‘Too bad!’ was the message from both the Albanese and NSW governments this week, as they released pathetic plans to assist coal workers during the net-zero transition.

Albanese’s office yesterday posted a footnote to their sweeping Net Zero Economy Authority Bill that the government would establish an Energy Industry Jobs Plan.

That’s it.

That’s Albo and Bowen’s entire plan for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who rely on coal and gas for their livelihood. A plan to write a plan.

Close the industry down first, clean the economic mess up… never.

The NSW government announced essentially the same thing, the same day, but dumber. Natural Resources minister Courtney Houssos publicised that NSW is creating no less than seven different bodies to ‘support’ those coal workers losing their jobs. Those are:

· Future Jobs and Investment Advocate

· Office of the Future Jobs and Investment Authorities

· Regional Future Jobs and Investment Authorities in the Hunter, Illawarra, Central West and Far West

Then, all these bodies get to come together for the Future Jobs and Investment Board, with the addition of, of course, the unions.

By the NSW Government’s own admission, there are 125,000 workers who rely directly or indirectly on coal mining, and 32 of NSW’s 39 coal mines are set to close.

125 000 workers, and all the NSW government can offer is $5.2 million to ‘establish a framework’, which might lead to some extra free TAFE.

I doubt coal workers will be holding their breath to get any real support from a government hell-bent on blowing up their industry.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s vague suggestion that workers might be transitioned to working in green energy or ‘green manufacturing’ rings the same as Joe Biden’s suggestion that coal workers learn to code.

The Future Jobs and investment authority will inherit the Coalition’s equally pathetic scheme of $25 million per year for ‘rejuvenation’, which doesn’t even start until 2028.

"The Hunter is a $65 billion economy and the scope of the challenge ahead is immense. Even if the entire $25 million per annum was allocated to the Hunter it is considered well short of requirements" said Hunter Jobs Alliance coordinator Justin Page.

This is how Labor treats its own constituents, coal miners spend decades paying taxes and union fees, paying the wages of these people who turn around and screw them.

The ACTU even welcomed Bowen’s plan to establish a body to do nothing.

“This is an important victory for Australia’s energy workers, their families and communities, and for the climate. The National Net Zero Authority creates a sturdy bridge for workers, their families and communities to a clean energy future.” Said the ACTU president. They must not have read Bowen’s plan, which contains absolutely no program that would directly support workers.

That’s your life under Labor’s plan: net zero energy, net zero economy, net zero jobs.