Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I rise once again to endorse the Renewable Energy Amendment (Feed-in-Tariff for Electricity) Bill 2009 and to advocate that this legislation be introduced by the Australian government, preferably sometime soon. Since last speaking on this, I have noticed an increasing level of engagement with this issue throughout the country, not only amongst householders, business and industry but also through various representative bodies. Greenpeace today launched a report which outlines that over 30,000 jobs could be lost in Australia unless the government introduces a feed-in tariff. Likewise, the Electrical Trades Union last week put around to all members of parliament a substantial report endorsing a feed-in tariff and noting the importance of such legislation.

I also note that now all the states at least have inquiries into the matter. Most states have put in place legislation of some sort. That is good in one sense, although what it does do is expose the role of the Commonwealth in producing the common wealth. We have the absurd situation now, which goes back to the old rail gauge debates of over 100 years ago, where we have a different system set up in every state and territory. We have a national electricity market—all the poles and wires are pretty well connected now—and retailers now operate in a national market selling products across state borders, yet we are locked into a system which for important legislation, such as feed-in tariff legislation, is state based. It is uncoordinated, it creates problems in border areas and in billing systems for the various utilities involved and it is a less than preferred outcome for the country. Only one location, Canberra, has looked at a gross feed-in system similar to what has been adopted in Germany. It has driven the German market hard, and now between 6 and 8 per cent of GDP comes from environmental technology.

In this month’s edition of National Geographic there is a story about a fella who lives next to the Black Forest. He had to wipe snow off his photovoltaic panels on the day the journalist interviewed him. He had had returned to him from the feed-in tariff system the equivalent of A$4,000. We should build a system that encourages Australians in their homes to engage in the provision of energy and reduction of their own energy costs so that they get a return for being involved. If we want to seriously address the energy needs of the future we cannot continue to rely on a future being cheap coal and we cannot rely on targets set through legislation over the last month but we can rely on very good examples that have been used around the world and are proven successes.

Once again I mention the German example. It has driven their renewable energy market significantly, it has engaged and it is delivering good outcomes with cheap electricity to the household. Not only for job reasons but also for economic reasons does the Commonwealth have an obligation under our constitution to unite and to bring together policy when the states fracture. Here is an example of that state fracturing. Let us not go back to the 20th century, where states all worked independently and separately and people were worse off because of it. I encourage government to look at this feed-in tariff legislation. I encourage government to look at the work that has been done by ETU and Greenpeace and I encourage them to adopt this legislation. (Time expired)

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In an ideal world, I think we would all be self-sufficient in relation to energy and electricity matters, producing our own electricity. Particularly in this day and age, it is technologically possible to do this through the installation of things like solar photovoltaic. It is does not have to be solar PV, but that is the technology which has had the most potential to take off in ordinary homes, community facilities, small businesses and the like. But the disincentive for people to actually make themselves self-sufficient is the upfront capital cost of installing solar PV. In order to deal with this, some countries around the world—and, as the member for Lyne pointed out, the ACT and other places in Australia—have been looking at providing what is known as a gross feed-in tariff. That is to say that then not only do you not have to pay for the electricity that you are generating yourself but if you feed electricity back into the grid you get paid a premium for the electricity that you have fed back in. That is what a feed-in tariff is: paying electricity consumers a premium for electricity that they are able to generate under their own steam and feed back into the grid.

I have previously spoken to the parliament in support of the agreement of the Council of Australian Governments to establish a national energy market operator. I think that it is great that we are seeing a spirit of cooperation in the COAG process concerning energy markets and a move toward national energy market governance, which has included looking at trying to get a harmonised approach to feed-in tariffs. I support a feed-in tariff scheme. I have spoken about it in the parliament on a number of occasions. I draw to the attention of the House an Electrical Trade Union of Australia, Victorian branch, report produced just this month and entitled Job creation: the case for a national gross feed-in tariff. I commend it to parliamentarians and, indeed, to all Australians who are interested in this issue. It notes that Access Economics has found that Australia has the potential to double the number of people employed within the renewables sector through the introduction of a national gross feed-in tariff over the next 10 years. I note this is both economic stimulus and climate stimulus.

I also note that people are, naturally enough, concerned about what the impact of this is going to be on electricity prices. In this context, the Alternative Technology Association has found that Australian electricity networks are committed to spending in the order of $24 billion on network upgrades over the next five years and that, with network charges accounting for around 45 per cent of consumers’ retail electricity bills, this represents a significant cost impost to retail customers. Not so long ago there was a very substantial hike in electricity bills in New South Wales based on the need for new infrastructure. If you could stave off this large investment in infrastructure by encouraging consumers to engage in their own rooftop infrastructure investment, both the planet and the consumers would be better off.

The COAG agreed on 29 November to work towards the adoption of a set of national principles to apply to new state and territory feed-in tariff schemes and to inform reviews of the existing schemes. These principles should advance the fair and reasonable treatment of small customers, with renewable microgeneration, including solar panels, as well as consider the interests of electricity customers. Renewable energy generation will play an important role in meeting Australia’s energy needs. I note that the government has introduced a number of initiatives which will significantly increase investment in renewable energy. The House ought to be aware of these; we have had the renewable energy target legislation to ensure that 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity supply is from renewable sources by 2020. The legislation that we have now put in place will increase the current renewable energy target by more than four times, reaching 45,000 gigawatt hours in 2020. We have also introduced the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation.

Our expanded renewable energy target legislation includes the solar credits initiative to provide support for electricity generated by small solar PV systems. In addition to this, the government has committed well over $1 billion for a range of programs, including the National Solar Schools Program, the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program, the Solar Hot Water Rebate Program and Solar Cities, towards the uptake of solar energy in our communities. I think that the government is doing lots of good things in this area and that these programs will promote the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable technologies. (Time expired)

Debate interrupted.