Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Repeal) Bill 2014. The Australian economy is built around energy in terms of both access to efficient and affordable electricity for homes and businesses alike, as well as energy exports. We all want affordable and sustainable energy to continue to power industry and to consolidate our position in the international energy market. We also want to ensure that we put downward pressure on electricity bills for consumers.

The coalition government also sees the benefit of promoting the potential of Australia's energy services and locally developed technologies to the rest of the world. That is why this government is committed to around 200 taxpayer funded projects worth $1 billion, matched by a further $1.8 billion in private funds, making the total projects worth over $2.8 billion nation wide, which are managed through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Fund.

I want to make it very clear that the coalition government is focused on getting real and measurable outcomes from the existing renewable energy projects and returning the uncommitted funding back to the budget. There is no magic pudding to endlessly fund projects, but the Labor government spent as if there were no tomorrow and every morning the magic pudding just replenished the spend.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, is a statutory authority which commenced operations on 1 July 2012 and has the objectives of improving the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies and increasing the supply of renewable energy in Australia. The purpose of the bill we are debating here today is to transfer the responsibilities of ARENA to the Department of Industry by the repealing of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011. The bill also provides for the transfer of all of ARENA's existing contracts and commitments to the Commonwealth for the Department of Industry to manage.

This bill, when enacted, will help achieve further budget savings of $1.3 billion by returning most of the uncommitted funding to the budget. This measure is required because of the financial mess that was inherited from a reckless and incompetent Labor government, which has always had the ability to spend more than it earns or could afford. The government will be ensuring that each and every project is well managed, that it meets its contracted milestones and that it is contributing to the advancement of an industry that has seen considerable government and collaborative industry funded investment over recent years. This government believes in providing the policy framework where Australian businesses can grow and can compete in an increasingly competitive global marketplace without just relying on government handouts. The focus over the life of these projects will be to make sure that the investments that are already made help progress the renewable energy industry as a whole.

I want to re-emphasise: the coalition government supports and is committed to the renewable energy sector through the existing $1 billion in taxpayers’ money invested in around 200 renewable energy projects across Australia and, I say again, leveraged up to $2.8 billion with collaborative funding from the private sector. The government is keen to see these projects deliver outcomes over the coming years. We recognise the clean energy sector, which, by its own count employs 24,000 people and has generated some $20 billion in investment is an important part of Australia’s energy solution. That is why we believe renewable energy should be part of a diverse energy mix.

Given Australian taxpayers are making a substantial investment in renewable projects, we believe it is sensible and prudent to monitor those investments and use the knowledge gained in ways that can strengthen the renewable energy industry. In particular, we are focused on ensuring that the knowledge that is gained can be applied in a practical way to deploy renewable energy in commercial projects to the benefit of all Australians.

We expect the knowledge gained from each of the 200 projects, from every taxpayer dollar spent, to help advance the renewable energy industry and benefit our nation. We believe that by using this knowledge we will start to develop energy solutions that are specific to Australian conditions and that can be deployed commercially to the benefit of all Australians.

When I began visiting the ARENA projects in my role as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry I went in with an open mind, willing to learn more about renewable energy projects, the number of people being employed and what taxpayers were receiving in return for these significant investments. I was absolutely fascinated by some of the research being undertaken.

Earlier this week I joined with ARENA CEO, Ivor Frischknecht, at the University of New South Wales to announce $21.5 million in federal government funding for 12 new solar research and development projects. These projects have a total value in excess of $70 million. There were 110 applications and, in a very competitive process that saw applications vetted and ranked against one another, 12 were selected. These projects are the best of the best.

The ANU will receive $9.183 million in funding for five projects: researching material qualities; the efficiency of silicon solar cells; high temperature solar thermal energy storage; and developing PV modules for the unique Australian environment. The CSIRO in Newcastle will receive $4.6 million in funding for three projects: to develop high efficiency solar Allam cycle: to develop low-cost small heliostats for use in remote installations; and to work on a virtual power station.

The University of New South Wales will receive $6.95 million in funding for three projects: to develop ultimate performance commercial silicon solar cells; to develop high efficiency silicon/perovskite tandem cells and modules; to study advanced recombination-based loss analysis methods for silicon wafer and silicon solar cells. The UTS will receive $750,000 for a project to develop lithium-sulfur batteries for large-scale commercial electrical storage. The total value of these 12 projects is $70.5 million and it is a great example of the government working with researchers and industry to deliver real and measurable outcomes to the solar industry.

