Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is once again my great pleasure to rise to speak about another reform of this great Labor government, the Gillard government—a reform that will transfer our economy to a cleaner and more efficient future. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill will establish the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, otherwise known as ARENA, an independent body reporting to the Minister for Resources and Energy to allocate funding to renewable energy and related projects.

The establishment of this new agency was part of the agreement between members of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee. This agency will combine a number of existing programs and agencies, including the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the Australian Solar Institute. In all it will oversee some $3.2 billion worth of government investments to support renewable energy technologies and their implementation.

The legislation before us today will also allow this new body to determine a strategy for how to develop and manage around $1.7 billion in unallocated funds, money that will be used for the research, development and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies, and for the development of skills and knowledge in that industry. ARENA will also promote collaboration with state and territory governments to support renewable energy technology innovation.

This bill is another in a suite of legislation from this government that tackles climate change and takes Australia into a carbon constrained future. There can be no doubt that a change to our economy is coming. The only difference between us and those opposite is that they want to play politics with the national interest. We are a government that recognises the need to make difficult and challenging decisions true to the reforming tradition of Labor since our inception 120 years ago.

We as a government have decided to take leadership on this issue and have developed a comprehensive and well-evidenced approach to reducing Australia's carbon emissions. Obviously the central component of this plan has been the introduction of a price on carbon pollution, but it also includes support for Australian working families, investments in modernising our industries, developing new and sustainable technologies and supporting the use of the land sector for the storage of carbon. Our package will drive investment in cleaner industries not just through the measures in the bill before us today but also through the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the $1.2 billion Clean Technology Program—a program that will improve energy efficiency in manufacturing industries and support research and development in low pollution technologies. Our package, which is, as I said before, incredibly comprehensive and well evidenced, will also ensure that builders, tradespeople, engineers and apprentices get the specialised green skills that will increasingly be in demand in Australia, and they will get that through the $32 million Clean Energy Skills program.

I was recently out at a building site in my electorate in Barton, where the Attorney-General's Department used to be—a department I used today work for. The company and the union that are working on that site have gone into an agreement whereby they are training in a whole range of ways to improve the energy efficiency of that work site. It is on these basic levels that changes are already happening. People are realising that they need to enhance their skills in this area, and the $32 million Clean Energy Skills Program will give that a further significant boost.

Our Clean Energy Future package is a comprehensive and visionary package and it is well supported by experts in the field. It is a plan that is well supported in my electorate as well, as evidenced by the dozens and dozens of letters and emails that I receive each day telling me to ignore the scepticism and nay-saying of those opposite and to stay true to this ideal, to stay true to trying to reduce carbon pollution in Australia and to take us into the new phase of a cleaner, greener economic future.

This package presents new opportunities for businesses in my electorate of Canberra. Only last week I was briefed by a local Canberra business, Wizard Technologies, about its plans in my region for solar power and how it was looking to the Australian Solar Institute to help it refine and commercialise its product. There is also Windlab, another local Canberra company, which has developed technology to better model atmospheric conditions for wind farms. They have grown significantly since 2003 and now own subsidiaries around the world. Apart from the people that these companies directly employ, they also invest significantly in other local businesses—it has a knock-on effect. You get a company and they subcontract and then that subcontractor subcontracts and buys things from around town. This has a significant footprint on the economy of Canberra. We are also seeing significant development in green technology and green energy, which I think will be an important area of growth in Canberra for years to come. These two examples highlight the capacity of local industry and local people to develop new ideas and technologies and to take those technologies to the world. They just need the incentive to engage in innovation and then go off and do it. It is a very Australian way of doing things and it is a very Canberra way of doing things as well.

