coal conference closes door on community

Earlier this week the Australian Journal of Mining hosted the Victorian Coal and Energy Conference in Traralgon. At a price tag of around $3,000 per delegate it was clear that this conference wasn’t open to community members.

Local community members weren’t invited, the union wasn’t invited and local environment groups weren’t invited either. And even if they were invited at that sort of cost, who could afford it?

We know that brown coal contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for around half of Victoria’s total emissions. Was this conference about the expansion of brown coal exports? It doesn’t matter where brown coal is burnt for power generation, it pollutes the world’s atmosphere and is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions no matter where it is.

Government should be focussing on a sustainable transformation of the energy sector and revitalizing the valley for a brighter more sustainable future.

It is a slap in the face to the local families and workers who have a right to participate in determining their future in the valley.