At the 50th National ALP Conference this month, our union secured some major wins in relation to securing energy supply for Australian manufacturing.
After months of campaigning, organising, challenging and negotiating, the ETU was able to get our plan for Sovereign Power into the ALP National Platform, which is the document that guides all government decisions and policies.
Delegates from across all parts of the party came together for the ALP’s national triennial conference, this time hosted in Adelaide.
Sovereign Power comes from the reality that Australian heavy industry and manufacturing are suffering from high energy costs to the extent that many are going under, unable to keep up with soaring prices. At the National Press Club earlier in the year, ETU National Secretary Michael Wright, alongside McKell Institute Chief Economist, Alison Pennington, launched a 50-page report recommending that the Australian Government step in and stop heavy-industry bailouts, by providing cheap renewable energy to those markets struggling with the price of energy.(link to report).
Given the supply shocks that have rocked our nation for the past few years since Covid-19, our manufacturing capability and vulnerability have been exposed. To secure national sovereignty and reduce dependency on foreign entities in supplying Australia with energy and heavy-industry products, the Australian government is now investigating publicly owned renewable energy, thanks to the work of the ETU.
This win is a culmination of years of hard work and advocacy by ETU members across the county, fighting for publicly owned power. The work doesn’t stop here though, we will keep fighting to ensure Sovereign Power is a reality and is delivered sooner rather than later. Without Sovereign Power our heavy industries and our sovereign capabilities will be as risk.
The ETU will always fight for good, well-paid, secure, union jobs and Sovereign Power is a huge step to ensuring the energy transition puts electrical workers front and centre.
Congratulations to all ETU members.
Union power.