Overall, Labor's plan for a Clean Energy Future package, of which this bill is a part, will see Australia's carbon pollution reduced by some 160 million tonnes, or the equivalent of taking 45 million cars off the road, by 2020. I know that when I mention that figure to people in my electorate they actually get to visualise what that means. It will have a significant impact on the environment and on making Australia a cleaner, greener nation. The package will also see jobs growth. This gives me great satisfaction because Labor is all about jobs. It will see new green industries develop, and I have already mentioned two examples of that today in my own electorate. In fact, some 1.6 million jobs are projected to be created by 2020 and the gross national income per person will increase from today's levels, which are about $56,000, by around $9,000 per person to 2019-20. By 2050 the increase is expected to be more than $30,000 per person in today's dollars.

This is a reform as bold and as necessary as the reforms undertaken by the Hawke and Keating governments in the 1980s. I have just come from listening to the Assistant Treasurer introducing the minerals resource rent tax legislation—again, an enormous package of legislation that is going to have a significant impact on Australia's future. It will ensure that the wealth being generated from the resources boom will be evenly spread across the nation. But, most significantly, what I was reminded of in that speech was the fact that Labor is a party of reform, as I have mentioned. We have had 120 years of reform. We have a tradition of reform. It is in our DNA. The reforms that we introduced today, which will hopefully pass, build on what the Hawke and Keating governments introduced in the 1980s, particularly on the superannuation front. We now celebrate 20 years of superannuation in this country, and that is thanks to Labor governments of the 1980s. The bill that was introduced this morning by my colleague the Assistant Treasurer will build on that, enhance that and hopefully build even stronger retirement futures for Australia.

I was also reminded recently of another set of reforms that, again, Labor was involved in in the 1980s. It underscores the visionary nature of Labor and the fact that it is part of our DNA. Last week I was at the Master Builders Association annual dinner in Anzac Hall at the War Memorial. Robert Gottliebsen was the guest speaker at that event and he gave a terrific speech. He spoke about the fact that China was at the centre of the economic universe in the 1830s and that the centre then shifted out to the edges—I suppose, if you are looking at it on a flat map from the perspective of Australia, to the US in the west and to Europe in the east. He noted that the centre of the economic universe has now come back to the Asia-Pacific region, to our region, and underscored the fact that we are so well placed in this region at this time in history. He was suggesting that the Asia-Pacific region is the centre of the economic universe today, it will be for the next 20 years and Australia is incredibly well placed in every way—geographically but also economically. We are deeply engaged in the region and we can thank the Hawke and Keating governments for that because of the range of reforms and the range of programs that they introduced in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Clean Energy Future package reform is necessary to ensure that future generations of Australians benefit from a prosperous and thriving economy. Again, it is reform building on the foundations and the Labor tradition of reform. To reflect on that, if we had not made those reforms to superannuation, if we had not made reforms to the Asia-Pacific relationship and engagement, where would we be today? We would not be entering a liberalised and open world, we would not be engaging with Asia and we would not be sharing the prosperity and the amazing growth of the Asian economy. We face a similar choice today as a nation: to hide from the inevitable or to face our future and seize the opportunities it creates. We have the knowledge, skills and resources to make a thriving green energy sector. We have always been great innovators and adapters. Australians are great innovators and adapters, as are Canberrans, and I have no doubt we always will be. We as a nation are well placed not to simply tolerate the changes to our economy but to thrive on them, to embrace them, to capitalise on them and to seize every opportunity from them.

I recently had the opportunity to see some of this innovation at an electric vehicle festival held in Barton in my electorate a few weekends ago. I had the opportunity to ride in one of the muscle cars as well as one of the cars that had been retrofitted—it had the shell of a normal car but it had been converted into an electric car. I remember people talking about electric car technology many years ago and thinking that it was something in the very far future. But now I have ridden around in these cars and seen them. The Tesla Roadster, which is a muscle car, is amazing. It costs quite a lot of money. I understand that George Clooney, Brad Pitt and others have one. It is a fantastic car. It runs quietly. When you are sitting in the car, the only noise that you can hear is the gravel coming up from the road. There is no engine noise. It is quite extraordinary to do these amazing speeds—all legal, of course—going from nought to 130 in a very small amount of time in this car.

