The Eraring power station in NSW’s Hunter region. A new report shows workers who lose their jobs in such areas face larger-than-normal hits to their incomes.Credit:Brendon Thorne
Over the past decade,about a third of the nation’s coal-fired power stations have closed,with more expected to be shuttered as cheap renewable sources of energy replace them. The Coalition has suggested the power plants could be converted into nuclear power plants.
But e61’s research shows workers in communities such as Victoria’s Latrobe Valley,the Hunter region in NSW and the Collie region of Western Australia face a substantial hit to their incomes that may be difficult to recover from.
The institute compared coal-fired power station workers who have been made redundant with employees who have lost their jobs in other industries.
It found workers suffer a 43 per cent drop in earnings in their first year of redundancy. But coal-fired power plant workers suffered a much larger drop,of 69 per cent.
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The financial pain was ongoing,with workers from coal-fired power plants earning 50 per cent less after four years,compared with 29 per cent less for all workers.
The institute’s policy director,Dan Andrews (not the former Victorian premier),said research showed there were substantial policy issues ahead as governments sought to decarbonise the economy.