Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I strongly support this motion moved by the member for Curtin calling on the government to commit to an urgent, comprehensive and well-funded plan to increase our international competitiveness in decarbonised industries in the race to net zero and supercharge and incentivise investment in R&D and local manufacturing. The demand for Australia's current export mix will inevitably decline, and we must prepare to transition to green exports as the demand for them grows as the world decarbonises.

The government in its recent budget committed some $22.7 billion to the A Future Made in Australia plan, and I welcomed that. It includes the minerals value-adding production tax credit, additional funding for ARENA, a hydrogen production tax incentive and further funding to for the soon-to-be-established Net Zero Economy Authority. But I am critical of the remit of that authority and will seek to expand it, as it assists only some 10 per cent of the workers it should be assisting. It also included funding for the Solar Sunshot initiative and quantum computing.

So we have made a start with that commitment on making Australia a renewable energy superpower, and I've met with small and big businesses across the solar battery and green metal supply chain. They've made it clear that projects and companies are at risk of going over to the US and other jurisdictions because they would get more support there. There are companies in my own electorate of Warringah, such as Empower Energy, who are designing solar battery products. We know that enhancements to our storage capacity are urgently needed. Fifteen gigawatts of storage is needed by 2030, and that can be achieved if around 30 per cent of households take up solar and batteries. So what we really need to see is a program to assist and incentivise the take-up of batteries by households that have rooftop solar.

In becoming a renewable energy superpower, we must ensure a just transition for our fossil fuel communities, allowing our regions to thrive and households to save money, and, of course, consultation and benefits sharing with First Nations communities. There is so much opportunity in this transition.

Whilst we're making a belated start, there's still more to do to ensure we maintain our competitive edge in the global green race. The development of the production tax credit model for critical minerals and green hydrogen to incentivise onshore value-adding is a good start, but it could be widened to other industries. Most importantly, as this motion calls for, we need a comprehensive plan to ensure that any measure is both efficient and effective. It's critical that we invest not only in the large resources and manufacturing companies where it's necessary but also in the smaller companies, the SMEs, that have already proved their viability as well as their innovation. We need to ensure that they are also able to scale up and grasp those opportunities with the support of government. We need to make sure that all these new opportunities come through and are also available to SMEs—and, I should say, businesses led by women. We can do this whilst also delivering saving for households and driving demand for the products from those industries.

We know that in the US the Inflation Reduction Act has provided some $8.8 billion in rebates for home energy efficiency and electrification projects, which is expected to save American households up to $1 billion annually. So it is disappointing that, for the moment, the government has not focused on this. The Future Made in Australia plan remains silent on household electrification and did nothing to bolster already announced initiatives. The already announced household energy upgrade fund, for example, is, as of last week, only beginning to roll out its very first loans for household energy upgrades—more than a year after it was first announced. So, I would say to the Albanese government: be careful not to become like the Morrison government—big on announcements, small and slow on rollout.

We need to see quick execution of these programs so that households on the ground can take advantage of them. We know that, other than for quantum computing, the budget didn't really deliver on a clear plan for greater investment in research and development, and that is an area we must address if we are going to stay competitive. Already, compared with the OECD average, we are dropping. We now are sitting at about 1.68 per cent of GDP. So Australia is not investing in being that smart economy that we could be. We need to make sure that the government focuses on this transition. The race to net zero is on. It is a race that is well advanced in most economies. Australia is playing catch-up, but we need to make sure we do it in a smart way.

See this speech in context