Oct 19, 2026 · 48 min · 12 segments
In this episode of SEGTALK, host Scott Robinson speaks with Professor Andrew Beer about the energy transition and the opportunities it presents for regional Australia. Drawing on decades of research…
And I guess the story people tell of Lithgow is that the warning signs were there for years.
You know, analysts were flagging that Mount Piper was becoming uneconomic and closure dates kept piling up and getting pulled forward.
Yeah, I think it's a very interesting story because I visited Lithgow in about 1993.
And they said, you know, we know the coal is going to come to an end, but just not yet.
And if you go back and you talk to them in 2026, they'll say, please don't close down the coal mines.
And I think it's really been difficult for people to see what the change could be.
They can't understand what that change might look like and what role they would have if that change takes place.
And in some ways, I think that's been a failure of governments to really communicate what the alternatives look like for them.
Communities that have a very strong sense of identity about coal mining and power generation struggle to understand how they'll go through that change.
And I think one of the problems with labour market assistance in Australia is that it doesn't necessarily give a degree of certainty to people that the change they're going to move towards when we go through these big transitions is going to be a change they're going to be comfortable with and like.
And we've seen this in the car manufacturing industry and we're also seeing it now in the coal-related industries of Australia.
And, you know, is that just, you know, is it denial? Is it politics? Is it a lack of resources? Or is it something more structural about how we govern these regions?
Look, I think questions of regional governance can be found all through this issue.
And what we see with all these changes is a high degree of uncertainty about what's going to happen next for that worker, for that household and that community.
And there's no one who can actually stand up and say, well, I can give you a guarantee that you're going to have this job and it's going to be here.
And many of us have lived experience of seeing either family members or friends or even ourselves go through those changes and not like what those transformations look like.
And I guess the story people tell of Lithgow is that the warning signs were there for years.
You know, analysts were flagging that Mount Piper was becoming uneconomic and closure dates kept piling up and getting pulled forward.
Yeah, I think it's a very interesting story because I visited Lithgow in about 1993.
And they said, you know, we know the coal is going to come to an end, but just not yet.
And if you go back and you talk to them in 2026, they'll say, please don't close down the coal mines.
And I think it's really been difficult for people to see what the change could be.
They can't understand what that change might look like and what role they would have if that change takes place.
And in some ways, I think that's been a failure of governments to really communicate what the alternatives look like for them.
Communities that have a very strong sense of identity about coal mining and power generation struggle to understand how they'll go through that change.
And I think one of the problems with labour market assistance in Australia is that it doesn't necessarily give a degree of certainty to people that the change they're going to move towards when we go through these big transitions is going to be a change they're going to be comfortable with and like.
And we've seen this in the car manufacturing industry and we're also seeing it now in the coal-related industries of Australia.
And, you know, is that just, you know, is it denial? Is it politics? Is it a lack of resources? Or is it something more structural about how we govern these regions?
Look, I think questions of regional governance can be found all through this issue.
And what we see with all these changes is a high degree of uncertainty about what's going to happen next for that worker, for that household and that community.
And there's no one who can actually stand up and say, well, I can give you a guarantee that you're going to have this job and it's going to be here.
And many of us have lived experience of seeing either family members or friends or even ourselves go through those changes and not like what those transformations look like.
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