Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The mega announcements made by the government yesterday amidst much hype were welcome but modest. In effect, what they have done is join Australia with every other state and territory in the country, every significant business, whether they are an industrial, mining or financial services business, with the rest of the world in acknowledging that if we don't hit net zero by 2050, we face a diabolical climate consequence. Australia, as a nation, has the most to lose if we don't work in concert with every other nation around the world. Whether it is the Great Barrier Reef or the sustainability of our agricultural lands, the fact that the majority of the population lives within a few kilometres of the ocean, we have the most to lose and, indeed, the most to gain through the transition to a clean energy future and the reduction of our carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Of course, focusing on 2050 is a bit of a sleight of hand because, in essence, if we are not looking at what needs to be done over the next decade, we are essentially setting a target for our grandkids to achieve, instead of us focusing on the job that is our responsibility as elected men and women of this parliament. So more focus needs to be put on what we will do over the next decade so that our grandchildren need to do less over the next three decades to rectify the problems we have left stand still.

I support the bills and I support the amendment that has been moved by the member for McMahon. The bills are sensible if late, as others have noted, because offshore wind is a proven technology that does have the potential to turn Australia into a renewable energy powerhouse. The only thing stopping it, frankly, has been the inaction of this government. So it's a good thing that, at last, these bills have come before the House after years of needless delay. Delay in this place has meant that offshore wind projects have been delayed as well, including offshore wind projects adjacent to my electorate and the electorate of the member for Cunningham, who has joined us in the chamber. I'll have more to say about that shortly.

Two offshore projects are ready to go. They're waiting to go off the coast of the Illawarra, and I'm keen to speak a little bit about them. The bill will establish the necessary regulatory framework to allow them to go ahead, including the rules around the construction, installation, commissioning, maintenance and, eventually, decommissioning of such projects. As the member for Cunningham will know, we are very familiar with the consequences of the failure of governments to put in place mechanisms, including financial security mechanisms, that require businesses and proponents who put forward these renewable energy projects offshore to rectify and decommission at the end of the project. We have experienced off Port Kembla over the last decade what became both a hazard and an eyesore when a failed offshore wave project was not properly decommissioned, and the taxpayer had to pick up the bill for that. These sorts of mechanisms are absolutely necessary.

We are behind the eight ball, a long way behind the eight ball. Denmark and Germany, alongside many other European countries, already have a well-established offshore wind-farm industry producing many gigawatts of renewable energy for their economies. They must be looking at Australia, with its vastly more expansive coastlines, and wondering to themselves why we are so late to the game.

Recent research by Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre estimates that the feasible potential for wind farm energy production in Australia is in excess of 2,300 gigawatts. Members of this place may or may not be aware that the entire annual production of Australia's energy grid is 55 gigawatts. So it's many multiples—as many as five times—of the annual production of our current grid that is available to us through offshore wind farm facilities. It is a veritable goldmine waiting to be tapped. The only thing missing is sufficient regulatory guidelines. Investors want in. Institutional investors—I speak to them regularly—want in. They want regulatory certainty. They can see a long-term income stream available to them from an energy-hungry nation which wants to attract more, not less industry to this country on the basis of cheap and sustainable energy from renewable sources.

As welcome as these bills are, simply getting some regulations in place is not going to be enough. What investors are really after is a plan—not talk of a plan, not a PowerPoint presentation masquerading as a plan, not the repetition of the word plan over 100 times in 30 minute press conference, but an actual plan which will deliver the certainty backed by legislation and guidance for industry. Yesterday, the Prime Minister had an opportunity to do just that, but he failed. He said the word plan over 100 times during his press conference, but just saying 'plan' does not make it real. The fact is that what we saw yesterday was not a plan but a scam. There was no target, no modelling, and no legislation, just a glossy pamphlet and a three-word slogan. After a decade to think about it and 20 previous plans, all he could offer was something which resembled a Seinfeld episode—a show about nothing. That's not leadership. If you want to be a leader you actually need to do the substantial stuff of putting in place the plans and showing people the way to a sustainable economic future. You need to spell the things out and not run and hide because you're terrified that the people who sit behind you may not like what you're proposing.

