Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 establishes the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, known by the acronym ARENA, although no-one really knows where the 'n' comes from. ARENA is designed to administer centrally $3.2 billion in existing federal government financial support for renewable energy currently managed by the Australian government and by other Australian government funded bodies, such as the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, ACRE, and the Australian Solar Institute, ASI. ARENA is designed to take over the work of ACRE in establishing and maintaining links with state and territory governments and ASI in creating collaborative research partnerships internationally. ARENA I understand will be the peak body responsible for policy advice to the Minister for Resources and Energy as it expands its role with the takeover of ACRE.

This bill also decides and establishes the members of the ARENA board, from its chief executive officer and its chief financial officer. It will also set out how this new organisation will operate and be funded. The yearly funding to keep ARENA running forms part of this bill and will run until 2020. There is currently approximately $1.7 billion of uncommitted funding that will be made available for ARENA for, firstly, research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies; secondly, developing skills and training in the renewable energy industry; and, thirdly, sharing non-confidential knowledge and information from the projects it funds.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011 complements the main ARENA Bill by providing for the transitional and consequential activities that need to occur in order for ARENA to take over funding and administration of existing programs and projects transferring from the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism and ASI to ARENA. Contrary to the popular spin coming from this Labor-Greens alliance, the coalition believes that renewable energy does play a role in Australia's future energy needs. In fact it was the coalition that first threw support behind the CopperString project for North Queensland. While on the subject of CopperString, I must state my disappointment with Labor government, both state and federal, negotiations with stakeholders such as Mount Isa City Council and Xstrata and their decision to favour a gas fired power station in Mount Isa. For these two inept governments to say that it was a commercial decision by them is a complete furphy and a failure on a grand scale. CopperString was always the most expensive option. It was never the job of Xstrata, Mount Isa City Council or the people of Mount Isa to simply submit themselves to exorbitant electricity prices forever.

I will explain a little about CopperString. CopperString uses the impetus of bringing Mount Isa onto the national electricity grid and therefore opening up opportunities not only for the north-west minerals province but for renewable energy projects. The corridor between Townsville and Mount Isa has been identified as one of the most significant renewable energy precincts in the world. Projects such as the Kaiwedera solar project and the Kennedy Wind Farm, with over 700 turbines, would be able to feed directly into the grid.

We live on the Great Green Way, the road from Mackay to Cairns, Port Douglas and Mossman. Years ago they were looking for a tourism name to go on the Flinders Highway, which travels west from Townsville to Mount Isa. A wag in Richmond came up with the name 'MAMBA country'—it was an acronym that stood for 'miles and miles of bugger all'. We all thought that was hilarious, but how wrong he was. The north-west minerals province is just so important. With solar, wind and geothermal energy, North Queensland could have the most significant renewable energy project and corridor that this country has seen since the Snowy River scheme. Add to that the north-west minerals province and we have the economic powerhouse that North Queensland will become, as well as the food bowl for the rest of Australia going into the future. That this is being put at risk by this government being unable to maintain its negotiations with Xstrata and Mount Isa City Council is a shame. What we have seen is both governments walk away from this project, which has led to uncertainty and disillusionment for all who were looking toward a future where North Queensland could lead this country in renewable energy programs and the employment that would go with that. But it has been left to the proponents of the project alone to try to resurrect the possibility of support for renewable energy from Labor's state and federal governments. That is wrong.

This government has proclaimed its support for renewable energy and spent billions and billions of dollars on the industry—mostly wasted—and yet it would not step in and fight for CopperString. But this is no surprise from a government that has been too enthusiastically signing big cheques rather than pursuing renewable energy policies that deliver tangible, value-for-money outcomes for the industry.

With this bill comes the potential to make a positive change in streamlining the administration of renewable energy programs, but it is difficult to be optimistic given this government's history. ARENA will have $1.7 billion of uncommitted taxpayer money. This may not seem like much in comparison to the $10 billion fund created just to appease the Greens or the continuous wasted spending of a government that has become far too comfortable talking in billions. We need this new agency to be more financially responsible than this government has been. This is taxpayers' money and they are sick and tired of seeing a government that has adopted the philosophy that if you throw enough money at a policy you might get something positive from it. For ARENA to be a successful authority, it must support economically responsible policy and end the profligate spending that has been a hallmark of this poorly performing Labor government.

