E&OE
Introduction:
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was preparing to be the chair of this new state Net Zero Emissions Clean Economy Board. It's meant to create low carbon industries, see the state reduce its emissions in ways that would actually help grow the economy.
He was set to be the chair of that board, yesterday he was removed from contention. The New South Wales Energy Minister said the focus of the board shouldn’t be on personality, that the chair shouldn't distract from achieving results and this came after Malcolm Turnbull made comments opposing coal mines, particularly one in the Hunter Valley. He is of course a landholder in the Hunter.
He joined ABC Upper Hunter Breakfast host Mike Pritchard and Mike asked Malcolm Turnbull if he was surprised by the decision.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Well, I was disappointed. I've been around in politics too long to be surprised by anything, but I was certainly disappointed. I was looking forward to helping the state government make that transition to net zero emissions, which is their policy, but of course that ran into the objections from the coal lobby and people who want to keep digging up the Hunter Valley for open cut coal mines.
Mike Pritchard:
You say the coal lobby, but it appeared to be an old enemy of yours and that's the Murdoch press and some radio.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Yes, well exactly, yes. Essentially this was a sort of media campaign led as you say by the Murdoch press and of course the shock jocks on 2GB, they work hand in glove with the coal lobby. They don't care about the Hunter Valley. They don't care about air quality. They don't care about the environment. Essentially John Barilaro has said that he's onboard, he doesn't want there to be any planning or any constraint on the continued expansion of coal mining in New South Wales and in particular in the Upper Hunter. So those huge pits will just, if Barilaro has his way, will just keep marching up the valley ripping up good farmland.
Mike Pritchard:
But is that all about jobs? Is it all about winning an election and a by-election to have the job?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I think it's more about winning, the politics frankly, Mike. The reality is I've been accused of saying I want to shut down coal, that's actually completely untrue. The Telegraph says in their editorial today that I want to shut down coal mines, it's not true. What I've said is that demand for export coal is declining, that's clear, the statistics are very clear there and the reasons are obvious. People in other countries are burning less coal because they want to move to clean energy and indeed we're seeing coal-fired generators closing in Australia as well. So that trend is there. We have a number of the existing mines in the Hunter, as your listeners know, are operating below capacity already. There is more than enough existing capacity in the Hunter to meet export demand for a decade and more, well into the future.
If you have an unconstrained expansion of existing mines, like the Mount Pleasant expansion or opening up a new mine, all that you're going to do is cannibalise the demand from the existing mines and put miners out of work today. I heard Mark Latham on your programme earlier saying he was going to Mount Pleasant. He and Barilaro have both done the same thing, they are basically gaslighting the people of Muswellbrook. They're saying, and you had him just on the radio here, that there isn't an air quality problem. They're imagining it, they’re manipulating the figures. It's extraordinary, this utter patronising indifference to the health of people in the Upper Hunter, this is from people who actually want your vote and they're basically saying you're imagining all those dust clouds, you're imagining the asthma, you're imagining it all. Doctors, children, parents, you're all imagining it. This has complete contempt for the people of the Upper Hunter. The bottom line is that if new jobs were created in a new mine at Mount Pleasant it could only be at the expense of jobs in other mines because demand is not increasing. So all that I have said is we should protect existing jobs, we should plan – remember when governments used to plan things? We should have a plan so that we make this transition from coal to a post coal clean energy future and do so in a way that preserves existing jobs, that looks after the environment and creates new jobs for the future. Unfortunately that, which sounds, I think it sounds like perfect common sense, gets you vicious attacks in the media, it gets you vicious attacks from John Barilaro and Mark Latham. In fact, I think basically most of the candidates in this by-election are going to be advocating unconstrained growth with the open cut coal mining industry in the Upper Hunter and that's a pretty bleak prospect I think.
Mike Pritchard:
Well, Mr Latham also said he believes in climate change...
Malcolm Turnbull:
But he doesn’t want to do anything about it.
Mike Pritchard:
…but that there is a current overreaction to it. Do you think the government today is reacting enough?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Well no, of course not. The government are not doing enough to combat global warming. Look at what John Kerry, Joe Biden's Climate Ambassador, has been making the point about the urgency of this. Effective action on global warming has been held up because of right-wing politics, right-wing media - particularly Murdoch’s - and of course the vested interest of the fossil fuel industry. The truth is that there are basically three big risks to mining jobs in the Hunter or to jobs in the Hunter from mining. The first one is declining export demand, well we can't do anything about that, that’s a fact. The second one is the continued reckless expansion of new mines in the Hunter, putting people in existing mines out of work and undermining the economics of existing mining companies which then will not have the resources to remediate the devastation they have undertaken. That can be addressed with proper planning. The third risk is no planning for a clean energy future. I would like to see the Hunter be as big a center of clean energy in the future as it is a center of coal-fired energy today, but you have to plan these things. That's what I did as PM, that's why I planned ahead to get Snowy Hydro 2.0 built and Snowy Hydro 2.0 will put coal-fired generators out of business too. I might say ironically that project, which was driven by concern to address global warming, the pumped hydro project is happening in Mr. Barilaro’s own electorate. I think it's the largest employer in his electorate, so he benefits from clean energy in his electorate but he wants the children in Muswellbrook to cough and splutter and choke on coal dust in the Upper Hunter.
Mike Pritchard:
Well it’s state election time here for us in the Upper Hunter and just how pivotal do you see the by-election to the future then of energy in our region?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I think honestly, as Gladys has said, the government expects and should expect to lose the by-election. By-elections in state parliament in New South Wales typically have a swing against the government at ten and a half percent, that's the average and obviously that would sweep the Nationals out. You’ve had the local member, Mr. Johnson, resign in the most disgraceful circumstances imaginable so people in the Upper Hunter will be able to essentially give the National Party a kick in the pants and vote for somebody else but still have Gladys as premier. This is always the problem, and I know this from my own experience as prime minister, this is the problem with by-elections particularly if they're not going to result in a change of government, people are entitled to say well I can send a message to Macquarie Street, Canberra as the case may be, and so I think that's the reality.
The fact is that the coal lobby, the people who put the profits of coal mining companies ahead of the health of people in the Hunter, they are using this as a means to essentially demonise anybody who dares to suggest there should be some proper planning. Look at the way Lucy and I have been described in the Daily Telegraph, first we've been accused of wanting to close all coal mines which is again a lie, but that doesn’t worry them. Secondly, we've been accused of being NIMBY anti-coal activists for daring to lodge an objection about a massive expansion of an open cut coal mine near our property. So that message is going out to people in the Hunter and saying if you dare to object to your beautiful valley being ripped up and turned into a lunar landscape, if you dare to object to that we'll come down on you like a ton of bricks. That is bullying and thuggery.
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