minister for Regional Development. Yallourn power station is slated to close four years early, by 2028, and today we see that AGL has announced that Loy Yang will close by 2045. One of my constituents, who lives in the valley, really understands the fact that we need—Victoria-wide we need—baseload power, reliable and affordable power. The Latrobe Valley particularly needs ongoing sustainable jobs, targeted investment, new technologies and industries. But the role of the Latrobe Valley Authority is most uncertain. Its current funding concludes in June, only five months away, and the constituent really needs to understand what its future will be. There is no new grant money. Apparently at the moment they are just facilitating through salaries. So my constituent wants me to ask: what is the future of the Latrobe Valley Authority and when will you inform the community?