The ability for ARENA to deliver on this will depend largely on who is chosen to be on its board. I urge the government in making these selections to have somebody, at least one person, from regional Australia. We also need people who will faithfully approach the administration of such a large quantity of public funding with an apolitical and pragmatic outlook. Additionally, the board needs people with actual understanding of the renewable energy industry from commercial and scientific bases. Having it based in a regional area such as Townsville would also send a positive message that this board is not just an extension of the Canberra crowd and that it would have actual skin in the game.

Too often we see these positions given to bureaucrats who do not understand the industry with which they are now dealing and who do not understand the policy needs of anyone outside the capital cities. Regional areas like North Queensland are rich in potential sources of renewable energy and they are central to the future of this industry. I make the point that it was the coalition that came out with in-principle support for CopperString during the 2010 campaign, long before this government did. It is essential that the ARENA board recognises the strength of North Queensland and has the understanding of these areas that can only come from experience working in them. Only then will ARENA be able to administrate effective policy that will increase the supply of renewable energy and improve the competitiveness of Australia's renewable energy technology, as this bill intends.

This bill signifies a step in the right direction. That ARENA will absorb ACRE and ASI and actually reduce the number of bureaucrats is a first for this government. This government has a past so littered with failure and complication, it is every Australian's right to be sceptical that this will deliver a positive outcome—that it will actually deliver a reduction in bureaucrats. For the renewable energy sector, it has to bring support to projects and science based outcomes. It must be seen to be active and interested. It must have quality agendas for every meeting and not just concentrate on when the next meeting will be held and which resort site it will be visiting.

Both sides of this chamber recognise the economic and environmental opportunity that the renewable energy industry creates for Australia. The North Queensland region, from Townsville out to Mount Isa, is at the heart of this opportunity. We have the answers to the challenge of increasing our renewable energy supply that this bill presents; all that is missing is a government that wants to work with the region to help us get there. Instead we have a government that does not understand North Queensland and that has not been capable of administering policy to help the renewable energy industry. I hope that this bill is a sign that it is turning over a new leaf, but, with a record such at it has, it has a long, long way to go yet.

Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with some pleasure that I rise today to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011. I wish to make the point that these are important pieces of legislation which will build on the clean energy package, which is designed to secure a new way of managing our economy to ensure that we have an economy that has less reliance on a carbon footprint than we have had in the past.

ARENA is an important institution. It will have a huge job in shaping Australia's energy development into the future, particularly around renewable energy, and this is very exciting. ARENA will be responsible for providing financial assistance for research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies and for developing skills in the renewable energy industry. It will also have responsibility for sharing non-confidential knowledge and information from projects that it has funded. It will promote collaboration on renewable energy technology innovation with state and territory governments and other institutions, including international governments and foreign institutions. Whilst that might sound relatively easy, if you think about it for a moment that is a huge, complex task that will require enormous skills to be administered and overseen by the board.

In Corangamite and across south-west Victoria, there are enormous opportunities for renewable energy. Indeed, a very large part of Victoria's energy security going forward will be provided by south-west Victoria, including my own seat. In fact, a very large part of our energy security will migrate from the eastern side of Victoria to the western side of Victoria in the decades to come. That will provide enormous opportunities for new jobs in south-west Victoria, including of course Corangamite. It will provide billions of dollars of investment to western Victoria, creating opportunities for companies.

Unfortunately, the new state government in Victoria, the Baillieu government, has put in place new laws which will make it far more difficult to deploy renewable energy, particularly through wind farms. My part of Victoria is deeply concerned by the legislative hurdles that the Baillieu government has put in place. They fly in the face of the need to have a clean energy future based on renewable energy technologies. I hope that in due course the Baillieu government recognises the errors of its ways and will reverse the decisions that it has made around planning in this important space. We in south-west Victoria want to work very closely with ARENA to ensure that south-west Victoria takes up every opportunity to generate renewable energy for Victoria's energy security.

I recall one of the contributions made by one of the coalition members from South Australia on renewable energy take-up, particularly via wind, in South Australia. I must commend the South Australian government for their efforts in that area. He indicated that one of the difficulties is that renewable energy is not a baseload energy, and that is indeed true, although I think that important work can be undertaken in linking up our energy grids in South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland. The reality is that the wind may not be blowing in South Australia but it might be in New South Wales. If it is not blowing in New South Wales, it may well be in Tasmania. By increasing the landmass and linking our energy assets like that across the nation, whilst the wind might not be blowing somewhere it will be somewhere else, and that will create opportunities to share the baseload.

