Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Collie, in the south-west of Western Australia, has a proud and enduring history as one of our state's great industrial heartlands. For nearly a century, its coalmines and power stations have powered Western Australia, fuelled our economy, provided jobs and sustained a close-knit community. Generations of my family have worked in the Collie coalmines, but the world is changing. Demand for coal-fired power is falling; infrastructure is ageing. When the decision was made to retire Collie stations in a phased and planned approach, it was never going to be a matter of just switching off the lights. It's not just an economic challenge but a deeply human one. The workers and families who have built their lives in Collie deserve certainty, respect and a genuine and just transition, and that is what is being delivered. My union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, has stood alongside government, local workers and the community to make sure that's what is being delivered.

Union led advocacy has ensured that Collie's workforce has been a part of the decision-making on the future of their town and their industries. It's meant access to upskilling and retraining pathways and an ongoing dialogue to maintain trust and inclusion. They have helped shape a world-leading model of transition that creates real opportunities for workers and their families. Since 2019, unions have worked hand in hand with government, industry, local leaders and the community to build a road map that secures Collie's future. It's been guided by representatives like Darcy Gunning from the Just Transition Working Group. Collie's approach has centred on workers' rights and community decision-making, not imposed change, not just by simply replacing one industry with another but by creating a diversified and thriving economy that gives locals choice and confidence. At the heart of all of this is the understanding that this can't be done by one level of government alone. That's why it's so encouraging to see this government recognising the national scale of this challenge and backing it with serious policy and serious investment.

The Net Zero Economy Authority is now tasked with coordinating the transition for workers in coal- and gas-fired power stations around the country. That means working with many communities across our country, just like Collie, to ensure national policy supports local plans. The Albanese government's Future Made in Australia plan is unlocking over a billion dollars to back in green industry like critical minerals, clean manufacturing and low-carbon technologies. That opens the door to federal incentives for projects already underway in Collie. And, just this week, the government has announced a major expansion of Australia's renewable energy underwriting scheme, supporting the deployment of up to 40 gigawatts of large-scale solar, wind and storage projects by 2030. It's exactly the kind of market certainty that industrial towns like Collie need to attract clean investment and futureproof local jobs. What's happened in Collie is more than just a local success story; it's an international blueprint. It's fast becoming a blueprint for the eight million coal workers right around the world facing the future beyond fossil fuels.

These initiatives show what is possible when state governments, federal governments, union leadership, the local community and workers come together with the same goal of a fair and people focused transition. It's a model for how we do this right; how we transition communities with respect, with ambition and with solidarity. There is of course more work ahead, but the people of Collie, supported by their unions and Labor, are proving that a just transition isn't a pipe dream; it's a promise.