Cheaper Energy For Victorians, By Victorians
Bringing back the SEC is about more than just electricity. It’s an opportunity.
It’s power for Victorians, powered by Victorians.
Privatisation of our electricity system has failed – and it’s Victorians who are paying the price. Matthew Guy’s Liberals sold off public power assets to private multinationals. They sold off Victoria’s essential services and sent much of the profits offshore – with the generators alone making $23 billion in profits at our collective expense.
Labor’s decade-long plan to revive the SEC will change our state for good, with renewable megawatts instead of greedy mega-profits. And most importantly, it’ll drive down the cost of power for Victorian families – all the while creating Victorian jobs.
But when it comes to helping families with the ever-increasing cost of electricity, there isn’t a moment to waste.
Our $250 Power Saving Bonus has helped more than 1.6 million Victorian families with their energy bills this year alone.
A re-elected Andrews Labor Government will make sure there’s even more to save, with another round of the Power Saving Bonus – an extra $250 for every Victorian household – open from March next year to get families a better deal on their energy ahead of next winter.
Private energy companies rely on people not getting the best deal on their power. The Power Saving Bonus means more money in people’s pockets now – because while big companies value profit, we value people.
The people who work hard every day to pay their bills – and the people who work hard every day to keep our lights on.
For generations, a job with the SEC meant security. And for young people, it meant a pathway – from the first day of your apprenticeship until the day you retired. That’s why a re-elected Labor Government will deliver a $424 million energy and training package.
As part of our plan to end reliance on coal and revive the SEC – creating 59,000 jobs in clean energy – we will make sure at least 6,000 of those jobs are apprentices and trainees.
Since energy was privatised, we’ve experienced a chronic shortage of workers in trades. Our SEC will help find and train the next generation of tradespeople: maintenance workers, lineys, electricians – but also welders, painters and mechanics. Highly-qualified, highly-paid workers – working not for profit, but for people.
And to train these new workers, we’ll establish the SEC Centre of Training Excellence to coordinate and accredit courses in clean energy, connecting with our TAFEs, RTOs, unions and the industry.
But we won’t wait until our kids have finished school to set them up for success.
We’re already overhauling vocational education, with the new VCE Vocational Major giving students a head-start on the skills they want while they finish secondary school. Schools will offer TAFE courses in the classroom – from health to construction, early childhood to engineering. A re-elected Labor Government will add clean energy to that list.
And across our government schools, at every career night, the SEC will be there. Not just looking for the workers of the future, but actually recruiting them.
From as early as work experience in Year 9 or 10, we’ll support 10,000 secondary school students with a week of work experience, giving them a taste – and practical training – in clean energy alongside other in-demand careers like nursing, trades and early childhood education.
And to make sure the workers we’re training are guaranteed a long-term pipeline of work, we’ll institute local content requirements on state-owned and supported renewable energy projects – worth at least $5 billion by 2035.
Under Labor, we make our trains in South Dandenong instead of South Korea – and that’s exactly what we’ll deliver for our energy Big Build too.
It’s about ensuring good, stable energy jobs in communities like the Latrobe Valley – which has powered our state for more than 100 years – giving its proud legacy a bright future to match.
We’ll establish an SEC base in Morwell, making sure this community and region stay at the heart of our clean energy future, and supporting families in the Valley who have kept the lights on for Victorians for decades to keep the family business alive for generations to come.
Labor is doing what matters – driving down energy prices for Victorian families and creating new jobs for Victorian workers.
Quotes attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews
“Bringing back the SEC is about more than just energy – it’s an opportunity for generations of Victorians to get the skills, training and careers they deserve, keeping the lights on and power bills down.”
“The SEC will fundamentally transform our energy system. But when it comes to making sure Victorian families have the cheaper bills and energy security they need – we won’t waste a moment, delivering another round of the Power Saving Bonus ahead of next winter.”
Quote attributable to Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio
“Matthew Guy’s Liberals banned wind farms, sold off public power to greedy energy companies, cut jobs and drove up power prices – only Labor will do what matters when it comes to cheap, clean energy made right here in Victoria.”