In my part of Victoria, south-west Victoria, not only do we have enormous opportunities with wind energy but we also have massive opportunities which have not yet been exploited in geothermal energy. There is a massive geothermal resource which is located from, in effect, Geelong through to the South Australian border and through to the Great Divide, which runs through a very large part of south-western and western Victoria. Geothermal energy, whilst it has not been proven up in any great way in a Victorian sense or an Australian sense, it certainly has been in many other countries. I think there will be huge opportunities through ARENA to support geothermal technology and deployment of that technology across the grid in the years to come. I certainly look forward to seeing all of those opportunities taken up. Geothermal is a renewable energy technology and it is a clean technology, producing, in effect, zero emissions. Geothermal technology taps directly into the earth's heat, superheating water to generate steam to drive turbines or heat exchanges. There are huge opportunities in that regard.

There are also other opportunities on the coastline of south-west Victoria. There are new technologies that have not been proven, such as tidal or wave energy generation. Again, these provide huge opportunities. These form a basket of technologies that can be located very close to coastal towns and generate electricity very close to where it will be consumed. By doing that, you do not have all the transmission losses that take place. So I think there are very substantial opportunities in south-west Victoria.

I think this legislation has been well thought through by not only the multi-party climate committee but also, importantly, the minister, who has given a great deal of thought to getting this right. I look forward to working with the government and tapping into the skills that ARENA will have, and I look forward to working with industry to access the opportunities that will be available.

There is no doubt about it, we have to dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. This has been a problem ever since industrialisation, and it is our generation that will be left with the responsibility of addressing it and putting in place intergenerational policy to deal with it. The ARENA arrangements are a key part of addressing our greenhouse gas emissions and putting us on a much more sustainable path as we move forward.

I commend these bills to the House and I look forward to working with the minister on the passage of this legislation to ensure that south-west Victoria takes up every opportunity that these bills present.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I rise to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and a related bill. The electorate I represent in this place is home to an energy province that has solar, geothermal, coal fired and gas fired power generation. In fact it is one of our energy capitals and, as we speak, it is growing in terms of energy production. I come to the debate tonight supporting these bills.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 will establish the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, or ARENA, which is designed to centralise the administration of some $3.2 billion of existing federal government support for renewable energy currently managed by the Australian government. I want to talk a little about renewable energy a bit later because it is something that has been around in the electorate of Maranoa for more than 100 years. I hope some of this money will also go to research and further advancing those technologies and tapping into some of the renewable energy sources identified by the very early pioneers out in western Queensland. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011 complements the main ARENA Bill by providing the transitional and consequential activities that need to occur.

ARENA is designed to centralise the administration of existing federal government support for renewable energy currently managed by the Australian government and government funded bodies such as the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, or ACRE, and the Australian Solar Institute, and it is expected to commence operation in July next year. It is a sensible move to bring these bodies together. ARENA will also be responsible for policy advice to the Minister for Resources and Energy and will take over, and expand on, the activities of ACRE. There is no place like Canberra for abbreviations—and I guess it sometimes drives us all a bit mad.

The coalition does not necessarily support all of the existing programs to be administered by the proposed ARENA. However, the creation of ARENA represents a streamlining of, and improvement in, the procedures by which these and future such programs are selected, funded and overseen. Accordingly, we consider that the establishment of ARENA is in the interest of good governance and should be supported.

As I said, my electorate of Maranoa is home to a number of successful renewable energy projects, including a solar farm, an algae energy plant, a biochar farm and a geothermal plant. For instance, the community of Windorah, which is right in the western part of my electorate and not on the main electricity grid, has a solar farm with integrated diesel power to generate power for that community and some surrounding pastoral properties. As a result of that solar farm, it has an estimated saving of some 100,000 litres of diesel that otherwise would be used to generate the equivalent amount of power for the community of Windorah. It holds great promise for other remote communities that receive long hours of sunlight.

