Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to raise with the House the latest renewable energy disappointment that has come from the Rudd government. In another blow to my state Western Australia and my electorate, the Rudd government has not short-listed one WA project as part of the $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program. Eight worthwhile projects were submitted from WA, with some support from the Western Australian state government, yet all of them have been ignored at the expense of Eastern States’ projects. Members will not be surprised to hear that five projects from Queensland have been short-listed but none from WA. This is becoming an all-too-familiar pattern for Western Australia from one of the most eastern-centric federal governments in history. Under Rudd, Western Australia is getting a scandalously low proportion of GST—68c in the dollar—and is being ignored on issue after issue, from aircraft noise to river wall infrastructure and roads. And now, after announcing plans to introduce a resource rent tax that has sent WA superannuation accounts tumbling and threatens the jobs of Australians, Kevin Rudd has ignored eight decent submissions, any one of which would have created jobs for local people in Western Australia and in my electorate of Swan.

What makes this decision more difficult to understand is the commentary from experts suggesting that Western Australia is one of the best spots in the country for solar projects. Kyle Jackson, who visited my office earlier in the month, is an architect for the Perenjori Solar Thermal Project, which was not short-listed. He is quoted as saying:

… solar radiation in WA is at least 10 per cent better than in Queensland, and the higher pool price for energy in WA, along with capacity credits, means they would also have had a cost advantage over rival offers.

Yet five projects have been short-listed for Queensland and, again, none for Western Australia.

The Solar Flagships Program has been a poorly executed scheme from the start. Yesterday, the Australian Financial Review noted the lack of preparatory work done by the government. It stated:

Having announced solar flagships in the budget, the government then paid the Boston Consulting Group more than $1 million to work out how the program should operate in practice.

After hearing concerns from the industry and state governments that the $1.5 billion committed would be insufficient to support the development of 1,000MW of solar power, BCG proposed major revisions, most of which watered down the ambition of the Government’s original vision.

It has been run in a similar vein to the recently rushed announcement of the renewable energy future fund.

The Australian newspaper summed up the typical reaction to this program as, ‘We don’t know what it is but we’re aiming to get a slice of it.’ Does that sound familiar? Concerns about this scheme have been raised directly with my office. I am troubled by the federal government’s poor overall approach and commitment to renewable energy. Almost $3 billion was spent on the failed pink batts scheme, a scheme that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a fractional amount. I urge the government to consider our long-term energy needs and condemn the government for again ignoring Western Australia at the expense of Queensland.