You can see how much technology has changed in a small amount of time. I also saw the more basic run-around little cars that we are all used to that have also been converted to electric. We have seen that change in electric vehicle technology happen in a very short amount of time. There are now boats, tractors, motorbikes and scooters being run on electric power. There are many vehicles using this technology. It is going to be amazing to see what happens in that area in the future.

Innovation very much underscores the clean energy package. This legislation is designed to achieve innovation and to encourage investment in renewable energy. This government will support government and enterprise to not just adapt but to innovate and to become world leaders in green energy technologies. I support the bills before us today, as I supported the measures that came before the House a few weeks ago as part of this Clean Energy Future package. I understand that we must be bold and courageous in tackling the challenge of climate change. We must be forward looking and embrace new opportunities. As I have said before, I want to be able to look my nieces, nephews and godchildren in the eyes 20 years from now and say: 'I made a choice to shape our economy for the future. I made a choice to build a cleaner and more prosperous economy,' and that it was all for them and for Australia. I support this legislation.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the contribution from the member for Canberra and look forward to seeing the photographs of her in the electric muscle car—I am sure that she will be distributing them to the caucus. I follow the member for Canberra in rising to speak in support of the Australian Renewable Energy Bill 2011 and the related bill. It is always good to be speaking in front of you, Deputy Speaker, and in front of the member for Hasluck. It is good to see representatives from the opposition here in the debate on this important piece of legislation on renewable energy. It would have been good to have had a voice raised in support of renewable energy today, but renewable energy is about the future and about hope.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind the member for Moreton that I am here as the occupant of the chair.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I beg your pardon, Deputy Speaker; I realise that you are not wearing that other hat that you keep downstairs for other occasions. It is a shame that there was no-one from the opposition available today to give even two or five minutes worth of contribution on the fact that renewable energy is a good thing. It would have been good to have someone talk about the hope for the future that comes with renewable energy.

Nevertheless, over the last four years the Labor government have achieved more for the environment than all previous governments together. Our biggest achievements include this renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020. That is why I was a bit surprised that, while there were nearly 20-odd speakers from the Labor Party on renewable energy, there were none from the opposition today even though they have exactly the same target. This 20 per cent renewable energy target is supported by the honourable member for Warringah and all of the coalition, so the silence is a bit disappointing.

Note our Clean Energy Package is before the Senate. And I point out that that is not supported by the coalition. But it is important to acknowledge that in this place there has been bipartisan support for action on climate change, especially in the era prior to the current Leader of the Opposition. Australia is the ninth-largest energy producer in the world. We export 68 per cent and consume the remaining 32 per cent at home. Australia has 47 per cent of the world's uranium, 10 per cent of the world's coal resources and very significant natural gas reserves. We have abundant sources of renewable energy.

The beauty of renewable energy is that it is generated from unlimited sources like wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, ocean energy and hydro. Our planet produces these resources naturally. For the most part renewable energy is also clean energy, producing little or no greenhouse gases or toxic waste. In a carbon constrained future, we and our future generations need renewable energy technologies to provide low-cost, emission-free baseload energy. Australia's geology, climate resources and expertise have us ideally placed to develop renewable energies like geothermal, solar and wind energy.

As technology improves, renewable energy is becoming more cost effective and efficient. So, the more we can rely on renewable energies, the more we can reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions. The renewable energy target and the clean energy future package will work together in concert to drive innovation and to see the development of new technologies. They will make green jobs the boom area of our economic future. This bill is another step along the path to our green energy future and will set up Australia as a world leader in renewable technologies, a fact alluded to by the member for Wentworth in his speech in London a few weeks back, saying that unfortunately China had stolen a march by taking some of these technologies and being ready to export them around the world when it could be an Australian advantage.