Likewise, the township of Birdsville, right out on the edge of the Simpson Desert, has for many years tapped into the geothermal heat of the artesian water. I was there this year with the Speaker and with the Leader of the Opposition showing them this project, which for more than 50 years has tapped into the heat of the artesian water and earth to boil water and generate power for the township of Birdsville. Obviously the town has a diesel backup because the geothermal heat of the artesian water is not sufficient for the demand that is on the town of Birdsville these days, but it saves diesel and that means it is saving carbon emissions and it is coming almost free through the solar energy coming up with that artesian water.

Thargomindah is another interesting place because more than 100 years ago they utilised artesian water. In fact, it was the first place in Australia to do. The community generated thermal power from the artesian bore water once bores were first established in that part of western Queensland. Just across the border from those two communities, Thargomindah and Birdsville, is the township of Innamincka. When we were in government we invested—as I am sure some of the energy companies did as well—in the Geodynamics hot rocks project, which utilises the heat emanating from hot rocks deep underground. My understanding is that those hot rocks are degrading uranium and are some 5,000 feet or about 1,500 metres below the surface.

Australia's unique desert-like conditions mean that there is much potential for the utilisation of this sort of technology because many hot rocks areas have been identified, which could be utilised for absolutely zero carbon emission power generation plants that are sustainable and renewable. There are a number of areas that are yet to be fully developed, as is this concept and project. They have had trouble with the development, but I hope money from the fund relating to this bill tonight is able to go to such projects so that we do not give up on it. While there have been some problems associated with Geodynamics development, we must persist because it offers great hope for totally renewable, zero emission power generation. I hope funding continues for the technology that will ultimately one day prove successful.

It is important because just one cubic kilometre of this hot granite rock is the energy equivalent of 40 million barrels of oil. So hot rocks technology certainly has the potential to meet Australia's energy needs. It will be driven by new technologies based on what we have learned from the Innamincka project. It is out there, it is almost free—although obviously the technology and the development of it are not free. One downside of these hot rocks being at Innamincka is that they are a long way from major populations, but that should not deter us from continuing to invest in this hot rocks technology to make sure that in our lifetime, and in the lifetime of our children, this will be a significant source of energy for generating electricity for Australians well into the future.

The Western Downs region in my electorate is also quickly becoming the hub of solar energy projects, represented by the proposed 250-megawatt Solar Dawn power plant near Chinchilla and the 44-megawatt Kogan Creek solar boost project. In June this year the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced Solar Dawn as the preferred solar thermal project in round 1 of the Australian government's Solar Flagships Program. I support the project and I support the funding from this government. I support taxpayers' money being spent on such a project, not only because it is in my electorate but also because we must continue to develop solar technology. I hope that one day Australia is the leading country in the world in solar technology. For too long we have lagged in this area and yet we are a vast land with so much sunshine. It is technology we should be able to develop and be a leading authority on, not only from the technology point of view but also from the manufacturing and the science behind the solar industry.

The Commonwealth and Queensland governments have announced $104.7 million for the Kogan Creek solar boost project. That will see Kogan Creek power station become home to the world's largest source of solar integration with a coal-fired power station. It is quite exciting news for my constituents of Maranoa, including the people around Chinchilla and Dalby, to know that this is coming and will be the hub of one of the largest integrated solar-thermal, coal-fired power generation sites in the world.

The Solar Dawn project is a proposed 250-megawatt solar thermal gas hybrid power plant to be built halfway between Dalby and Chinchilla in western Queensland by a consortium including AREVA Solar, CS Energy and Wind Prospect CWP. The project is part of the Australian government's Solar Flagships program, which aims to provide the foundation for large-scale, grid-connected solar power and to accelerate the commercialisation of solar power in Australia. It is an exciting project, and I guess that is why they are using the Solar Dawn—it is the dawn of, hopefully, a very exciting future in the area of solar electricity power generation. It is a key component of the government's $5 billion Clean Energy Initiative. Once completed, the Solar Dawn will be the largest of its kind in one of the most environmentally responsible power production plants in the world.

One of the other things about it—and this is important in the context of some of the comments from some people—is to do with the coal seam methane gas industry and of course the water that comes up as part of that process. This solar thermal electricity farm will use the water that comes up as part of the coal seam methane gas extraction. They will be putting that water to a very good use, making a betterment use of the water that comes up as part of the coal seam methane gas extraction.

