Charities and community advocacy groups in central Queensland are working together to ensure the transition to one of Australia's green energy powerhouses doesn't leave the community behind.
There are dozens of renewable energy projects currently proposed for the Gladstone region and surrounding areas, including several wind and solar farms, as well as green hydrogen projects.
But the region is also home to several coal-fire power stations, alumina refineries and cement plants.
Economic development charity The Next Economy was recruited by Gladstone Regional Council to create a strategy for the local government body to manage the transition.
"This has huge implications for the entire economy," The Next Economy CEO Amanda Cahill said.
"For the workforce, for the environment, for low-income households, around energy prices.
Planning important to avoid boom and bust
The Gladstone region is not unfamiliar with the boom-and-bust cycle new industry can bring, with the LNG industry bringing 14,000 new jobs to the region in the early 2010s.
Rents skyrocketed at that time and several local businesses closed due to losing staff to the LNG plants on Curtis Island.
Those LNG jobs all but disappeared a few years later when construction on the plants was completed.
Dr Cahill said people in the region were weary about the transition to a more renewable energy economy because they had been through that boom period with LNG.
"The question is how do we learn from that experience, so we make sure we're capturing the benefits for everyone," she said.
"[We need to make sure] we don't see some sort of crazy stuff around housing and we're actually investing in housing for the future, making it affordable and accessible."
Dr Cahill said the region was right in the middle of the economic transformation, with a heavy reliance on fossil fuel industries and large investments in renewables.
"So where we're at right now is in a moment of change, in flux," she said.
Forums bringing community together
The Next Economy has been holding a range of forums with industry, workers, and the community to discuss what they think needs to be in the council's strategy.
Roy Jones worked at several power stations, including the Gladstone Power Station and Callide Power station, across three decades.
He attended one of the community forums recently and said he felt optimistic about the transition.
"I'm a realist, I believe in climate change," he said.
"Gladstone has been pretty open to change over the years.
Mr Jones hoped a transition would ultimately bring about not just more jobs, but more investment in health and aged care infrastructure across the community.
Councillor Rick Hansen said it was important the council had a strategy to guide policy and decision responses to new and emerging industries in the region.
"We just want to understand what the transition is going to be so that we can advocate as a council in the correct areas," he said.
"We need to be educated so that we can in turn make decisions down the track … making sure that we have job security and financial security for the Gladstone area."
Energy transition could address community concerns
Separately from the Next Economy forums, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Queensland Community Alliance are hosting a series of listening campaigns with the aim of bringing community members together.
ACF's Gladstone community campaigner Jaclyn McCosker said the group was trying to form "one unified Gladstone voice" to advocate for the community's "core needs as we move through this economic transition".
"We've got trade unions, we've got faith groups, all different sorts of community organisations and social services," she said.
"The major concerns are things you probably always pick, cost of housing, availability of good jobs, health care, all the really basic things we find when we want to talk about energy transition and economic transition.
"It usually always boils back down to these basic quality of life concerns. People just want to have decent jobs, and they want to be able to support and take care of their family.