The legislation before the House creates a statutory authority, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, to administer funding to make renewable energies more competitive and drive further private investment in renewables. The agency, ARENA, will be independent and will direct funding towards research, development, demonstration, and the commercialisation of renewable energy technologies. ARENA will also help promote greater cooperation between researchers and developers by helping to facilitate more sharing of non-confidential knowledge and information from the projects it funds. Obviously we need the investment to be rewarded and the intellectual property to be protected, but we also need to share wherever possible so that the planet benefits. ARENA will manage a massive $3.2 billion in renewable energy investment which includes cutting edge programs like the Solar Flagships Program, the Australian Solar Institute, the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, the Renewable Energy Demonstration Program, the ACRE Solar Projects, the Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund, the Australian Biofuels Research Institute, the Energy Renewable Program, the Geothermal Drilling Program, the Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program and the Connecting Renewables Initiative, to name but a few.

As you can see, there are a range of clean energy strategies. We are not in the business of picking winners; that is not necessarily what the government does best. That is the unfortunate problem with those opposite. They say the government will always pick the best winner. Even on Melbourne Cup day we do not necessarily get it right, so it is best to let the markets and the scientists work together.

This bill also establishes the ARENA board and management positions, including CEO and CFO. It empowers ARENA to make decisions concerning financial assistance, developing skills in the renewable energy industry and promoting collaboration on renewable energy technology between governments both here in Australia and abroad. The agency will also provide advice to the Minister for Resources and Energy regarding renewable energy technologies.

If Australia is going to achieve its ambition of a clean energy future, we need an organisation like ARENA. This is not a half-hearted approach. This is practical common sense backed by more than $3 billion in funding for this new body so it can be at the forefront of the shift in Australia's economy—a gentle shift but a shift nevertheless. It will ensure our scientists and developers are not left behind but instead will have the funding and resources they need to make the scientific discoveries that will power our country right through to the end of this century and beyond. It will also secure certainty for the sector by prescribing in stone—well, legislation, anyway—the funding to be provided each year until 2020. For the first time, the renewable energy industry will know they have long-term funding certainty. ARENA will be responsible for investing significant public funds in renewables. It is therefore appropriate that this bill includes stringent accountability provisions and common public sector safeguards, including merit based assessment and funding guidelines and procedures. It is important that ARENA maintains independence from government, rather than the executive trying to pick winners—we need that buffer. It is also essential that we have confidence in the accountability measures put in place. This bill strikes the right balance.

Since the industrial revolution, Australia has totally underutilised its abundant access to renewable energies. Apart from the Snowy River scheme, we have yet to realise the full potential of our renewable energy. This bill and the clean energy reforms which have preceded it put Australia on a new course to realise that potential. The possibilities are endless and I am sure that all members, even those opposite who are silent today, are eager to see what the future holds for renewable energy in Australia. I am sure our children and our grandchildren will be too. I commend the legislation to the House.

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

I rise on this occasion to add my comments to the debate on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and cognate bill. The Australian government has developed a comprehensive plan to move to a clean energy future. This plan includes introducing a carbon price, promoting innovation and investment in renewable and low-emissions energy, encouraging energy efficiency and creating opportunities in the land sector. As a hot and dry continent, Australia has more to lose from climate change than most other developed countries. There are significant risks to our environment and our economy.

We are taking decisive action on climate change and this legislation is an important part of the package. It covers the establishment of ARENA, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. The government will establish ARENA as a new agency in the Resources and Energy portfolio that will incorporate initiatives previously administered separately through a range of bodies, including the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, ACRE; the Australian Solar Institute, ASI; and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. ARENA will have an independent, decision-making board appointed by the Minister for Resources and Energy, and will also have a CEO appointed by the Minister for Resources and Energy on the recommendation of the ARENA board.

ARENA's role will be to allocate funding to renewable energy and enabling technology projects. The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism will provide administrative support to ARENA. The government will make final decisions on the details of ARENA'S governance before the end of 2011. This is an important step in our clean energy future. I wish to note that the establishment of ARENA will not delay the delivery of existing initiatives and the Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund application process will continue, as will the rollout of the Emerging Renewables Program, while the ASI will continue to deliver its existing programs. Upon its establishment, ARENA will then take over responsibility for these initiatives.