The other element of this project is that it is going to create a lot of jobs in its construction. In the old scale, there will be 4,000 acres of solar reflectors reflecting onto pipes carrying the water that has been cleaned up, utilising it for the thermal energy turbines that are obviously part of this project. I have spoken with a firm in Dalby where young people are getting a start in life as a result not only of CS Energy but also of this solar project. In fact they will be making and manufacturing the pipes that will be utilised in this project. That also creates local jobs and, I would hope, ultimately, expertise that will flow from the development and learning that goes with projects such as this.

I think that the Solar Boost project is the largest solar project in the southern hemisphere and the largest of its kind in the world. The Kogan Creek Solar Boost project will involve the installation of a solar thermal addition to CS Energy's 750 megawatt coal-fired Kogan Creek power station, which is halfway between Dalby and Chinchilla. The solar addition will increase the amount of electricity generated by up to 44 megawatts during peak solar conditions, providing an additional 44,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year. So it is also a very exciting addition to a coal fired power station and when the solar energy can be utilised it will be a boost to the existing coal fired power station and the grids that are connected to the power station. This innovative solar project will augment Kogan Creek's power station steam generation system to increase the station's electricity output and fuel efficiency. It forms part of CS Energy's commitment to producing cleaner electricity from existing coal fired power stations.

I come to this debate tonight to say that it is an exciting time in the electorate of Maranoa with the developments in Western Queensland. I hope that with this money for research we will be able to develop the hot rocks, the geothermals, and the solar energy prospects and opportunities well into the future.

Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am delighted to hear that there is excitement in Maranoa in terms of the future. There is optimism being generated in the communities in which I have been speaking about the Clean Energy Future, and particularly about what geothermal energy might offer, and I think this is something that is quite widespread around the country. People around the country are picking up on a sense of the future that this government is creating.

I rise to speak this evening in support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011, which is furthering the Gillard government's commitment to ensuring that Australia works towards a clean energy future. This bill complements the clean energy bills recently passed though this place by establishing the Australian Renewable Energy Agency which will play a key role in the continuing development of our renewable energy industry. It will provide independent administration of Australian government funding to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy and related technologies and to increase the supply of renewable energy. The establishment of this agency demonstrates that the government is committed to ensuring accountability and transparency throughout the implementation and operation of the government's clean energy policies. Indeed, contrary to the allegations of those opposite, the government's objectives are to foster an environment encouraging investment in renewable energy.

The primary role of ARENA will be to provide financial assistance for the research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies. ARENA will also be responsible for developing skills in the renewable energy industry in addition to promoting collaboration on renewable technology innovation with state and territory governments and other institutions. In seats such as mine, the seat of Robertson on the Central Coast, I can only hope that very happy coalitions between the federal and state governments enable an increase in jobs. In regions such as mine we are certainly looking to have many, many job opportunities to keep people working in the area rather than having to get on trains and commute to Sydney for work, as is sadly currently the case for too many coastal residents.

Importantly, as stated by the minister, ARENA will have oversight of around $3.2 billion in existing renewable energy grant funding currently managed by the Australian government and by the federally-funded Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the Australian Solar Institute. The independent nature of ARENA will ensure that grant funding decisions will be made on a merit basis rather than on a political basis—and we sadly saw too much of that in the Howard years. In this regard, ARENA will be expected to develop programs and issue program guidelines for its general allocation of financial assistance.

The board of ARENA will consist of seven members with the skills required to administer the agency. This legislation provides decision-making authority to ARENA in a number of areas. First, ARENA is to administer around $1.5 billion in current renewable energy technology funding agreements. Second, ARENA is to determine its funding strategy and develop and manage programs for funding for around $1.7 billion in unallocated funds. This is an incredible investment in our future. Third, ARENA will have the authority to select projects and make binding funding decisions for provision of financial assistance for research, development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies.

Importantly, whilst the decision-making authority of ARENA is independent from government direction, important safeguards remain in place. That is a question of balance and care that this government is consistently attending to. The minister is to endorse the ARENA funding strategy and any grant where the amount exceeds $50 million. There are also requirements for the minister to endorse program guidelines where the guidelines permit grants in excess of $15 million to an individual project. Additionally, this bill specifies that the minister may give directions to ARENA regarding the giving of advice in relation to improving the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies. This requirement also extends to the giving of advice regarding increasing the supply of renewable energy in Australia, improving the development of skills in the renewable energy sector and increasing the use of renewable energy technologies.

