Mick spent years working for the State Electricity Commission in Morewell, Victoria , until privatisation saw massive job losses and the outsourcing of many remaining jobs.
Many of Mick's mates never worked again, and the early days of hope created by good redundancy payments petered out into years of forced idleness, low self-esteem, financial troubles and family stress. Mick got casual work with a maintenance contractor, but for three years was given on average two months a year work.
Mick's experience has made him sceptical of politicians and others coming down to talk about opportunities from the transition to a low carbon economy. With Morwell and other towns of the La Trobe Valley still dependent on brown coal burning power generators, action to tackle climate change sounds more like a threat than a promise.
The task faced by the Gillard Government, and others interested in real action on climate change, is not persuading people like Mick that climate change is real — it's making sure they aren't cast on the scrap heap during the process of economic restructuring, and ensuring that they are properly involved in this process.
There is no point pretending that action to reduce the threat of climate change will have little effect on the structure of the Australian economy. The issue is not about how to protect industries and communities from change: it is about how to manage change in a socially just and democratic way.
A first step might be to acknowledge the political and institutional impediments to a just and sustainable transition. As the controversy over the Government's carbon price policy has demonstrated, our political system and media are unable to deal with complex long-term policy issues maturely.
The exposure of the political system to lobbying and manipulation by narrow interest groups such as mining companies and other major polluters impedes the development of sound policy.
The Australian business lobby has shown itself to be adept at rent seeking, but reluctant to engage with the possibilities of the transition to a low-carbon sustainable economy.
The Government will need to think carefully about industry restructuring and community transition. Leaving it up to 'the market' and those who have most power in the market — business — is a recipe for further rent seeking