ARENA will fund projects that will help increase the deployment of renewable energy and drive down its costs in an Australian context. It will complement the new Clean Energy Finance Corporation. ARENA will oversee existing government support from the following initiatives and will have responsibility for managing the unallocated funds from these initiatives: Solar Flagships Program, Australian Solar Institute, Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund (Solar), Renewable Energy Demonstration Program, ACRE solar projects, Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund, Australian Biofuels Research Institute, Emerging Renewables Program, Geothermal Drilling Program, Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program, and Connecting Renewables Initiative. With the introduction of a carbon price in Australia the government is focused on ensuring that Australia's emission reductions will be achieved at the least economic cost while maintaining adequate reliable and affordable energy supplies and the international competitiveness of Australia's industries. There is a strong case for the Australian government to help drive down the cost of renewable energy and reduce the carbon intensity of the energy sector by encouraging innovation in clean energy. The government is substantially boosting its support for innovation in clean energy as a central element of its clean energy future. Globally, more money is now being invested in renewable power than in conventional high-pollution energy generation. China is now the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels and wind turbines—the world is shifting and accepting the science. I ask those opposite to stop their scare campaign and to embrace the science.

The Australian Labor government is committed to action that will safeguard our environment, sustain our society and support our economy. The plan will cut pollution and drive investment, helping to ensure that Australia can compete and remain prosperous in the future. Individual businesses, industry and governments around the world are already taking action to reduce carbon pollution. By acting now, Australia can look forward to long-term prosperity for ourselves and future generations. Treasury modelling shows the economy will continue to grow strongly with a carbon price. Extensive analysis by economists and independent institutions such as the Productivity Commission has demonstrated that market mechanisms like a carbon price or an emissions trading scheme are the cheapest way of reducing pollution.

The Australian Labor government is committed to supporting jobs as the economy is transformed. That is why we will be supporting jobs through manufacturing, including in the steel and food-processing industries and in coal mining. Telling the truth is an important part of the job description for political leaders. Unfortunately the opposition leader has sacrificed this requirement in order to pursue a scare campaign on the carbon price. On 20 October at a doorstop at Laverton Mr Abbott said:

Our carbon tax will be the heaviest carbon tax in the world.

The fact of the matter is that many countries have carbon prices. Details vary making comparisons complex, but it is clear that Australia's carbon price, starting at $23 a tonne, will not be the world's heaviest compared on the basis of cash receipts not including free permits. The European Union's emissions trading scheme will raise $72 billion over the first three years of its next phase while Australia's carbon price will raise $17 billion in cash receipts over this time frame. He also stated in a speech at the Australian Industry Group on 19 September this year:

There is no way that America is going to put a price on carbon anytime soon. There is no way that the Chinese and the Indians are going to put a price on carbon until their peoples have a comparable standard of living to those of the advanced Western world.

The fact is that 10 American states, including New York, have already put a price on carbon pollution from their electricity generators. California, the world's eighth largest economy, will start a carbon trading scheme in 2012. China has announced it will introduce emissions trading commencing in key cities and provinces including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. India has introduced a clean energy tax on coal. The Gillard government is working hard building a strong economy, a sustainable environment and a fair society that provides every Australian with the opportunity to prosper and succeed in life. Our first priority is keeping the economy strong—protecting jobs, driving new growth and creating opportunity for all so that no person and no place is left behind. We are providing assistance for households to deal with the increases in prices due to the carbon price. The Labor government is on the side of working people. It always has been and always will be. That is why we are doing everything we can to look after families, especially at the times in life when families need help.

Labor has: introduced Australia's first Paid Parental Leave scheme, including two weeks paid leave for dads and partners from 2013 ; increased the childcare rebate to 50 per cent; delivered the education tax refund to help pay for school costs; raised superannuation from nine per cent to 12 per cent—and this legislation was in the parliament this morning—for a dignified retirement for working people; targeted tax cuts at middle- and low-income workers; given age pensioners the biggest pension increase ever; and worked on a National Disability Insurance Scheme which will transform the disability sector.

