Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak against the government's Net Zero Economy Authority Bill 2024 and the associated bill. In doing so, I make this point: by virtue of even bringing these bills forward the Albanese Labor government is conceding that the pathway it is venturing down to achieve net zero for Australia is going to leave regional communities which have experience hosting coal-fired power stations in particular with dire hope for the future—very little hope for the future whatsoever.

I will get, in a moment, to those areas of the bill with which I have a specific problem, but I want to make a broader point upfront first. That is: despite lots of argy-bargy and hot debate on issues of climate change and energy in this country, there is bipartisanship when it comes to achieving the goal of net zero by 2050. But that bipartisanship does not translate into an agreement on the pathway the nation must take to achieve net zero by 2050.

The pathway Labor is venturing down is already creating consequences that are felt by all Australians. We know that Australians today are paying among the highest electricity prices in the world, and certainly the highest in our country's history. There was a day when Australians paid among the lowest prices for electricity in all advanced economies, but today we pay among the highest. Since Labor has come to office we have seen on a weekly basis, on average, over 500 families signing up for hardship arrangements with their energy retailer. Again, it's another consequence of Labor's mismanagement of its transition to net zero by 2050 that is being felt by everyday households right across this country. That is a direct consequence. Around the country we are also seeing fear about the prospect of blackouts. We now have the Australian Energy Market Operator saying that we could see lights going out as soon as this coming summer, and certainly by next winter, because of the mismanagement of the electricity grid.

Why is all of this happening? It is happening because of the pathway chosen by the Albanese Labor government, which is creating real-world problems as we speak today. Regional economies, regional communities are screaming out because they are seeing projects being built without any consultation and without any engagement. They are seeing their way of life and their livelihoods threatened because they are dealing with a government that has set arbitrary targets—including 82 per cent renewables by 2030—without having given consideration to the impact on regional communities. This pain, whether it be economic or social or indeed environmental—especially given the scale of the rollout being pushed by the Albanese government—is being felt today.

This brings me to the point of this very bill. Under Labor's policies, we are going to see 90 per cent of Australia's baseload power, which is 90 per cent of always on 24/7 power in this country, exiting the grid within a decade—gone, without any chance of a replacement being there in time. Where do the generators that create such energy lie? They lie in regional communities which have hosted coal-fired power stations. This bill is a concession on the part of Labor that no communities in this country are going to hurt more and be punished more for Labor's trajectory to next zero than those communities. This is effectively Labor putting up the white flag, saying, 'We've run out of ideas.' This is Labor saying, 'We know full well that you are a regional community with high energy IQ, you get this stuff and your workforces have worked in these assets for generations,' and Labor is saying, 'We have no plan for you.' And they are saying that and putting up a bill in this parliament not empowering those communities to make the decisions about their futures but instead empowering bureaucrats.

This is not a community centred approach; this is a Canberra centred approach. This is quintessential Labor policy—big government, big unions and big bureaucrats with no consideration for what happens on the ground. At what point will Labor put the communities most affected by their ill-thought-through policy at the centre? They're not. So what we see in this bill is a concession from Labor that these communities have dire futures ahead of them. After two years, the solution of Labor's best thinkers, their greatest minds, for these communities is: Canberra will tell you what to do. That's it: Canberra will tell you what to do. Latrobe, Hunter—this is what Labor's saying. Labor are saying to the people of the Hunter: we do not trust you to power your own future. Labor are saying to the people of Latrobe: Canberra will decide your fate. How confident do you feel now?

The government have proved they have no concept of the importance of 24/7 power. They are dealing with communities that have for generations powered this nation—literally. They are closing down these baseload power stations without any chance of a system being ready to go. They know that, by virtue of this bill, those communities are going to be smashed in the process, and the best they can do is create the notion of something else in Canberra, another bureaucracy—a bureaucracy that does absolutely the same thing, by way of mandate, as existing agencies. There's a clear overlap with the CEFC and ARENA. There are state bodies that do these sorts of things already. But that's alright. These guys—the Albanese government—are going to put in $1.1 billion. Guess where that goes? It goes to Canberra, to the bureaucrats. That's what this is all about, and the unions have been calling for it for years. Big government, big unions—that's what this approach is.

Now it would be fair if somebody were to say: why shouldn't the federal government at least learn the lessons from states that have had similar authorities in place for some years? Those authorities at the state level, which have sought to do the same sort of thing in the same communities, have come up with great ideas such as swimming pools and mountain bike trails. I mean, we are talking about hundreds of highly qualified workers who have the ability to run power stations, and the best this government can come up with is to replicate a process already done by authorities at the state level, whose best ideas are swimming pools and mountain bike trails. I mean, seriously! We have some of our greatest minds in these regions, and the vision of the Albanese Labor government is to give Canberra more money so Canberra can decide their future. The senior leadership team includes the Prime Minister, the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy—not a day of work between them. They're lifetime politicians who live and breathe this building, who haven't got a clue what it's like to get your hands dirty, to have a crack at a trade. These are the people who are going to be making the decision, together with the unions.

As we've seen at the state level, Mr Deputy Speaker, we will see former Labor Party hacks filling the jobs, the roles, on the ground in this authority. That's the experience we've seen. Where this has been in place, including in Latrobe, former Labor Party hacks get the jobs. This bill won't deliver jobs for the coal plant workers. It will not honour their occupation, their family, their multigenerational contribution to their community. This bill honours the Labor Party. It honours the unions. It honours Canberra. This is about big government, and it's being done in the knowledge that communities are the ones who will be hurt. These are the communities who right now are keeping the lights on in this chamber. They are the ones who are keeping the TVs on at home. Ninety per cent of our 24/7 power will be gone within 10 years. Where are the government working on the ground with these communities to ensure that their economies continue to drive for the future? They are not doing that. There's nothing in this bill for that. This bill empowers the unions and the Fair Work Commission. It empowers the Labor Party. This is a bill for Labor and for its masters. It is yet another dirty dividend to the union movement done at the complete rejection of the very communities that this bill makes clear are going to be most hurt by their pathway to net zero.

In due course, we will put forward our pathway to net zero as a coalition. It is a pathway that will absolutely honour communities, especially regional communities. It is a pathway that will be consumer centred when it comes to its planning and design. When it comes to social licence, it will be community centred. For these reasons, this bill must be opposed. With that, I ask the House to think about these communities, do what's in their interest and oppose this bill.

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