Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forrest for her question and know that she is very concerned about the future of industry in the south-west of her state. She is concerned about not only the affordability of power but also its sustainability and ensuring that it is low-emissions technology. That is why she and other coalition members on this side of the House welcome our announcement that we are seeking to amend the legislation of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to enable it to invest in carbon capture and storage.

Back in 2011-12 there was a political fix, and the political fix was between the Labor Party and their alliance partners, the Greens. They ruled out carbon capture and storage as one of the prohibited technologies that could be funded under the CEFC. This is despite the fact that the International Energy Agency says it is not optional, when it comes to reducing emissions, to rule out CCS. And it is despite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change saying that the cost of meeting Paris commitments would be double if you did not have CCS. It is despite the fact that you can get a 90 per cent emissions reduction by using CCS, not just for thermal generation—gas and coal—but also, importantly, for industrial processes: chemicals, steel, cement.

That is why the coalition's announcement was welcomed by the likes of BHP, BlueScope, the Business Council of Australia, Energy Networks Australia and Shell. And indeed it was entirely consistent with the comments of the member for Corio, the member for McMahon, the opposition leader in the Senate, the member for Lilley and indeed the member for Port Adelaide.

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