Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Two and a half years ago, when I was pre-selected for Boothby, we held a press conference outside Flinders Medical Centre. Among other things, I talked about what had motivated me to leave a very meaningful job delivering outcomes for those most in need across South Australia. It was a job that I loved and where I felt I was making a difference. One of the reasons I talked about was the complete lack of action by the former government on climate change. At that stage, we were seeing one-in-100-year floods happening seemingly monthly in the eastern states. We'd seen the Black Summer bushfires, and the firies and the scientists were telling us that fires had changed and that they were now fiercer and faster than in previous decades. We were seeing and we continue to see record-breaking heat, record-breaking cold and record-breaking storms. I was told a couple of months ago that the Mediterranean is now experiencing hurricane-like storms. Previously, due to the relatively small body of water that is the Mediterranean, there wasn't sufficient distance for low-pressure cells to gather that level of intensity. But now, with more energy in our atmosphere thanks to climate change, the storms are unlike anything that they've seen or that is on record.

Businesses knew that climate change was real. Ask any insurance company if they factor it into their risk assessment for policies. International capital was increasingly funding renewables and refusing to fund carbon based energy projects. Yet the previous Prime Minister, when he was Treasurer, brought a lump of coal into parliament and laughed at it. 'Don't be afraid,' he said. 'Don't be scared.' It probably depends on whether you're a short-term thinker or whether you really actually understand it in context. As a gesture, it very much demonstrated where the Liberal and the National parties were at, and I'm not sure much has changed.

The other frustration with the previous government and those opposite's steadfast refusal to engage meaningfully with climate change was the shortsightedness around the opportunities the energy transition brings. As a country with abundant natural resources—from the sun, wind and hydro to the abundant rare metals needed for the energy transition—the opportunities are calling out to us. We can transform our energy economy. We can become self-reliant for energy sources instead of being reliant on energy shipped in from overseas and having our backup reserves stored in another country and our own fossil fuel energy resources sold to Australian consumers at prices inflated by exposure to international markets. We can become the energy superpower powering other nations, but these opportunities won't seize themselves.

The target is clear: achieve net zero emissions by 2050 to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change. The pathway is clear: power our industries, light our homes and our businesses and fuel our transport with clean energy, renewable energy and the cheapest form of energy. This government is determined that Australian workers and Australian ingenuity will get us there. We are not the doubters on the other side. As the race to net zero accelerates—and it is a race—we must ensure Australia workers and communities are supported to play their part. There is a lot to be done; we should be much further along the track. We should have started a decade or more ago. And, of course, we did. But the unholy alliance of the Greens political party and the Liberal and National parties has instead positioned us clearly at the back of the pack. If the Greens and those opposite hadn't voted against the carbon pollution reduction scheme a decade and a half ago, Australia's carbon emissions would be 200 million tons lower and electricity would be more affordable. This really poor decision by those opposite enabled a decade of inaction, not just on climate change but on energy policy generally.

A mere two years ago, under those opposite, aided and abetted by the Greens, we were in a very different place. There was no legislated target for net zero, and the concept was still very much up for debate. It frankly still is in some quarters. There was no legislated target for emissions reduction, because it wasn't really a target at all. There was no settled approach to the energy transition. They had 22 energy policies, and not one stuck. They had no plan to bring our electricity grid into the 21st century and no policy to ensure replacement capacity of the 24 coal plants that had announced, under them, closure dates. Remember that these closures are driven by rational decision-making by the companies that own those plants. They're driven by return on investment predictions for shareholders, not ideology. But those opposite have their heads in the sand. One former Liberal Premier went so far as to describe it as 'a slow-moving train wreck'. Senator Anne Ruston said on TV last week that she thought we were transitioning to renewables too fast. No, Senator, we're a decade too late. We are definitely late to the party after a wasted decade and we need to catch up.

