Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to debate regarding the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. I'm speaking for this bill because the issues of climate change and renewable energy were the top issues that locals in Bennelong raised with me and, ultimately, issues they voted for. They voted for a strong voice on climate change to be their voice here in our nation's parliament. They voted for someone to support legislation just like this: legislation that will unlock our nation's renewable energy potential; legislation that will produce emissions-free electricity as we drive down our emissions to our legislated targets, and hopefully well above them. Offshore wind is just one way that this government is getting on with the job. After a lost decade of denial and delay, we're getting on with the job of tackling climate change and investing in renewable energy and the economic prosperity that renewable energy delivers. We know that offshore wind is poised for explosive growth globally.

As an island nation, Australia has a coastline more than 60,000 kilometres long, with very high wind resources. With that comes so much potential for offshore electricity. Right now there are more than 10 offshore wind proposals in Australia just waiting to be given the green light by this parliament. We know that offshore wind power is abundant. It's homegrown, it provides jobs and it is affordable. These projects promise enormous generation capacity, with tens of thousands of jobs in the construction phase, thousands of good, ongoing jobs as they become operational, and billions of dollars in investment. Importantly, most of these proposals are sitting alongside our traditional energy regions. We heard from the member for Cunningham, who's proud to have had her electorate identified as an area where offshore wind can prosper. We already have very strong infrastructure in place in those regions because of the electricity grids that transmit traditional power. Our regions have the most to gain from a thriving offshore wind industry.

We heard earlier, but I'll repeat it: one single turn of an offshore wind turbine can provide as much energy as a whole day's worth of rooftop solar, and these turbines can turn 15 times per minute. Around the world, more than 35 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity is already in operation, with expected increases of up to 80 gigawatts by 2030 and 2,000 gigawatts by 2050. Just to put all of that in perspective, currently Australia's entire national energy market is around 55 gigawatts. With these proposed projects alone generating over 25 gigawatts, we will have more offshore wind resources than we could ever possibly use ourselves. That means there are lots of opportunities for us to export this clean renewable energy globally.

It's deeply regrettable that all the benefits of offshore wind have been delayed for so long because of the inaction of the former government. Credible offshore wind projects have been waiting for more than five years for this legislation. We heard that it was only after Labor's pressure—the offshore electricity act came into effect in June 2022—we finally have a framework for regulating offshore renewable energy infrastructure in Commonwealth waters. The previous government dragged their heels on getting this industry up and running, and there is no doubt we have a lot of catching up to do.

This legislation makes some small administrative amendments to the existing Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act of 2021 to reflect recent machinery-of-government changes. It also makes some technical amendments and closes a regulatory gap in the Customs Act to ensure full coverage of customs obligations for new renewable energy infrastructure projects offshore. This regulatory framework for offshore renewables will contribute to delivering cleaner, cheaper renewable energy for Australian households and businesses. This underpins the acceleration of energy transition and decarbonisation in Australia—exactly what locals in my electorate of Bennelong voted for.

Not only are we doing this but we're sending a clear signal to the world and to investors that we're open for business when it comes to new energy investment, giving the certainty to the market that our country has been crying out for for over a decade. As I mentioned, there are so many great opportunities for jobs and industry in our lifetime—opportunities for new traineeships and apprenticeships, for our local manufacturing and supply chains, for our seafarers and blue economy workers and for those currently working in traditional resource industries.

Not only do we have the capacity to manufacture the parts needed for these wind turbines but we also have the deepwater ports to export wind turbines. There aren't many places in the world where you have the rail infrastructure, the manufacturing capacity, the skills and the deepwater ports to produce and export offshore electricity. Australia's share of manufacturing and supply chain activity in most renewable energy sectors is low, but it really doesn't have to be that way. After years of manufacturing decline, imagine all the jobs we can create locally by creating new energy sources, like offshore wind, and adding those to our current mix.

Offshore wind also offers immense opportunities to produce green hydrogen for export. In my electorate we have Hyundai, one of the pioneers and leaders in hydrogen technology for transport. Hydrogen, produced by offshore wind directly or through the supply of electrolysis located in port facilities, is a real game changer. If we can produce hydrogen from renewable energy, we can forge a multibillion-dollar green industry with tens of thousands of new well-paid jobs for our regions.

Now that this legislation has been introduced, it is time for us to move and to move fast. We don't have a moment to waste. We cannot waste another 10 years, like our predecessors. We're taking steps towards our vision of a decarbonised economy, we're considering where offshore renewable energy infrastructure may be suitable and we're consulting industry and regional coastal communities about them.

The people of Bennelong supported me because they want to see real action on climate change, and that's exactly what this bill does. For too long the conversation in Australia has been skewed towards the costs of climate change action instead of the opportunities of climate change action. We have a huge amount of work to do to seize these opportunities. We have only 86 months until 2030, and that's not long for the massive transformation that our environment needs. It would be a much easier path if we weren't grappling with a lost decade on this policy. It means that we have no time to waste. It also means we need to be all in. Government can't do it all and nor should we try to. This must be a whole-of-economy effort and a whole-of-society effort. I'm pleased with the progress our government has made so far, but there is so much more to do.

You'll recall in the first 26 days of coming to office, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy formalised Australia's updated nationally determined contributions under the Paris agreement, our 2030 target. In 109 days we passed the Climate Change Act, enshrining this target into legislation. As I said earlier, I'm pleased with and proud of this, but I'm not satisfied. I'm not satisfied because we have so much more to do and only 86 months to achieve that 43 per cent reduction. This bill will help us get there.

Our climate change target will require an energy revolution, and that's why we're targeting 82 per cent renewables in our electricity grid by 2030. A big part of that was a huge announcement that the minister for climate change made last week, the first and biggest investment from our Rewiring the Nation plan that takes us one step closer to achieving our emissions reduction target. It is the biggest energy investment by an Australian government since the Snowy Mountains Scheme in the 1940s. It's called the Marinus Link, with two undersea transmission cables to connect mainland Australia to the abundant renewable energy available in Tasmania. This agreement will support Tasmania's plan to increase renewable generation by 200 per cent. It will improve our energy reliability, cut emissions and create thousands upon thousands of new clean energy jobs all at the same time, unlocking the potential that our land has to create more renewable energy.

Just in conclusion, if you take anything from the first few months of this government it should be not just be that it doesn't want to waste a day but that consultation and collaboration is a key part of this government's reform process. We took an agenda to the last election which was endorsed by the Australian people. But in implementing it we know we need to work with every sector of our economy and every part of our community to make sure we strike the right balance.

To achieve Australia's emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030, it's estimated that we'll need to install 40 seven-megawatt turbines every month until 2030. This is a lot. Is it achievable? We will try our very best, working with industry, the regions and energy producers in our economy to do so. We'll act rapidly. After the last decade of inaction on climate and cuts to renewable energy, we're turning things around.

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