Dr. Jeanne Moore:

There are many areas we could discuss. NESC has not done particular work on the specific economic stimulus. The work we did on employment vulnerability recognised that delivering high-impact targeted funding for the transition was very important but only with regard to building resilient enterprises and continuous pre-emptive workforce development. The type of anticipatory planning approach the State takes is very important with regard to the overall economic, social and environmental aspects of transition. The report looked at that digital and low carbon transitions and within that, this was very evident. I agree these measures are very important.

I also agree with the Senator that a just transition is not a slow transition but it is an inclusive and participatory one. There is an urgency and the science was laid out very plainly at yesterday's committee meeting. Sometimes there is a discussion between the "how much" and the "how to". The NESC secretariat paper of 2012 really identified that it only makes so much sense to talk about by how much to reduce it when you actually engage on how to do so. We have to proceed quickly but we have to do so in a way that is inclusive and participatory, that is resourced and targeted in a way that focuses on those vulnerable factors and does so in a way that is collaborative. NESC is increasingly interested in the co-design element of policy whereby you bring people along by involving them in the discussion and this takes some of the weight off finding solutions. The solutions are often there in communities with the right questions and evidence. This is what a collaborative approach is.

The Senator mentioned the midlands and the territorial plan. It will be really interesting to see how the funding is delivered and evaluated. It will be useful to do focused research on the projects already being funded through the just transition fund and learning what kind of measures involving enterprises and communities are being funded. How can we take lessons from this on what seems to work well and helps to shift the broader just transition focus with regard to job creation, empowerment and the skill development these communities badly need? We can learn but we learn by doing. If we start doing we will learn. This iterative approach of feeding it in is the NESC approach.