Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to contribute to this matter of public importance. After some of the things we have heard in this debate today it will be good to get back to a few facts. The first one that I would like to talk about is the fact of global warming. While both sides of parliament have actually made a commitment to do something about it, I really do wonder about the other side and where that commitment goes to.

If Australia does not change its ways we will be left behind and the rest of the world will keep going. If we do not become a low-carbon-emitting and efficient economy then the 21st century will be the century that Australia missed out on. Whilst other countries in the world—89 of them representing more than 80 per cent of global emissions and 90 per cent of the global economy—have pledged to reduce or limit their carbon emissions pollution by 2020, in Australia we are still arguing about it. Really, the time for that has passed. Just about the entire world is moving to reduce its carbon intensity by adopting new technologies and efficiencies. That is great to see because it does take action from everyone, but if we do not act then why should anyone else? If that was applied to many of the things that had happened in the world in its recent history, nothing would have changed so action is essential. Australia has to be here and now, not waiting for everyone else to deal with it.

It is estimated that the low-carbon goods and services sector that is already worth about $4.8 trillion today and employs around 28 million people worldwide is going to grow at four per cent a year. That growth will continue to accelerate as more countries introduce schemes to reduce their output of carbon emissions or greenhouse gases. The opposition has made all sorts of claims about the impact of the carbon price but the fact is the government will support our industries to become more efficient and help create new jobs in new industries. Treasury modelling, for instance, shows that with the carbon price jobs will continue to grow. In fact 1.6 million more jobs will be created by 2020, a huge figure when you think about it.

The Clean Energy Future package will tackle Australia's carbon emissions by charging the 500 largest polluters a price for the carbon emissions that they emit, which, up till now, is something they have done for free. The rest of us have to put up with the pollution that is put into our atmosphere, so user pays is not a bad principle for this type of thing. A price on carbon will create an incentive to reduce the emission of carbon and the revenue generated from the scheme will help industries adopt new technologies and will compensate consumers. In taking this step to introduce a price on carbon, it must be understood that industry needs support to adapt to a low-carbon future because it is a big change.

Recognising the importance of manufacturing and heavy industries that compete on international markets, use large amounts of energy and generate significant levels of carbon pollution is something that is accommodated in the Clean Energy Future package. Part of that package is the Jobs and Competitiveness Program to provide assistance to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries. Over the first three years of the carbon price, the government will devote $9.2 billion of that revenue to assist those industries. There will be two categories of assistance under the Jobs and Competitiveness Program. The most emissions-intensive trade-exposed activities will initially be eligible for free permits representing 94.5 per cent of industry average carbon emission costs. Manufacturing activities like aluminium smelting, steel manufacturing, flat glass making, zinc smelting and most pulp and paper manufacturing will be covered.

The steel sector has the $300 million Steel Transformation Plan which provides additional assistance to help the industry transition to a clean energy future. Activities which have lower levels of carbon pollution such as some plastics and chemical manufacturing, tissue paper manufacturing and ethanol production will be eligible for free permits to cover 66 per cent of the industry average carbon costs. Liquefied natural gas projects will also receive a supplementary allocation to ensure an effective assistance rate of 50 per cent. The Jobs and Competitiveness Program will provide support for activities that generate more than 80 per cent of emissions within the manufacturing sector.

There is also the $1.2 billion Clean Technology Program to support industries to become more competitive in a clean energy future. That includes $200 million to support jobs in food processing and metal forging industries and $800 million to provide grants to manufacturers to support investments in energy efficient capital equipment and low-pollution technologies, processes and products. That is a particularly important point because if manufacturers are still using old plant that was designed, made and has been used for many years, in many instances that plant was not really thought out properly when it came to energy efficiency. Did it do the job? Yes. Did it produce what was needed? Yes. Is it the most efficient in energy use? That was not a consideration maybe a few decades ago but is most definitely a consideration these days.

There is also an additional $200 million over five years for grants to support business investment in research and development in the areas of renewable energy, low-pollution technology and energy efficiency. That is also particularly important because it takes a lot of investment in R&D to come up with the ideas that we will use in the future. Australia cannot rely on the rest of the world to do all our R&D for us. It is allowing our best and brightest to go overseas when those ideas could be well catered for, at least the embryonic ideas, here and then brought to fruition here. That is another great advantage of the Clean Energy Future package.

To help small business, the government will extend the small business instant asset write-off threshold to $6,500. If you think $6,500 is not that much, when you look at it across 2013-14, in one year that is worth more than $1 billion to small businesses, which is a significant amount. By boosting cash flow, it will help small businesses grow and invest in assets many of which, as I said, may be more energy efficient than what they currently are. In some ways you could compare it to buying a new car versus an old Holden you might have sitting around that is 30 years old. There is quite a difference in what you can get out of an engine in power and fuel usage but, again, that many years ago that was not really the top priority. For many years now cars have become more efficient with each model as technology has improved. That is just one example of where technology, through research and development, can create more efficiency and therefore less cost.

The government will also establish a $40 million program to provide information to small businesses and community organisations on practical measures they can take to reduce energy costs. That is also very important because a lot of the time that energy is used and, because the bill comes later, it is not always realised what is being used now. Many households can tell you about that when they receive their quarterly electricity, gas or even water bills because the instant use in an hour does not seem to add up. No-one sits back when they leave their lights on and says: 'Well, in three months time I'm going to get the bill. It's going to be this much because I haven't turned off my lights.' But if you do not turn them off every night, or every day as the case may be, at the end of the quarter you are in for a nasty shock. It also applies to businesses. Not knowing what you are using and not knowing the best way to use what you have got can cost you. So having a package to provide information to save money is a win-win for everyone.

The Energy Security Fund will be established as part of the Clean Energy Future package. That fund is about shutting down old generation assets. In Victoria, where I come from, most of the baseload power is generated by brown coal power stations. Some, like Hazelwood, date right back to the 1960s. They were built at a time when pollution and efficiency were not taken into account. What was taken into account was the massive amounts of very cheap brown coal upon which these power stations in the Latrobe Valley literally sit. Whilst they have been of great service to Victoria over the years, many of them should have been shut down a long time ago. After the State Electricity Commission was privatised, private entities bought these generators. (Time expired)

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