Hazelwood is mainly owned by French company ENGIE, and ENGIE’s biggest shareholder is the French government. So the French have quite a bit of say in what happens to the power station.
In late 2015, as the world’s attention turned to France for the Paris climate talks, thousands of Victorians signed postcard petitions to the French government about phasing out Hazelwood.
The postcards were handed to the French Climate Minister on TV in a documentary special – a bit like the French version of ABC’s Four Corners.
In response, the Minister announced on air that ENGIE would ‘disengage’ from Hazelwood. Watch the video below.