- The Guardian
- Issue #2155
The Mining and Energy Union says Victoria’s energy workers and the wider population deserve a frank and realistic assessment of the future of state’s energy generation. The cancellation of Gippsland Dawn, BlueFloat Energy’s advanced offshore wind project, has raised fresh concerns about Victoria’s energy security against the scheduled closures of coal-fired power stations Yallourn and Loy Yang A.
Additionally, revelations about secret agreements between the government and power station operators managed by EY Parthenon have cast doubt on the transparency of the state’s contingency plans, if any are in place.
Mining and Energy Union Victorian District President Andy Smith said it was now time for the state government to come forward with a practical and realistic plan to manage Victoria’s energy mix into the 2030s and beyond.
“On any given day, coal-fired power accounts for 60% of Victoria’s energy mix” Smith said.
“Yallourn is scheduled to close in 2028, and there are now no realistic plans in place to plug the gap that’s going to create in our energy market. If the lifespan of Yallourn needs to be extended, as is looking increasingly likely, it’s time for the Allan government to come clean.
“The Victorian public, and in particular the workers at Yallourn, have a right to know – even if the facts are inconvenient for the government.
“Any agreement struck between the government and power station operators should include significant consultation with affected workers, whose lives are set to be upended in as little as two years.”
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: is Israel. In early October 2023, at a conference in Mexico, Israeli Communist and parliamentarian Ofer Cassif raised the alarm. He warned that the right-wing Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu and backed by the fascist Bezalel Smotrich, was preparing to consolidate a system of fascist governance over both Israel and Palestine.
According to Cassif, the regime was preparing to unleash what he called “the unholy trinity of genocide in Gaza, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and an assault on the democratic rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel and their elected officials.”
At the time, this plan was encountering resistance due to mass protests against Netanyahu’s so-called “judicial coup.” But only days later, on 7 October, Hamas launched an attack on Israeli towns surrounding Gaza. The protests against fascism went silent, and Israel unleashed its genocidal war on Gaza.
Nearly two years later, the accuracy of Cassif’s warning has, tragically, become undeniable.
For almost two years, Israel has been slaughtering the people of Gaza. Officially, the death toll stands at nearly 60,000 – mostly women and children – but many experts estimate the true number is closer to 100,000, or even more.
Gaza’s cities, hospitals, and universities lie in ruins. The Israeli government is now openly working to concentrate the remaining two million residents into a concentration camp that it calls a “humanitarian city.” This is widely seen as a stepping stone toward implementing the so-called “Trump Plan” to empty Gaza entirely of its Palestinian population.
While international attention remains focused on Gaza, the Netanyahu regime is simultaneously carrying out ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Palestinians there are living under increasingly intense military rule and enduring unrelenting violence from fanatic Kahanist settlers. Entire villages have been forced to flee, replaced by expanding Jewish-only settlements.
