“Like so many regions throughout New South Wales, Dubbo and the Central Tablelands face an employment crisis, due to the emissions reduction policies of the major parties, who simply are not interested about jobs in regional communities,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.
This week, the IPA will visit Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst, and Mudgee to listen to the communities most exposed to the employment implications caused by the reckless emissions reduction policies of the major parties at the upcoming state election.
According to recent IPA research, these policies will put more than 10,000 jobs at risk in the Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst Legislative Assembly Districts, and 138,000 state-wide. The research also found:
- Of the jobs threatened by the major parties’ net zero policies, 67% are located in rural and regional parts of New South Wales.
- The top ten New South Wales Legislative Assembly seats with the most jobs at risk are in rural or regional areas.
- The heaviest job losses would occur in the agricultural (63,765 jobs), coal mining (20,960 jobs), primary metal and metal product manufacturing (15,136 jobs), and electricity supply (14,704 jobs) sectors.
“While the leaders of the major parties are focused on inner-city Sydney, there is a palpable anger in regional communities that they are being ignored by their local representatives this election,” said Mr Wild.
“Australia relies on our regions to put food on our tables and keep the lights on, and yet, 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.”
“The IPA is committed to undertaking research on the local communities most impacted by the policies created by the political class and inner-city elites, such as net zero, who never suffer the consequences or incur the costs.”
“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 Dubbo and the Central Tablelands is the latest in a series that has included New England and the Upper Hunter in New South Wales, along with tours of the Darling Downs and Southwest Queensland, and Northern Queensland, which are other key net zero impact zones.
To download the IPA’s An Analysis of the employment consequences of a net zero emissions target in New South Wales research report click here.
