MEDIA RELEASE
MUA welcomes new Southern Ocean Renewables region in Victoria and South Australia
28 JUNE 2023
Australian maritime workers will continue to benefit from the fast pace of investment and expansion of offshore renewable energy projects around our coastline. The Maritime Union of Australia welcomes the announcement today by the Federal Labor Government of public consultation for a new renewable energy zone – the Southern Ocean Renewables Zone – off the coastline near the Victorian and South Australian borders that will add hundreds more new seafaring and port services jobs from Warrnambool in Victoria to Port MacDonnell in South Australia.
“These new jobs are a direct result of the growing investment in sustainable, reliable and clean renewable energy being unlocked by regulatory and legislative reforms which the MUA has been campaigning for over many years,” said the Union’s Assistant National Secretary, Adrian Evans.
Mr Evans has been working with MUA branches around the country to promote the opportunities for workers in the seafaring, port services and waterfront sectors that will come from massive new renewable energy projects.
The 5,100 square kilometre area subject to consultation will take in the Victorian city of Portland, which is home to one of Australia’s largest smelters and draws up to 10 percent of Victoria’s electricity. According to Federal Government analysis, the offshore wind projects in this region will generate up to 3000 jobs during construction and 3000 jobs ongoing, many of which will be new jobs in the maritime sector.
At the announcement alongside Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and Victorian Minister for Energy & Resources, Climate Action and the State Electricity Commission, Lily D’Ambrosio, representatives of the MUA Dave Ball and Aarin Moon celebrated the next step towards the massive economic and social opportunities on offer through new renewable energy projects on the Australian coastline.
“It is members of the MUA who built and delivered some of the world’s largest offshore oil and gas infrastructure over the last fifty years, and our members now stand ready to put their skills towards building these huge, incredible wind turbines out at sea so that we can decarbonise our economy,” Mr Ball said.
“Cheaper and more reliable renewable energy will keep manufacturing towns like Portland working, which is good for the economy and good for our own industry, so we are excited to play such an important role in building the infrastructure that will make that possible,” said Mr Moon.
The announcement comes after many years of advocacy and policy leadership by the Maritime Union of Australia calling for new clean energy jobs, a just transition for workers employed in hydrocarbon industries, and for a comprehensive plan to decommission and clean up disused offshore oil and gas infrastructure from the sea floor around our coast using the skill and experience of Australian seafaring workers to get the job done.
