“I built that there,” Belle Atkinson proudly told her children as she drove past a high-tech jumble of photovoltaic panels, utility poles and torques.
It is not easy to spot this huge solar power plant from the highway. If you’re lucky, you might see the sun reflecting off the black glass panels.
But its location is largely hidden from view, belying its impact on Narrandera. Narrandera is a small town in New South Wales on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, with wide boulevards and historic buildings.
ABC News: Jane Norman
)
“The legacy the solar farm has left on this town is one that is passed down from generation to generation,” Shaurntae Lyons said, fighting back tears as she spoke about the event.
It starts with the simplest things.
a unique partnership
Justin Coburn from Beon Energy arrived in town before construction began to find labor to build the Avonlea Solar Farm.
Fortunately, he discovered a “force of nature” in a woman named Wiradjuri Yorta Yorta and formed a unique partnership with her.
When asked about barriers to urban employment, Lyons had a blunt answer: ID. Photo recognition.
Many of her mob never found jobs because they never had the most basic documentation required to apply for a job.
They essentially live as invisible citizens.
Therefore, with the support of Beon, the idea of ”ID Day” was born.
After the “Koori grapevine” news spread, more than 100 people came to the local TAFE, where a production line had been set up.
At the first desk, Gundyarri, a local indigenous cooperative, helps sort out birth certificates; then health insurance cards, and finally the unique student identifiers that workers need to obtain construction tickets for the solar farm. All this is free.
Within days, these people were on the workforce map.The first obstacle to employment has been cleared.
“This is a big day for us,” said Lyons, who is employed by Beon as an Aboriginal community engagement officer along with Jody Griddy, another Wirajuri woman.
Together they helped pave the way for the project and bridge cultural gaps.
Keep promises
Beon wasn’t the first company to promise jobs and prosperity, but Lyons said it was the first to negotiate properly and ultimately deliver on its promises.
“Many people make promises when it comes to things [the] community, but they’ve never experienced that, and I think that’s the difference,” she said.
“What they told us and what they did is exactly what they said they would do.”
Lyons attributes this success to Coburn, Beon’s director of community engagement, whom she describes as “one in a million.”
Crucially, the elders of the Wiradjuri mob were Cockburn’s first port of call and only after receiving their blessing did he invite the community to a meeting to outline the scheme and services on offer.
Cockburn said the community’s reaction at the first meeting was “rightly skeptical.”
“I’ve had people ask me directly, ‘Is this just a box-ticking exercise?’ and I can understand where they’re coming from because that’s what they’ve experienced in the past.”
But Cockburn said Bain had a project ready to deliver dozens of jobs and was committed to employing and supporting as many local people as possible.
More than 30 Aboriginal men and women actively participated in the work and received the training provided.
Cockburn said some had never worked before, while others had “minor” criminal records that limited their opportunities.
“We don’t look at that. We give everyone a chance.”
“Very proud”
Currently, nearly 500,000 solar panels covering 600 hectares of farmland have been completed, capable of generating enough energy to power 100,000 homes.
But for workers, solar farm success isn’t measured in megawatts.
Scotty Kennedy, who has been in and out of prison since he was 17, said adjusting to full-time work was difficult at first. But once he gets the hang of it, he wakes up every day looking forward to work.
ABC News: Jane Norman
)
Kennedy said the job changed his life, allowing him to get his driver’s license and find a new job building another solar farm.
“I’m on the right path now,” he said. “I feel so happy. I’ve never been happier.”
Atkinson shares the same pride that his children have never seen their mother working in front of a solar farm.
She became a leader on the project and was “the last Aboriginal person to install the last solar panel,” according to her colleagues.
When asked what she gained from the project, she responded: “A lot of pride.”
She now has another job with Narrander Shire Council.
ABC News: Jane Norman
)
With support from Cockburn and Lyons, about 90 per cent of the solar farm’s workers found ongoing employment within months of completion, including some whose employers had never hired Aboriginal people before.
Lyons said the ripple effect is even greater, with 30 employees able to support a community of 600 people.
“People have become bigger and better than before,” she said.
“That’s what every Koori wants.”
Opportunities and challenges
The clean energy transition presents huge opportunities for rural Australia, where solar and wind farms are being built on an industrial scale, supported by a network of new high-voltage transmission lines.
But there are costs. Massive expansion of solar and wind farms is changing the landscape, and in some areas there is strong support from communities who feel they are building the projects Australia needs to meet its ambitious climate goals.
Cockburn is aware of the potential backlash, which is why he says it’s crucial to involve the community from the start of the scheme and ensure they benefit not only from jobs and training, but also from initiatives such as community funds and community benefits Benefit. Share plans.
“We want to learn from the mining industry’s lessons and do it better again,” he said.
“Indigenous communities need to be seen not just as stakeholders but as rights holders on these projects and they need a seat at the table.”
change trajectory
Lyon now has a seat at the table. She accepted a new job with another renewable energy company as a project coordinator.
Reflecting on the impact of the Avonlea solar farm on her community, Lyons said it changed the trajectory of her mob.
“What it does is give people the opportunity to make different choices and make different choices in their lives,” she said.
“That’s what renewable energy companies can do. I think in Narrander it really demonstrates that.”
The Avonlie solar farm has now been handed over to clean energy giant Iberdrola, which has set up a community fund in Narrandera to pay for a kitchen and a van for the Gundyarri Aboriginal Corporation.
ABC News: Jane Norman
)
Iberdrola Australia’s Matt Dickie admits there is a “fear of the unknown” around the switch to renewable energy, but believes the opportunities outweigh the costs.
“I think there is a huge opportunity for people in rural areas to participate in the energy transition,” he said.
Watch on ABC iview and ABC TV every Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm
#group #staff #waiting.But #remain #invisible #company #seizes #opportunity
Image Source : www.abc.net.au