This bill is a vital component in the Gillard government's commitment to ensure that Australia plays a leading role in our own clean energy future. It is vital that, in a country with a high abundance of renewable resources, including solar, wind and geothermal—about which many of the participants in this debate have spoken this evening—that we make appropriate investments and utilise them.

This contrasts quite markedly with the policy of those opposite, which is to continue our reliance on fossil fuels and increase our consumption of these into the future. It is only those opposite who, despite the prevailing wisdom of the CSIRO and the consensus of the scientific community, believe that our reliance on fossil fuels has little or no environmental impact. The government, on the other hand, recognises the importance of acting in the national interest by investing long term in renewable energy and renewable energy technologies. This bill demonstrates the commitment of this Labor government to act in the long-term interests of the Australian economy, to ensure that we properly utilise our natural resources.

As stated by the minister, the definition of 'renewable energy technology' in this bill includes hybrid technologies. Hybrid technologies are a vital component in the ongoing development of a clean energy future and, as we have witnessed, hybrid cars are becoming an increasingly important component of our domestic car market. Indeed, representing an electorate with a large commuter population, I recognise the potential that hybrid technologies will play in cutting our emissions. As people like me and my family in the seat of Robertson replace family and small business vehicles, we will be increasingly considering energy-efficient vehicles that employ these hybrid technologies. The inclusion of hybrid technologies into the bill will improve the economics of renewable energy projects because of the significant advancements that have been made in this area of technology. As stated by the minister, ARENA is going to support a number of existing projects that include hybridisation. A few I want to mention in particular include the Solar Flagships' program Solar Dawn, the King Island REDP project and the ACRE Kogan Creek Solar Boost project, about which a number of other participants in the debate have spoken.

We should be excited that we are being innovative as a nation. Labor is leading with this landmark legislation towards a clean energy future. I firmly believe that in the 21st century we will witness an economic and social transformation akin to the industrial revolution in this field of new, clean energy. This is what a clean energy future is all about. I understand that underpinning the strength of the Australian economy is its capacity to grow, develop and offer increasing opportunities to the Australian people. With the prospect of 1.6 million new jobs created by our Clean Energy Future before 2020, that is exactly the kind of initiative that the people in the seat of Robertson are yearning for in terms of the leadership that they seek from us here in parliament.

Like all members in this place, I delight in the health of the Australian economy. This is a time when the global economy is facing unresolved challenges, but we are strong. I also delight in the continuing growth of the Australian mining industry and the opportunity that that presents to us as the Australian nation. In the introduction of the minerals resource rent tax legislation coming later this week, we see Labor's commitment to make sure that at this historic moment of opportunity, with the incredible resources boom, that the resources that belong to all Australians, and the benefits of that industry, are spread to all Australians across the nation instead of being captured by a few or indeed taken offshore in excessive profits by mining companies.

Despite this, it is unsustainable for us to continue to grow economically if we adhere to the coalition's backward looking stance and rely on carbon. Even Margaret Thatcher, an icon to those opposite, recognised the importance of acting on climate change. Indeed, Mrs Thatcher stated during her term as British Prime Minister that the threat of global warming was:

… real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, to that we do not live at the expense of future generations.

I do not believe it is too much to ask those opposite to sacrifice their rear-vision, out-of-date view and turn their gaze to the future.

As part of the Gillard government's policies on a clean energy future, this legislation will assist us in making the changes necessary to ensure that as a nation we do not live knowingly and willingly at the expense of future generations. The government and members on this side of the House have worked to make the right decisions for our nation's future. In contrast, those opposite and their shock jock supporters, who have attempted to wage an ideological war, seek to malign scientists and science in a way I have never before witnessed in my life. Growing up, doing projects even on things such as the sugar industry, I learned that the highest source of authority you could go to was the CSIRO, yet we have heard scientific agencies right across this nation maligned time and time again by those opposite, who are only interested in peddling their own brand of misinformation for their self-interest, not the national interest.

The act of putting a price on carbon and investing in renewable energy is a critical thing for our nation. It is based on doing the right thing and acting in a proactive manner to ensure that our economic growth does not compromise future generations. I want my children and grandchildren—indeed, all Australian children and grandchildren—to look to the future with hope and optimism, just as I did in my youth.

