Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Labor has been a longstanding supporter of renewable energy in Australia and we will continue to be so in the future. As a country with abundant solar, wind and wave resources, and the world-class skills and expertise to turn those resources into reliable energy, Australia has been a world leader in the renewable energy sector.

All of this, however, has been put in jeopardy by the Abbott Liberal government. Billions of dollars have gone to other nations because of the uncertainty created by this government's broken promise on the renewable energy target. By 2013, under Labor, Australia was rated one of the four most attractive places in the world to invest in renewable energy, alongside China, the US and Germany. Under this government, we have now dropped to tenth. Investments in large-scale wind, solar and other clean energy sources plummeted 88 per cent in 2014 to $240 million, the lowest level since 2002. The reckless behaviour of the Abbott Liberal government has effectively driven investors in the renewable energy sector offshore. This is Australia's great loss: a loss of jobs—important jobs of the future—and a massive setback for our efforts to reduce carbon pollution.

Conversely, under Labor's guidance and commitment to the future, the renewable energy sector flourished. Homes with rooftop solar grew from around 7,000 to more than 1.2 million, including around 9,000 homes in my electorate of Newcastle. That's right: under Labor's leadership, Newcastle installed more rooftop solar panels than the nation as a whole had prior to the election of the Labor government. Wind power in Australia tripled. Jobs in the renewable energy sector tripled, with more than 21,000 Australians employed in the sector, 4,000 of where were in New South Wales. More than $18 billion was invested in wind and solar farms, hydro plants and renewable energy technology development. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, which was established by Labor in 2012, invested more than $60 million in my electorate of Newcastle, with private funds taking the overall investment in just two years to more than $100 million—and that is just in my electorate. What is the government's reaction to this investment and economic boost? They attempt to abolish ARENA.

Not only were there economic benefits to Labor's commitment to renewable energy but there were very big environmental benefits as well. The explosion in renewable energy in Australia saw carbon pollution from the electricity sector come down. Between June 2012 and June 2013, emissions from the electricity sector fell by more than seven per cent. Under this government, however, emissions are headed the other way. Research by energy consultant pitt&sherry released last month showed brown coal's share of the main national electricity grid surging to its highest level since September 2012, increasing the sector's greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike the Abbott Liberal government, Labor firmly believes renewable energy is the way of the future. The rest of the world is marching towards a clean energy future. Rather than lagging behind other nations we should be out there leading the way. We have the brightest minds, so we need the best government policy and funding commitment to support them. My electorate of Newcastle hosts some of the leading researchers in clean energy, based at the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources and the CSIRO's flagship energy centre. World-leading projects and scientific breakthroughs should be harnessed and developed locally, here in Australia. We must be able to realise the potential that is on our own door-step.

With all of this considered, we have to ask why we are here debating a bill to reduce the renewable energy target, the very policy that underpins the success of Australia's renewable energy industry and sets us on a pathway to a clean energy future. We are here because of a broken promise from the Prime Minister. Shortly after the election, the Prime Minister backflipped on one of his pre-election commitments—to retain the renewable energy target at 41,000 gigawatt hours, by 2020. Even though the Prime Minister has made a habit of breaking promises after the election, this broken promise did take us by surprise, simply because it just made no sense. The RET had enjoyed nearly a decade of bipartisanship—the Prime Minister voted for John Howard's initial RET legislation, in 2001, and then again in 2009 and 2010, when the Labor government expanded the legislation. The first sign we had that the government was walking away from its pre-election commitment on renewable energy was when Tony Abbott went on commercial radio in 2013 to peddle his myth that renewable energy drives up household power prices. This is simply not true and was indeed proved wrong by the Prime Minister's own hand-picked review panel, but I will go to that with some detail shortly. Then the Treasurer went on the same commercial radio program and added his own helpful contribution to the debate, declaring that wind turbines were 'offensive' and a 'blight on the landscape'. What a fine contribution to the debate from the man meant to be driving our economy into the future!

