00:00Neighbouring this prominent headland is a gateway to the world.
00:10Each year thousands of ships move through the port of Newcastle transporting goods around
00:15the globe.
00:16It's something different every day, no jobs the same.
00:22Deckhand Shan Smith works on the tugboats that guide ships through the port.
00:28Wheat and steel are among the many exports leaving Newcastle, but one dwarfs them all.
00:35Our work is probably 90% dependent on coal at the moment.
00:39Coal has been mined in the Hunter region since the 1790s.
00:43Many workers are fearful of mines closing without proper planning.
00:47It would decimate the region, I think Newcastle especially.
00:51Many locals expect coal exports to continue for years to come,
00:55but as emission reduction targets near, mine closures are inevitable.
00:59To help replace coal, Labor is planning a renewable energy rollout.
01:04Renewable is a really good option for us.
01:07That includes offshore wind.
01:10It's in the order of 3,000 jobs in the construction phase and 400 jobs ongoing.
01:15Offshore wind can bring $10 billion to our local economy here.
01:19We'd be mad not to embrace it.
01:21But the proposal has faced backlash in nearby Port Stephens,
01:25which is in the marginal Labor seat of Paterson.
01:28The main concern is that there will be a decline in tourism, a decline of fishing.
01:36The Federal Coalition is hoping that kind of sentiment can help them return to the government benches.
01:41Peter Dutton is promising to scrap the offshore wind project in favour of nuclear power.
01:47The former Liddell Power Station near the coal heartland of Musselbrook
01:51is one of seven nuclear sites being proposed by the Coalition.
01:55Don't like nuclear. Anything could happen.
01:58With some of the mines shutting down that are here now, I think it would keep those people employed.
02:03Liddell sits just outside another marginal Labor seat, the electorate of Hunter.
02:08Many mines in the region are slated to shut within 10 years.
02:13I'm completely for nuclear.
02:15We need a baseload power in Australia.
02:17Harry Hobden works at his family's steel supplies business,
02:21where Peter Dutton launched the Coalition's nuclear plan last June.
02:25We want to continue growing the business.
02:28If something like nuclear doesn't come in, the growth isn't going to be there.
02:32The local National Party chair believes there's room for compromise.
02:36This energy war between politicians to actually argue about it and say whose idea is right,
02:41it could be some great collaboration of bringing all these power sources together.
02:45He also wants more input from locals.
02:48In regional areas we get told what's good for us, not what actually gets asked what's good for us.
02:52Coal communities hoping their futures become clearer in just a few weeks' time.
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