Victoria's coal communities
Faces of the frontlines
Robyn sits in her sun-drenched kitchen in Yallourn.
She and her husband recently finished building the house together. It’s their forever home, one they have designed to meet all their needs, to have the smallest environmental footprint possible, and to let in as much of the winter sunshine as they can.
‘The people are wonderful here; the community is supportive. We’re close to family in Gippsland, and an easy commute to the city. This is a gateway to the mountains and beaches and all the things they offer,’ she says.
Sitting in her bright, wood-panelled home, with green rolling fields and swaying gum trees through the windows, you wouldn’t know Robyn’s house is just over the hill from Yallourn’s coal-fired power station.
It pumps out toxic air pollution all day long as it burns coal to generate Victoria’s electricity.
‘When I speak to people in Melbourne, they don't even know where the Latrobe Valley is. I find that very sad, considering they get their power from here.’
– Robyn, Yallorn
Two hours east of Melbourne, following the Princes Highway as it curves around hills and through farmland, the belching towers of Yallourn coal-fired power station come into view. Huge clouds of steam billow into the sky.
But the real harm these power stations pump out – toxic chemicals like sulfur dioxide, mercury, and particulate matter – is invisible to the bare eye.
From the top of Robyn’s driveway, the other two still-operating power stations, Loy Yang A and B, are visible across the hill. After Hazelwood closed in 2017, the Latrobe Valley’s remaining coal-fired power stations are set to close by 2035; Yallourn in 2028, and Loy Yang A in 2035, and Loy Yang B in 2047.
Transition has been a huge, ongoing conversation in the Latrobe Valley for several years.
Robyn says people hold a range of views – some are vocal supporters of transition, others are more worried about local jobs, and others remain deeply invested in coal as a source of power and prosperity.
Robyn falls in the first camp; she is optimistic and sees coal closure as an opportunity for a new era in the Valley. She reiterates the importance of supporting coal workers to retrain into new industries, and looks forward to a future characterised by a healthier environment and community, and a slower pace of life.
But there remain big questions about how the Latrobe Valley’s coal mines will be cleaned up and rehabilitated, to ensure the community won’t be left with a toxic legacy long after the coal mines and power stations are closed.
‘You just can’t make these big holes in the ground and then wave a magic wand and they’re gone.’
A lack of clear, accessible and timely information is making residents like Robyn concerned.
‘It’s hard to know if decisions are being made the right way when you don’t have the information. Nobody seems to know what’s going to happen, and it’s just a lack of consultation, really.’
Margie, a Traralgon resident and member of local advocacy group Friends of Latrobe Water, echoes Robyn’s concerns about the lack of clarity and consultation surrounding mine rehab plans.
‘The government regulatory bodies working in the space, are not meaningfully consulting with everyday people for the most part, instead, taking a tick-a-box approach to community consultation,’ says Margie.
‘It’s never explained in simple terms that an everyday person could understand.’
It took getting involved with FLoW for Margie to really understand the scale of transformation required in the Latrobe Valley as coal closes – and all the associated risks and questions.
On water, she is referring to current plans by Hazelwood operator, Engie, to flood the mine pit with water.
Engie’s plans involve taking more water than the volume of Sydney Harbour from the Latrobe River system to flood the empty mine pits.
Margie is not convinced by the plan, and believes Engie hasn’t been transparent enough about its pit lake plans, or what alternative rehab options it considered.
‘Do they realise the Latrobe River is a river on life support?’
These issues of lack of transparency, inaccessible and unclear information, and poor consultation processes highlight the need for a transition process built on justice.
A core principle of environmental justice is that impacted communities have access to the information they need and can have a meaningful say on the decisions impacting them.
Without this, coal transition in the Latrobe Valley risks replicating the same system that has saddled the local community with the serious health impacts of coal pollution for decades – a system where those most impacted are locked out of shaping the decisions they will have to live with.
‘It doesn't really feel like there's any opportunity for real meaningful community participation. You're just kind of told, “here is what's happening”,’ Margie says.
‘We might have three mine pits that are stable and safe. Or we may lose our river system, all the beautiful areas that we love to go and holiday in and walk in, trees that we sit under, rivers that we fish in.’
The Latrobe Valley community is grappling with more than just what mine rehab and coal closure looks like.
There are bigger questions concerning the future and identity of the Valley itself, a place with a long history of industry, energy production and agriculture.
Libby, a Yallourn North resident, fears the Latrobe Valley will continue to be a place designated for polluting industries.
‘They think we won’t mind. So we are likely to be given every bad business, every bad industry that no one else would want. The recent LNP recommendation to build a nuclear power reactor in the Latrobe Valley typifies that uncaring decision-making,’ says Libby.
This is how sacrifice zones are formed.
Sacrifice zones describe areas where the local community and environment are forced to live with the serious impacts of pollution generated by the toxic industries they’re in close proximity to. Communities near coal and gas infrastructure are key examples of sacrifice zones.
Like others in the community, Libby is mistrustful of the reassurance the power station operators and Victorian government provide.
The 2014 Hazelwood mine fire, which burned for 45 days and took years off the health of people’s lungs, remains in her memory. For her, it is an example of the how badly things can go wrong – and of how hard communities must fight to hold mine operators and governments to account for the harms they allow from polluting industries.
‘If coal pollution deterred newcomers, what will a risky nuclear power development do to the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland? Who would be mad enough to visit – let alone invest here?’ Libby asked despairingly.
But despite her mistrust and the barriers to accessing clear information and meaningful consultation opportunities, Libby tries to engage in consultations around coal closure anyway – because she loves her home, and she believes there can be a positive, healthy future for the Latrobe Valley. She is full of insight about how information and consultation can be done better.
‘People are busy with their families, it’s not on their radar. We need to get people into the room, get them ready to listen, and give them the full facts. The only way we can do that, I believe, is to have a bit of fun together, give people a free meal, talk with them – but also listen!’
‘We can create social/learning events like community BBQ/Information days and site tours that fit in with busy family lifestyles, to clearly share the huge advantages, including many new jobs, that a clean, green transition to renewable energies will provide – but most of all we must give people hope.’
Among the most resounding takeaways from our conversations with Libby, Margie and Robyn is the emphasis on needing to honour the Latrobe Valley’s history.
Whatever the future may look like, recognising the instrumental role of the Valley in Victoria’s history and power generation must be a foundational piece of any transition plan.
Margie speaks animatedly about her dream for the future of the Latrobe Valley: ‘Our lives can be so much healthier. We’ll have more opportunity to have a say. We’ll have more opportunity to empower ourselves.’
Robyn and Libby are both full of ideas for how the history of the Valley can be preserved.
They suggest museums in old mine facilities, memorial walks, history taught in local schools.
‘People really need recognition. We need to appreciate what coal has done for us. We need to honour the past so that we aren’t limited by it.’
Words by Samantha Sweeney. Photos by Emma Bonney Bramich. October 2024.
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