“Like so many regions, New England and the Upper Hunter face being wiped out due to the emissions reduction policies of the Macquarie Street political elite, who simply do not care about jobs in regional communities,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.

This week, the IPA will visit Tamworth, Armidale, Narrabri, Boggabri, Gunnedah, and Muswellbrook to listen to the communities most at risk and release new research on the employment implications of the major parties’ state election emission reduction policies.

“Australia relies on New England and the Upper Hunter to put food on our tables and keep the lights on, yet, like many other regional communities, they face the risk of being wiped out as the local industries they rely on for employment are to be destroyed by emission reduction mandates,” said Mr Wild.

A landmark report released in April 2022 by the IPA, The Economic and Employment Consequences of Net Zero Emission by 2050 in Australia, identified:

• At a minimum, all coal, gas, and oil projects in the construction pipeline must be cancelled to achieve Australia’s net zero target.
• Net zero will cost the Australian economy around $274 billion in lost economic output.
• Net zero will stop the creation of over 478,000 jobs all across Australia.

“The IPA is committed to undertaking research focused on local communities that are being impacted by the policies created by the political class and inner-city elites, such as net zero, who never suffer the consequences,” said Mr Wild.

“There is a palpable fear in regional communities that they are not being listened to by their representatives. Today, a typical worker in regional Australia is over three times more likely to have their job put at risk by net zero than a typical worker in the inner cities.”

“Mainstream Australians are waking up to the damage elites in Sydney and Canberra are inflicting on their livelihoods through net zero, green tape, and green legal activism. Despite this, every major political party continues to support them.”

“We need political leaders to back the regions. Our regions have so much promise and potential but are being held back by short-sighted policies which risk closing critical industries, and ending well-paid, full-time jobs.”

The IPA’s research tour of New England and the Upper Hunter follows highly successful research tours of the Darling Downs and Southwest Queensland, and Northern Queensland, which are other key net zero impact zones.

To download the IPA’s previous research on the employment consequences of net zero click here