In the Senate Economics Committee tonight, when most of you were watching the State of Origin, Senator Barnaby Joyce, the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate was trying to discover where the green jobs are. He questioned Meghan Quinn, Manager, Climate Change Modelling Division, Department of the Treasury.
Senator Barnaby Joyce: In your modelling as you transfer people into jobs, where were those jobs, Ms Quinn?
Meghan Quinn: The general shift from higher intensive emission industries to lower intensive emission industries. So there is a table on 6.12.
SBJ: Give me an example of the Top 3.
MQ: Increases in the electricity supply for renewable energy.
SBJ: The supply for renewable energy, so what are those people doing?
MQ: The supply of renewable energy covers all types of energy, hydro, wind, geothermal potentially by 2050.
SBJ: These people want to turn up to work what are they actually doing. What do they look like, are they construction workers, are they electricians, are they accountants.
MQ: The actual electricity supply … the people working in the industries. People who are looking after the production of the actual wind farm, the operation of the wind farm. The construction component would be captured by the construction sector.
SBJ: What is the person who is operating the wind farm? What is he or she doing?
MQ: I am not a technical engineer so I don’t think I can answer that question.
SBJ: Have you been to an actual wind farm lately?
MQ: I’ve seen a wind farm, yes.
SBJ: How many people did you see working there?
MQ: Well there was a person taking me around.
SBJ: Generally no one?
MQ: Well I don’t know. There must be some.
SBJ: Been out to a coal mine lately?
MQ: Not lately.
SBJ: From what you have seen on television does it seem like many people working there?
MQ: There has a been a reduction in the share of people working in the mining industry generally.
SBJ: What’s your next big one?
MQ: Forestry
SBJ: Forestry? OK, so what are the people doing there in forestry. What are the people doing there?
MQ: I presume they are looking after trees.
SBJ: Have you been to a forest lately?
MQ: Yes.
SBJ: Did you see many people wandering around there, any people working?
MQ: I am not an expert on the particular industrial structure of these industries.
SBJ: What’s your third one?
MQ: They are spread over a number. Other manufacturing,
SBJ: What are they actually manufacturing in the other manufacturing?
MQ: A whole range of manufacturing. I can give you a breakdown. I would have to check the categories. I know what it is not. I know it is not motor vehicles, metals or metal products.
SBJ: Can you think of anything they would be manufacturing in the other manufacturing?
MQ: I would have to take it on notice.
SBJ: I am just going looking for those green jobs, I have to start finding them now.
MQ: Employment redistribution in the employment model is not necessarily what you would think of as green jobs. There are shifts in employment in what you might not think of as green jobs as we move from high to low emission industries.
SBJ: That’s constructing wind towers?
MQ: There is a reallocation in the Australian industry from high emission to low emission. It doesn’t necessarily relate to renewable energy, it’s simply producing goods that are low emission.
SBJ: It stands to reason. You take someone out of a mine you give them a brush cutter and tell them to start to wander around the forest. This is all fanciful.