Greens announce coal community investment program as industry collapses

Farms not Coal

The Greens NSW have today announced a $1.8 billion direct investment program to support communities transitioning away from coal, the Coal Community and Environmental Trust.
The Coal Community and Environment Trust will be funded by a guaranteed income stream of 20% of all state coal royalties until 2030. The communities who make the wealth must receive fair benefits.

“Under the plan, communities and regions that currently coal dependent will receive direct investment across a ten-year period into re-skilling workers and rebuilding their economy,” David Shoebridge MP and lead Greens NSW candidate said.
“It also would see a commitment to new public jobs to replace and improve on the jobs lost with the end of coal, and a regional industries incentive scheme to expand existing successful agricultural, tourism and technology
industries.
“It’s about replacing coal with long term sustainable industries from renewable energy to environmental restoration, agriculture and tourism and having a guaranteed income stream to do this.
“We must end coal by 2030, but we need to ensure all coal dependent communities and their workforce are brought along with us, and no one is left behind in the transition.
“The Greens will always support communities to achieve a just and fair transition away from coal and help their economies and environments flourish in a post coal future. Today we are backing that commitment with real money.
“The end of coal is not just about stranded assets it is about communities like those in the Hunter being left behind as stranded communities,” he said.
“The NSW Government currently receives more than $1.5 billion in royalties from the coal sector each year. The Greens are committed to supporting the just transition of communities dependent on coal by investing at least 20%
of these royalties back into their communities,” Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW upper house candidate said.
“In just the last few days we have seen Glencore cap their coal program and a ban on Australian coal imports at a major Chinese coal port. These industries are already in terminal decline and local communities are feeling the effects of the inevitable switch to renewable energy.
“New South Wales owes it to these communities to empower them in this transition by providing proactive and free training and by committing to support new and expanding clean industries.
“By working in partnership with local councils, the Coal Community and Environmental Trust will enable communities to chart their own course through this inevitable transition, and the whole of New South Wales can quit coal by 2030 without hurting local communities,” Boyd said.
The Coal Community and Environmental Trust will work in conjunction with PowerNSW, a publicly owned renewable energy company announced by the Greens
last week <https://greens.org.au/node/23318>.

25 Feb 2019