I visited many of the ARENA projects and the first one was in Wallsend. In May, I visited the Carnegie Wave Energy project south of Perth, where Tim Sawyer, the project development officer, demonstrated that this $33.4 million-project is well advanced. ARENA provided $13.1 million towards the development of the Australian-invented and owned CETO wave energy technology that converts ocean swell into zero-emissions renewable power and desalinated freshwater. This project is the commercial demonstration phase that comprises the design, construction, deployment and operational performance evaluation of a pilot-scale, grid-connected, two-megawatt-installed-capacity wave energy demonstration project at Garden Island. The facility will consist of three submerged CETO 5 units in an array, subsea pipelines to shore, hydraulic conditioning equipment and an onshore power generation facility.

In June, I visited the team from Renergi at the Fuels and Energy Technology Institute at Curtin University in Western Australia. The research project, headed by Professor Chun-Zhu Li, had received $3.6 million towards the project cost of $6.7 million. The aim is to develop new technology and increase technical expertise to grow and convert farm-grown Mallee crops into advanced biofuels that can meet future transport fuel demands, whilst at the same time reducing carbon emissions. The Mallee spinoff has additional economic benefits of reducing dryland salinity in agricultural areas and this could potentially reduce approximately $300-$400 million of crop losses per year in Western Australia.

Renergi’s commercial gasifier will also produce biochar as a by-product, which may have applications for carbon sequestration or agricultural fertiliser. ARENA has offered a further $5.2 million to Renergi under the Emerging Renewables Program to scale up its gasification technology to a commercial application capable of delivering five megawatts. Again, this project is still in its early stages but I do look forward to the results.

New and innovative technology is always fascinating to conceptualise and intriguing to understand. But let me also be very clear that research and development in renewable energy lies not solely with ARENA as an agency. In May I visited the Edith Cowan University, where I met with Professor Kamal Alameh, Director of the Centre for MicroPhotonic Systems at the Electron Science Research Institute—ESRI.

I have always wondered why large-scale buildings with glass curtain walls could not be better designed to collect solar power. Obviously, the glass cannot be covered with photovoltaic cells as there would be no vision or light through the glass. But ESRI, who previously received the WA Inventor of the Year Early Stage Category award for high-speed, chip-to-chip optical interconnects, has developed Tropiglass.

Tropiglass is a glass panelling arrangement which allows the harvesting of solar energy through the window panes by deflecting the light energy source to the internal frame, which in turn houses the solar cells to collect the energy. It is this sort of thinking that is well beyond 'outside the square' thinking that will deliver to Australia and the environment in spades. We have organically grown and also attracted some of the best and brightest researchers to Australia.

The previous government’s record in generating sensible environmental policy disastrous. Let me run through the litany of disasters the former Labor government dreamed up: pink batts, Green Loans, Green Start and 'cash for clunkers'. 'Cash for clunkers'—that summarises the entire ALP approach to the environment. This is not to mention the citizen's assembly that was, in fact, the climate policy they had before the carbon tax and which was the policy they took to the 2010 election.

We can remember the Green Loans. Green Loans were another signature policy. It ended up with an average cost of $100,000 per $1,000 loan. It may sound extraordinary, but the average price per loan distributed was around $100,000. They spent $100 million and they issued just over 1,000 loans. Therefore, the program cost, on average, $100,000 each for the loans, which were just over $1,000 each. Great economics!

Then we go from Green Loans to cash for clunkers. This, of course, was their signature program. It was going to be a giant. It was going to transform the automotive sector—except that it never happened. The cash for clunkers program in the end did not just collapse; it actually crashed.

The repeal of the carbon tax has been a huge win for the Australian public and for businesses. We believe the passage of this legislation will be another step in the right direction, by continuing to invest in renewable energy projects in a financially sustainable way. The repeal of the ARENA bill will be another step in the right direction.

In conclusion, it is important we continue to reflect on what it will take to secure Australia’s energy future. Energy is fundamental to our economic prosperity and the government is keen to ensure we get our economic fundamentals right. All the energy sources available to Australia should come into the equation in considering how best to secure our energy future.

Traditional energy sources continue to meet the bulk of our needs, but the importance of renewable energy in the mix is growing. The government’s open-for-business policy is to enable all businesses to stand on their own feet and flourish with fewer taxes and more streamlined, but improved, regulation. The government believes well-functioning markets are the key to delivering the best outcomes for energy producers and consumers alike. Competitive energy markets are essential to attracting investment in our energy sector in a form best suited to the needs of businesses and households.

As has been seen in the retail energy markets, effective competition promotes customer choice. Effective competition means customers can choose from multiple energy contracts and energy retailers to find an offer that best meets their needs at a price they are willing to pay. Retailers are incentivised to innovate and differentiate their offers from those of their competitors to better meet the needs of their customers. The government’s focus is to create the optimum policy settings that will support the efficient operation of the energy markets, and that includes a blended renewable energy market.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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