More than two years ago my council, and the member for Cunningham's council—Wollongong City Council—adopted a net zero target by 2050. That was like many other councils around the country and just about every state and territory. They did more than that; they put in place an actual plan with real numbers and real targets in it, including a development strategy which saw the possibility to create over 10½ thousand jobs in our region over the decade through renewables. It identified clean energy as a major source of those jobs and is working through its Invest Wollongong partnerships to bring forward specific projects to deliver those jobs.

The New South Wales government, a coalition government, is not my stripe and not my team. But I actually have to admire, in some respects, some of the things that they're doing. They have developed a detailed hydrogen strategy. It was released earlier this month, with detailed targets: 110,000 tons of green hydrogen production by 2030; 10,000 hydrogen powered vehicles on the road in the New South Wales fleet in the same period; and a price on green hydrogen of under $2.80 a kilogram, which makes it not only competitive but more competitive than alternative fossil fuels. It has detailed modelling, including the relative decline in capital costs and energy prices over time as a result of achieving those targets. There's a survey of comparable world economy positions on the hydrogen economy pathway as compared with New South Wales, and there's a thorough examination of the impact on emissions reductions, jobs growth, the growth in export potential and the overall economic benefits. And, finally, the plan has a three-pillar policy which will enable it to achieve its targets.

This is what a plan looks like in one sector. It's what a plan looks like! Not a flimsy PowerPoint presentation scattered with three-word slogans repeated time after time after time which doesn't deliver any clarity for investors but which hopefully gets the Prime Minister through the next question time. Australian needs better than that.

Through the process that the New South Wales government has identified, Port Kembla is one of two sites identified as a superior location for a large-scale hydrogen production facility, with a planned production start date of 2030. The hub will leverage off Port Kembla's existing high-quality industrial infrastructure and skills base as a springboard into the future. The core gas facility has already been producing hydrogen using existing technology for over 30 years, and the port's facilities and expertise in export orientation, its fast-growing local population and its close access to Sydney also give it natural advantages. That's what a plan looks like! And, in this instance, that plan was crucial in attracting the two offshore windfarm proposals to our region which I spoke of at the top of my contribution.

Green Energy Partners is looking at building a $15 billion project with an initial capacity of three gigawatts. I'll just say that number again: a $15 billion project off the coast of Wollongong. They plan to use Port Kembla as a construction hub for the build phase, providing jobs and using local skills and expertise, and building on the port's proud industrial history—a $15 billion project that, for the want of regulation, could have gone ahead a lot earlier. And Ocean EDGE is building a $10 billion floating windfarm with the initial capacity of two gigawatts. So there are two projects and $25 billion worth of work in an economy that's crying out for development and crying out for jobs and potential. It has joined the Illawarra Innovative Industry Network that is collaborating on ways to bring new jobs and opportunities to the local economy across the board. Both projects were attracted to the Illawarra by the clear coordinated plan for the Hydrogen Hub and by the local political commitment, including the commitment of the member for Cunningham and myself, the local councils and state members of parliament of all political stripes. This is how you get action.

The bills we are debating today represent a step forward in taking the plan forward into the construction phase. Providing a bit of much-needed regulatory certainty is literally the absolute minimum this government can do. It's the story of the Prime Minister; he always does the bare minimum after exploring every other alternative and every other excuse not to act. The people of the Illawarra and the investors backing their future need much, much more. They're doing their bit to seize the jobs and the opportunities of the future while looking after the workers in traditional industries today.

This does not have to be a zero-sum game. I reject the proposition put by the member for Melbourne, in some Disney World fantasy about how this is all going to play out. We've got to bring the people of the Illawarra, the people of the Hunter, along with us. We have got to give them certainty that we've got their backs. They know their grandkids aren't going to go down a coalmine; they know that. They want to ensure that they will continue to have a good paying job, secure employment, an employer that looks after their interests and a government that has got their backs. They want to plan for the future and they want security for their jobs today.

That's why an Albanese Labor government will deliver a Made in Australia manufacturing plan, which harnesses the capacity of renewable energy projects with those energy hungry industries and the infrastructure necessary to deliver them, to ensure that we as a nation are no longer just a quarry which digs dirt up, sticks it on a boat and sends it overseas but a nation that value-adds. We can ensure we can harness our endless supply of renewable energy, couple that with our bountiful supply of resources and ensure that we can once again be a manufacturing, a resource and a renewable energy powerhouse. I commend the bills, and the second reading amendment moved by the member for McMahon, to the House.

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