Bill Shorten believes coal has a place in Australia's future.

The Opposition leader took the time to note he was not a “rampant greenie” during a visit to the Hazelwood power station over the weekend.

“I am not a rampant greenie who thinks there is no place for fossil fuel in our energy mix in the future,” Mr Shorten told reporters.

He said the government needs plan to find jobs for power industry workers.

“They need to make the power companies understand this should be a transition for the workforce affected by change,” the Labor leader said.

“Haven’t they learnt anything from the American election results — where you abandon hard working, working class communities and provide no support for them, that is when people get angry at mainstream politics.”

Mr Shorten said there should be a system of voluntary redundancy for workers at the end of their career.

He also called for the Government to “prioritise building Australian, buying Australian and employing Australian”.

He said that if Australia is serious about taking action on climate change, it would need more renewable energy.