With the passing of this bill and the clean energy future legislation I know that we can look forward to that future with hope, with optimism and with anticipation. They clean energy fuels are the fuels that will, unlike fossil fuels, drive our young people to great heights. We simply have to give them the opportunities, and that is part of what this legislation will ensure.

I see a future where Australia is a renewable energy powerhouse in a clean energy global economy. To achieve this, however, we need to be proactive and the Gillard Labor government has taken the tough decisions necessary for that proactive government to be delivered. I am proud to support this visionary government and I hope that this parliament shows that it is ready and progressive by passing this legislation at the earliest opportunity. I commend the bill to the House.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

(Forde) (20:02): It was with much interest that I listened to the contribution to this debate by the member for Robertson. I am sure she has a deep and abiding love for her electorate but I am afraid to say that her contribution was full of misguided utopian statements that say green energy will create this new wonderful world where nothing will bother us and we will all live happily ever after. I am sad to say that the realities of the world are much different from that.

I rise to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011. As has been said by previous speakers in this debate, we in the opposition will not oppose these bills. We are prepared to support the government's objective to introduce a new independent statutory authority to manage more than $3 billion worth of renewable energy projects. This is to some degree founded on common sense and good governance which, based on the government's track record over the past 4½ years, is somewhat surprising. ARENA will be responsible for policy advice to the Minister of Resources and Energy and will take over and expand on the activities of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, ACRE.

The purpose of ARENA is to manage renewable programs as well as research and development of projects in solar, geothermal and bio-fuel energy. It is hoped that investment into alternative energy resources overseen by ARENA will help transition Australia's renewable energy strategy in a competitive way. Further, we hope that this new agency will take solar from being a mismanaged and misunderstood technology in this country to a more organised one.

The agency, we are told, will be managed by an independent board of investment, business and energy experts appointed by the government. It is hoped this move to an independent board will lead to more action, less red tape, more practical on-the-ground outcomes and a better spend of the money involved. While the coalition may agree in principle to the creation of these agencies, it does not in any way imply that all programs that are to be administered by the proposed ARENA will receive automatic assent.

The government's track record on the administration of energy projects is far from satisfactory. It has not yet informed Australian families about the true cost of its poorly planned renewable energy policies. Like so many of Labor's poorly planned projects I have no doubt that they cost too much and deliver very little.

As an example, the Queensland Labor government's plan to become a world leader in clean coal saw the government invest $47.5 million towards a pre-feasibility study of a now aborted plan. A damning assessment report by the Auditor-General indicated that ZeroGen was unviable, which resulted in a massive waste of taxpayers' money—in excess of $112 million.

In addition, taxpayers are about to become co-owners of green power and clean energy technology as the government injects more than $10 billion over the next five years as part of its carbon pricing policy. The new measures will include the Clean Energy Finance Corporation that will be responsible for investing these funds in businesses seeking to get innovative clean energy proposals up and running.

The member for Robertson mentioned the Solar Flagships program and the Kogan Creek solar farm in her speech. We had a recent example in the United States with Solyndra, a huge solar project of some $550 million, which has gone into administration. This idea of picking winners has not been at all successful where it involves bureaucrats picking supposed winners that the market has already decided are losers.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation will also invest in the transformation of existing manufacturers to help them meet the demands of the new clean energy sector for goods like wind turbine blades and solar panels—both of which are largely manufactured in China and imported. The aim of these initiatives, supposedly, is to provide taxpayer funded capital investments designed to help transform the renewable energy sector of our economy.

Previously, most government funding for renewable energy has been targeted at early-stage research and development. This is a critical area for government support but it has left a gap in funding for demonstration and deployment stages of renewable projects on a large scale. The proponents of these schemes state that the expected national benefits from these renewable energy investments will be: creating jobs in new and traditional sectors; generating export opportunities; reducing dependence on oil, coal and gas, and exposure to their volatile prices; supposedly, cutting carbon pollution; and driving cost reductions in renewable energy by delivering large-scale projects in new technologies and thereby allowing the industry to learn by doing. However, the stark reality is that we are borrowing billions of dollars and introducing new and punitive taxes to achieve these outcomes, putting our future generations into debt and robbing them of future economic prosperity on the off-chance that the imagined savings in energy, environmental and health costs are actually achievable.

