Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

There is no doubt export finance is an important foreign relations and trade policy lever. Indeed, if we use our export finance regime effectively it can be a tremendous force for good. In principle I don't oppose the idea of expanding the mandate of Export Finance Australia to make equity investments in strategic projects abroad in the national interest. We should do this as a leader of the region. What I do oppose, however, is direct public investment in foreign fossil fuel based infrastructure. The world is experiencing rapid and alarming warming that jeopardises our safety, security and prosperity. Countless other nations know that export finance must be used to lead global investment in the clean energy transition, instead of wasting it on soon to be stranded fossil fuel assets. It's the last thing that Australian taxpayers need. It is the last thing our partners in the region need.

When introducing the bill, the minister said:

This reform will align Australia with other countries, like the USA, China, Japan, Canada and South Korea, which are already making equity investments in our region to support their development and commercial objectives.

Well, this is not entirely true, Mr Deputy Speaker. Many of these nations have also taken proactive measures to prohibit export finance agencies investing in fossil fuels. President Biden has directed the US export credit agency to identify steps through which the United States can promote ending international financing of carbon-intensive fossil fuel based energy. The UK government banned its export credit agency from funding any new coal and gas projects, in line with the urgent recommendations of the International Energy Agency. South Korea has committed to end public financing for overseas coal-fired power plants, and, just this year, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK launched the export finance for the future coalition, with each country committing to massively increased support for sustainable projects and to assessing how to best phase out export finance support to oil and gas industries. That's what export finance leadership looks like.

This bill will punish regional Australians twice: first as taxpayers who'll see their contributions to the public purse wasted on foreign fossil-fuel subsidies; and, second, as bystanders who'll have to see billions of dollars in foreign investment in renewables in their own backyards draining out of their towns and offshore. This is not how this equation should be.

That's why I introduced the Australian Local Power Agency Bill 2021, which would require any new foreign-owned large-scale renewable energy project in Australia to offer the local community a chance to co-invest up to 20 per cent in that project. The House Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy will hold a public inquiry into that proposal tomorrow, and I encourage all MPs in this place—especially those who represent regional electorates—to tune in and hear what regional Australians are calling for when it comes to foreign investment in renewables.

These detailed amendments would stop us from making more of a mess than we already have. It's time for solutions, and I commend these amendments to the House.

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