This government knows it must play a critical role in positioning Australia not only to take advantage of the opportunities renewable energy transition offers but also to ensure that communities, particularly those where fossil fuels are a major part of their economy and jobs, are not left behind. They need also to participate and benefit from the transition. They need to know they have jobs in the future and jobs for their children. Those jobs may be different, but they will be secure, well-paid jobs that support them and their families. This is what the Net Zero Economy Authority is about. It's about establishing the government's role in ensuring that the transition works, and that it works for Australians, for industry, for businesses, for workers and for families—for all Australians. It will better coordinate programs and policies to attract investors and help communities make the most of the transformation opportunities. It will engage major stakeholders in the decision-making and support structures. We will help deliver Australia's future as a renewable energy superpower.

But only by working together will we be able to grab the opportunities of the future. The government is establishing the new Net Zero Economy Authority because it wants Australia and its regions to prosper in the future. The shift to net zero is happening. Australia, along with the rest of the world, will be reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the middle of the century, because we have to. As a fossil-fuel-based economy, the economic, employment and regional implications for Australia of the world decarbonising without us could be significant if not managed. Its job is to ensure that we are looking after Australia's workers and regions as we transform from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a renewable energy superpower. This recognises that the way we navigate economic change is as important as reaching the destination of a net zero economy.

The authority will be a partner, on behalf of government, with industry and investors in getting big transformational projects happening—projects that decarbonise industrial facilities, build new industries and grow the future economic base for regions like Gladstone, the Hunter Valley, the Latrobe Valley, and the upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia. The authority will support workers through the change as Australia's ageing fleet of power stations retires. The authority will work with employers, unions and others to support workers into new opportunities. This is not just the right thing to do by workers; it also ensures we're making good use of the highly skilled workers we're going to need more of in the net zero economy.

The authority will help communities navigate change, especially in those regions where change may be significant. This new authority, with its focus on managing economic change, compliments over $40 billion in government initiatives to reduce emissions and become a renewable energy superpower. This includes the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation program, which will modernise our electricity grid and infrastructure so it can support a renewable-energy-based energy system; the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund, which will support the decarbonisation of existing industries and the creation of new clean energy industries; the $6 billion Critical Minerals Facility, which will grow our critical minerals production sector; the $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart program, which is supporting development of large-scale, renewable hydrogen projects; and the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, which will diversify and transform Australia's industry for a net zero economy. The Net Zero Economy Agency has undergone extensive consultations with groups all over Australia, both community groups and key organisations.

We know the task is to transition to a net zero economy and, as we heard from those opposite, change can be scary. But change is inevitable. The Darwinian principle is adapt or die. Change presents both opportunities and challenges. So what will the Net Zero Economy Authority actually do? The authority will have the following functions. It will promote coordination and consistency in the design and implementation of Australian government policies and programs and provide reports and advice to the minister. It will facilitate public- and private-sector participation and investment in greenhouse gas emissions reduction and net zero transformation initiatives across Australia. The authority will work with established specialist investment vehicles and will not have its own funding to invest in projects. It will support workers in emissions-intensive industries who are affected by the net zero transition to access new employment or acquire skills to improve their employment prospects. It will also implement the Energy Industry Jobs Plan. The authority will support Indigenous people and communities to participate in and benefit from the economic shift to net zero emissions. It will support, develop and deliver educational and promotional initiatives for the purpose of promoting an understanding of Australia's transition to a net zero emissions economy and support social licence for the transition. Importantly, in performing its functions, the authority will be expected to prioritise communities, regions, industries and workers that are or will be significantly affected by Australia's transition to a net zero emissions economy.

Climate change poses an existential threat to our way of living. We've already started to see this, with more frequent floods, fiercer and faster bushfires, more intense and frequent storms, and the beginning of sea-level rise. Responding to climate change is not only necessary to mitigate the impacts at a local level; we, along with the rest of the world, need to transition to a net zero economy if we're going to have any hope of holding the temperature rises to 1.5 degrees and limiting the impact of climate change. We need to undertake this energy transition quickly, but we also need to do it in a managed way that brings all Australians along with us, ensures energy security and maximises our opportunities and our natural assets to become a renewable energy superpower. That is what the Net Zero Economy Authority is about.

I commend the bill to the House.

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