All this begs the question: what are the benefits and how will they be calculated and measured and, given the governments track record, how can we be certain that the choices being made are the right ones for the future? Green energy proponents would have us believe that if we build windmills, add solar panels to the desert, fill our buildings with insulation, run our cars on biofuel, build more light rail and travel by train more often, eat locally grown food and buy more foods produced at home rather than overseas, the 'green fairy' will magically wave its wand and all will be right with the world—the money expended to support these fanciful ideas will quickly be recouped and we will all be healthier and there will be less environmental damage. I think we all know that this is not the reality.

Energy dominates everything that we do. Solar and wind energy is significantly more expensive than coal, natural gas or hydro. Additionally, solar and wind energy production differs from coal, natural gas and hydro because the latter will work continuously regardless of whether there is sun or wind. This adds a new complexity to managing power supply. Wind farms and solar facilities are more often than not generated some distance from the existing grid that distributes the power around the state. This would mean that there would be a need to invest in a new infrastructure that will accommodate the new technology.

The infrastructure that currently is in place is unable to maximise the benefits of renewable resources. As an earlier speaker on our side pointed out, the power station in South Australia in times of peak load already needs to dump coal generated power. Wind and solar resources are connected to the grid as one-off solutions that are generally not integrated with other generation nor optimised as a reliable baseload energy source. Traditionally, electricity has flowed one way: from a power station to a customer. But, as more energy is generated by alternative sources, power will be entering the network from multiple locations, and most current grids are not equipped for multi-directional power flow. The installation of the equipment required for two-way power to flow is sophisticated and requires grid automation technologies to move it around and send it where it is needed.

To transfer our modern society into a green society requires an effort of staggering complexity and scale. And to do so on borrowed money on a combination of wishful thinking and bad economics is the height of economic irresponsibility. There will be ample opportunity in the future for the development of new, green initiatives that will help resolve the need to balance the environment and societal needs.

I have recently met with a number of small to medium businesses in my electorate of Forde. During discussions they have advised that they been progressively implementing green strategies for their businesses over the last number of years, as they recognise the value and the importance of wise environmental stewardship—not a government directive or piece of legislation in sight and with all their own capital. While the ARENA and CEFC initiatives are not direct consumer initiatives and given that the government's record in the area of providing assistance in energy projects, anything that improves governance standards is welcome.

I would like to provide you with a couple of examples of the misuse of taxpayers' money in trying to implement renewable energy projects. We need only look at the bungled home insulation scheme that cost in excess of $2.45 million dollars.

Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why don't you name the tradies? They are the ones who messed it up.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You guys administered it, so you are responsible for it. Cash for clunkers did not fare any better and was scrapped by the government with the intention of resurrecting it, but it was again put on the backburner because of problems experienced due to inadequate preparation. Then there is the mother of all taxes—the carbon tax. The government's carbon tax is a bad tax based on a lie to the Australian people, and Australians will pay not just in this generation but also for generations to come.

Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No climate change?

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, let us look at the practical environmental—

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Bass will cease interjecting and the member for Forde will not respond to the interjections. The member for Forde has the call and will be heard in silence.

Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The government does not have a mandate to implement this tax and we certainly want to ensure that this situation does not occur again. We now face the prospect of a minerals resource rent tax, a complex tax requiring multilayered calculations and valuations and limited to only certain resource products. As with the carbon tax, it will succeed in reducing the competitiveness of Australian and global resource companies as their cost base increases further.

The member for Robertson talked in her contribution to this debate about the long-term benefits to Australia. There are also long-term consequences which are not being discussed, such as what the negative effect will be on the share prices of and company growth prospects for those Australian companies and what the flow-on cost will be to the retirement savings of Australians through their superannuation funds. What will be the effect on future federal government budgets of increased age pension liabilities due to lower retirement savings of Australians caused by the unknown or unforeseen consequences of the carbon tax and the MRRT? In my opinion, these are important unanswered questions that go to the heart of the question about the future prosperity of this great nation.

The coalition will not oppose the passage of this legislation, but with a disclaimer duly attached. We want to ensure that the government provides suitable evidence that the administration of the spending of the funds can withstand public scrutiny. I do not believe that the Australian general public are prepared to just take the government's word anymore that it will spent the funds appropriately. The general public are still dealing with the cost of the government's previous frivolous, gimmicky, money-wasting projects.

Debate adjourned.