The Victorian Government will put AGL workers first in our response to today’s decision from AGL shareholders that its Loy Yang A power plant will close by 2035.

Today’s news will be difficult for those who have powered Victoria through Loy Yang A for decades – and as we work with AGL to manage this transition, we’ll be with every worker, every step of the way.

We will work with AGL to help locals retrain, reskill and find new work opportunities close to home as we transition the state to cheap, clean renewable energy.

We’ve invested almost $2 billion to create more than 4,000 extra jobs in the Latrobe Valley’s workforce since 2014 – and in the coming months and years, our focus will be on helping Loy Yang A workers, their families and the Latrobe Valley community navigate the transition.

Our investments in clean energy will deliver more than 24,000 jobs across the state – including our offshore wind targets, solar homes program, storage targets, gas substitution roadmap and big and small battery development.

Gippsland has a bright future in energy, driven by the Government’s ambitious renewable energy and storage targets – and the development of Australia’s first Offshore Wind precinct off the Gippsland coast.

We welcome AGL’s $20 billion investment into renewable energy and storage projects, to support our nation-leading clean energy transition.

We are already powering one-third of the state’s energy use with low-cost, renewable energy – and we’re on track to hit our target of 50 per cent by 2030, giving Victoria energy security and driving down power bills for hardworking families.

Today, we stand with the workers of Loy Yang A as this transition begins, thanking them for their service to Victoria.

We also acknowledge the ongoing uncertainty for other workers, communities and families in the coal mining sector – as we transition to a clean energy sector, we stand ready to support this industry each and every day.