There were many more renewable energy related broken promises from this Prime Minister. The $600 million commitment for solar roofs, towns and schools was cut to just $2 million in the 2014 budget. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency had its funding severely cut in the 2013 MYEFO. And then, as I mentioned earlier, the agency was added to the abolition list in the 2014 budget. But the biggest of all the renewable energy broken promises came after the Prime Minister appointed a well-known climate change sceptic to review the renewable energy target. Much to the Prime Minister's shock, he did not get what he was after from that review. Despite the Prime Minister's insistence that renewable energy drives up power prices, the RET review found that the current RET of 41,000 gigawatts per hour will put downward pressure on household power prices in the medium to long term, that it helped drive investment in Australia's renewable energy industry, that it was reducing Australia's carbon pollution, and that it was creating jobs in Australia. Yet the Prime Minister's own hand-picked panel recommended either abolishing the RET altogether or cutting it significantly. The Prime Minister chose to cut the RET by more than 40 per cent.

This enormous change in policy sent shock waves through the renewable energy sector. The bipartisanship that had underpinned the industry for more than a decade had been shattered. That bipartisanship drove billions in investment, secured jobs and saw the industry flourish. It was the solid foundation that investors needed to make commitments that span decades. When the government shattered that bipartisanship, Labor knew it needed to be returned in order to give the industry the certainty they needed to attract investors to major projects. But Labor was not willing to do a deal with a government that would see the industry ruined. We did not accept the initial proposal to slash the RET by 40 per cent.

Throughout the entirety of the negotiation, Labor has been guided by the advice of the industry on what is best for them. We have reached an agreement now with the government that will see around 25 per cent of Australia's energy generation coming from renewable sources by 2020. The Clean Energy Council predicts that the revised target of 33,000 gigawatts per hour will drive around $40.4 billion in investment and create more than 15,000 jobs. The agreement will see projects start to be built again and businesses enjoy certainty that will allow them to assure their staff's job security.

Labor's negotiation principles throughout did not change, and I am pleased that the following outcomes were achieved. There has been no change to the small-scale solar scheme, which includes rooftop solar and solar panels for small businesses such as nursing homes. We have achieved a full exemption for emissions-intensive trade industries, which relieves some pressure on those industries that are enduring downturns and job cuts. And thankfully we have removed the two-year review that the government wanted to put in place. This provides the long-term security and certainty that the industry so desperately needs to survive and thrive. The exemption for emissions intensive trade industries is of particular significance to my electorate of Newcastle, with more than 1,000 people employed at Tomago Aluminium. Over the course of the RET negotiations I met with both the management of Tomago Aluminium and the unions to listen to their concerns about the RET and their ideas for the future. While supportive of the renewable energy target as a policy direction for the nation, Tomago Aluminium emphasised their massive reliance on electricity, with no viable alternative in sight. I am glad Labor has been able to secure a full exemption for emissions-intensive trade exposed industries like Tomago Aluminium and that the government has seen fit to correct what was an anomaly from the prior Liberal government. That is good news for the 1,000 men and women working at Tomago, for their families and for our region.

Finally, I would like to touch on the one remaining aspect of this bill that Labor does not support. We are disappointed that the government continues to pursue its plans to include burning native forests in the RET. Labor opposed this in government and we oppose it in opposition. Burning native forests for energy is neither clean nor renewable. We simply do not see a case for its inclusion in the RET, and we will oppose it. Renewable energy has a bright future under Labor. We have said that if elected in 2016 we will use the 33,000 gigawatts per hour as a floor to build on, not a limit. We will top up the 2020 RET, and we are consulting with industry and the finance sector to develop an ambitious renewable energy policy beyond 2020.

Labor knows that renewable energy is the way of the future. It is the way of the future for the environment. It is the way of the future for our economy. It is the way for jobs of the future. We know that Australia needs to transition to a clean energy economy, and Labor is the only party with the will and ambition to see that happen. Labor does support the majority of this bill, although we do not, as I said, support the last-minute, petty inclusion of the native wood waste biomass in the RET. I urge the government to take this out of the legislation. It has no place in the RET. It is time for our nation to move forward with an eye on the future, and there is no time to waste.

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