They need a Keneally. Maybe a Chalmers ? At the moment they've got blokes scared of their own shadows.
They need to sell this thing. Yes, they would risk aligning somewhat with the coalition but the difference could be that they can explain it to the community and demonstrate the difference there.
There are plenty of engineering groups in Australia that are across the details of a transition away from coal. They could use them for the details to prevent the inevitable gaffs that politicians make.
They could tell the coal mining industry that they are going to lose their jobs one day. Which is completely true. They need to explain to these people that the world is shifting away from coal despite what the muppets say on channel wack job. One day, when the customers stop buying coal, they will lose their jobs.
What they need to be tell these people is that they have a long term, well defined plan to transition their jobs from coal to the future as it happens. The need to give those people confidence that they will have a job regardless because they have prepared for it.
They could argue that the Coalition doesn't have a plan for their jobs and will leave them in the lurch . A classic example is the Hazelwood power station in Victoria.
The Victorian government thought they had several years before the power station closed down. Then , the power station operator changed its plan and shutdown at least 5 years early. Hundreds of direct jobs. Many hundreds more through contractors. Businesses in the area that served that power station went down. It was a major cluster ' you know what.'
Labor could use that example. Not trying to scare the children by saying that coal will shut down tomorrow . It won't. But , it will eventually. And, Labor is the party that has a plan in place. A plan that is thoroughly explained to the community.
At worst, if they came out with a plan and the feds copied it, the end result would be the people of Australia would benefit. Massively.
