Mining union blasts Labor over climate change policy
A mining union boss has blasted 'shiny-arse city slickers' in the federal Labor Party who care more about progressive urban voters than looking after workers. CFMEU mining and energy president Stephen Smyth, a lifelong Labor member, told Daily Mail Australia that too many politicians have 'no concept' of what life is like for hard-working families in regional Australia. The third-generation coal-miner said the party is staring down the barrel of a fourth successive election defeat unless it can reconnect with resources sector workers who feel 'demonised' by its language on . 'Labor is too worried about the inner-city greenies, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane,' he said. 'There are too many shiny-arse city slickers who don't live in the regions and have no concept of what's happening here.' Mr Smyth said he had no problem with leader Anthony Albanese as an individual but the party in general was missing the mark in regional areas like central Queensland which swung the 2019 election for Scott Morrison. 'What have they learned from the last election? It seems they haven't learned much,' he said. His warning comes after Joel Fitzgibbon, who represents the coal-mining Hunter region of NSW, quit as shadow agriculture and resources minister on Tuesday after an explosive 'dust-up' with Mr Albanese over energy policy. Mr Fitzgibbon, who has backed coal and gas throughout his career, supports Labor's target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 but is wary of any earlier targets that could cost jobs. 'I wasn't prepared to allow the cheesecloth brigade in the caucus to use [Joe] Biden's [US election] win to argue for even more ambitious climate change policy,' he said. Mr Smyth said he was 'certainly disappointed' that Mr Fitzgibbon, one of Labor's few regional MPs, had moved to the backbench to be replaced by Ed Husic who represents Chifley in western Sydney. 'Joel is great advocate and understands the issues facing coalmining generally. 'If Labor doesn't have an advocate in that space then One Nation will fill that void,' he warned. 'The Liberals and One Nation don't care about workers but - it's like Trumpism - people want hope. Last year Mr Fitzgibbon almost lost his formerly safe seat to the Nationals after a huge swing against him in favour of One Nation. 'I've seen [voters] come up to the polling in high viz, carrying LNP how-to-vote cards, carrying One Nation cards and I ask myself how it all went so terribly wrong,' he said on Tuesday. Mr Smyth said he 'always has been and always will be' a Labor member but will proudly stand up for his members and their families when he believes their interests are not being represented. 'I'm a proud third-generation coal miner and I hate my members being demonised,' he said. The union boss said he does not deny the science of climate change and admitted that coal will 'phase out' eventually as the global market declines - but he fears moving too fast will leave regional areas decimated. 'If you turn the resources sector off, see what happens in the mining regions. Unemployment and drug use will go up and the quality of life will go down.' Mr Smyth said coal miners are open minded about the transition away from fossil fuels but fear renewable industries like wind and solar simply don't create the same number of jobs. 'We're up for alternatives and transition - I've got kids and grandkids [so I care about climate change] - but the extreme greens in the labor party never come up with alternatives. 'I'm yet to see how renewable jobs will save the country. We've seen the renewable projects like solar and wind farms but they don't provide many jobs once they're up and running. 'We've got to land somewhere in the middle. Where's the transition and what are the jobs? No-one can tell me what they are.' Mr Smyth, from the coal-mining service town of Mackay, said politicians need to talk more about low emission technology and carbon capture so the coal mining industry can be kept going without polluting as much. The prime minister, who wants net zero emissions but has not set a target date, has made carbon capture a key element of his technology roadmap. Mr Smyth said he wants more MPs to 'come out to central Queensland' and sit down with mining families. 'The inner city elite think they can put on a helmet and and high-vis jacket and suddenly they're mates with the workers. 'What I've seen gives me little faith,' he said. Labor's dispute over energy policy is part of a broader challenge faced by left of centre This divide undid the UK Labour Party in December when Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson won long-held labor seats in former mining areas in the north of England with nationalistic rallying cry to 'get Brexit done'. A of Australian Labor's 2019 federal election campaign found the party had become a 'natural home for diverse interests and concerns including gender equality, the LGBTQI+ community, racial equality and environmentalism'. But it warned that 'w Mr Fitzgibbon believes Mr Albanese can win the next election if a better balance is struck with a more conservative climate change policy. The leader said he is not concerned about alienating blue collar workers and believes Scott Morrison is isolating Australia from the rest of the world by refusing to adopt at 2050 net zero emissions target. Frontbencher Mark Dreyfus, who represents Isaacs in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, said Mr Fitzgibbon is 'out of step' with the majority of Labor party supporters and insisted 'we don't get to say no to climate change.' Australia's largest union, the ACTU, supports that position. President Michelle O'Neill said climate change 'impacts every job' and 'we need to act.'