Muswellbrook Shire Council is calling for transition agencies to establish offices in coal communities, starting with Muswellbrook. The move was strongly supported at the Local Government NSW Annual Conference, where delegates backed decentralising decision-making from Sydney and Canberra.
The motion named agencies including EnergyCo, the Net Zero Economy Authority and the Future Jobs and Investment Authority, along with departments of Employment, Transport and Planning, as priorities for a local presence. Council says these agencies need to embed themselves in communities undergoing change.
Muswellbrook has already taken steps to attract transition agencies, with the Muswellbrook Energy and Resources Centre earmarked for the Hunter Innovation Precinct in the town’s CBD. Mayor Jeff Drayton says the centre and the conference vote show a clear appetite for agencies to “put boots on the ground.”
“For too long, decisions about Muswellbrook have been made far away in boardrooms in Sydney and Canberra,” Mayor Drayton said.
“If governments are serious about supporting communities like ours, then we should start to see them opening offices in Muswellbrook.”
Other motions carried at the conference included calls for EnergyCo NSW to negotiate directly with local communities for fair premium payments on major energy projects, a planned transition away from thermal coal, and independent audits of electricity bills to improve transparency.
