Dan Repacholi is lashing out. He says Peter Dutton “slagged off the Hunter,” “pissed off,” and is “full of it.” But here’s the question Dan won’t answer: was Dutton actually wrong?
Because Dutton said it plainly:
“The Hunter is done. Labor’s shutting it down. No plan for jobs, no future in coal—they’re killing it.”
Now, you might not like Dutton’s style. You might not like his politics. But he said what a lot of people in the Hunter already know—and are too scared to say out loud. This region’s economy is circling the drain, not because of bad luck, but because of Labor’s deliberate choices.
Mt Arthur is shutting in 2030. Two major mines in Muswellbrook will close within six months of each other. HVO might not get its extension. That’s not spin—that’s reality. And when those jobs go, so do the towns, the small businesses, the pubs, the footy clubs, the schools, and the families that rely on them.
Now Dan Repacholi can rant about Queenslanders and “millionaire blow-ins” all he likes. But here’s the truth: he’s in government. He could fight this. He could say “enough.” But he doesn’t.
Joel Fitzgibbon did.
Fitzgibbon stood up to his own party. He challenged Labor’s reckless obsession with net zero. He knew what was at stake for the Hunter, and he was willing to wear the heat for calling it out. He had something Dan clearly lacks: a spine.
But let’s not kid ourselves—Peter Dutton’s Coalition isn’t offering salvation either. His nuclear plan sounds bold, but it leads us to the same place. It’s just a slower death for the Hunter. Nuclear won’t be operational until the 2040s. Coal will be long gone by then, and those “high-tech jobs” they’re promising? They won’t be in Singleton or Muswellbrook. They’ll be in capital cities or overseas.
So what does that leave us? A Labor MP like Repacholi who votes the party line while watching the region he represents collapse. And a Coalition leader who admits the truth—but offers a Band-Aid solution 20 years too late.
This election, don’t vote for slogans. Vote for survival. Vote for someone who will actually fight for the Hunter—not just manage its funeral.