CEO Chris Buckingham reflects on GNEC – what it means to him and the region
As The Fair Co. team prepares for the Gippsland New Energy Conference in Traralgon, I have reason to reflect on a massive year of personal discovery and change.
This time 12 months ago I was leaning in and supporting my beautiful team at the Latrobe Valley Authority as they navigated their next steps. We were also preparing for our last rodeo at GNEC24. We worked with quiet and humble resolve to support the Gippsland Climate Change Network Inc. host Australia’s most significant regional energy conference.
I am very much looking forward to GNEC25 and catching up with many of my former LVA colleagues, who are deploying their knowledge, wisdom and passion for Gippsland in different roles. While the LVA no longer exists, our collective belief in the future of our beautiful region burns brightly in all of us.
GNEC has never been about selling the energy transition to cynical locals. It has always highlighted the opportunities and challenges we experience together with the closure of brown coal fired power stations and the creation of new industries that will power Victoria for decades to come.
Last year, as the rest of the country threatened to go down the nuclear rabbit hole, Gippslanders at GNEC were thinking deeply about how we can ensure that no one in our region gets held back and no one gets left behind.
This is the mindset The Fair Co. is bringing to GNEC25. We are in the business of fairness. We exist to help government and business do better in the regions where they operate. We know how important it is for regional communities to prosper through change.
Gippsland is in our DNA. We will work with business, community and government in Gippsland to ensure that the collective investment in the transition counts.
The concept of social license is well understood in Gippsland. It is time to translate the big ideas into practical outcomes that locals can see, feel and embrace.
We are supporting GNEC25 because it represents a beacon of common sense and decency in a contested landscape.
It is the best opportunity for investors, locals, developers and policy makers to come together in a trusted environment and have the conversations that count.