The member for Warringah, the Leader of the Opposition, is not interested in policies; he just wants to say no and play politics. The Liberals: oppose the mining tax; oppose 12 per cent superannuation for workers; oppose tackling global warming by pricing carbon; oppose investment in the NBN; oppose health reform; oppose a fair industrial relations system that has basic protections for workers; oppose the GFC stimulus that saved 200,000 jobs; oppose the banning of exit fees on home mortgages by banks; and oppose the flood recovery package for Queensland and Victoria. It is my hope that they support, not oppose, this bill.

Labor's Clean Energy Plan cuts pollution and drives investment in clean energy, makes big polluters pay, delivers tax cuts and pension and payment rises, and protects Australian jobs. Australians want climate change action. Only Labor's plan will reduce carbon emissions, preserve our environment, assist families and households, and protect Australian jobs. NASA, the CSIRO and the world's top 1,000 scientists agree that human induced climate change is real. The rest of the world is acting. The UK, Germany, India, China and New Zealand are among those with local carbon prices or emissions trading schemes. The time for Australia to act is now to reduce pollution and protect the environment and jobs.

Labor has a good record on climate change action. One of Labor's first acts in 2007 was to ratify the Kyoto protocol. Labor has expanded renewable energy targets, which ensure 20 per cent of Australia's electricity will come from renewable energy sources by 2020. We have supported clean energy through initiatives like: Solar Dawn at Chinchilla, a solar thermal project boosted by natural gas—it will have a capacity of 250 megawatts—and the Moree Solar Farm consortium, led by BP Solar, which is building a 150-megawatt photovoltaic power plant. Together these projects are expected to generate enough power to support the electricity needs of more than 115,000 Australian homes per year. Our action in schools includes the National Solar Schools Program, which has helped over 2,500 schools take action on climate change by installing solar panels on roofs and water tanks. The member for Warringah has said climate change is 'absolute crap'. His sham climate policy would cost Australian households an extra $1,300 a year and give that money directly to big polluters; does not compensate families—Labor's tax cuts, pension rises and increased family payments would be repealed; does not support steel, mining or manufacturing jobs; and does not work—no reputable economist or climate scientist endorsed Tony Abbott's plan. It is time for Mr Abbott to admit what everybody knows—the Liberals will not roll back the carbon price.

Continued strong investment in renewable energy technology research and development is fundamental for Australia's transition to cleaner base load energy sources. Government support to fill market gaps and drive down costs will help us to achieve this transition. Like the wind generation in the north-east of Tasmania, the government legislation will support a clean energy future and jobs. I urge those opposite to support this bill.

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional-Provisions) Bill 2011. These bills are a very important step in Australia's renewable energy and changing the way that we use and provide energy in Australia. I support these bills because they create the statutory authority, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency known as ARENA, under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.

These bills are an important part of the whole package of renewable energy and changing the direction in which we are heading in this world. We have been consuming energy at such great rates that it is causing damage to our atmosphere and the way we live. One of the things that all of us should be upholding as members of parliament is ensuring that when we leave this place we leave Australia in a better place. It would be detrimental to Australia if we did not act on climate change, and this package is part of that action.

The bills also establish the positions of the members of the ARENA Board and the ARENA Chief Executive Officer, and set out ARENA's governance, financial and operational arrangements. The purpose of establishing ARENA will be to provide for independent administration of Australian government funding to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy and related technologies and increase the supply of renewable energy.

We have already done many good things in the supply of renewable energy around the country. Last week I was listening to a speech that the Premier of South Australia—Australia's newest premier, the Hon. Jay Weatherill—was making at a conference. He said that, with the facts and the figures that were on the table at the time of his speech, if South Australia was a nation on its own, it would be second in the world in renewable energy.

Over the last 10 years we have seen, under the South Australian Labor government and with the assistance of the federal Labor government, renewable energy initiatives taking place across the state through windmills and solar with assistance and packages to a number of companies that are developing these new energy products.

ARENA will be responsible for providing financial assistance for important research in this area. Assistance is needed for the development and the commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies. We need to develop skills in the renewable energy industry. These bills will assist that. They will also assist in the sharing of non-confidential knowledge of the projects amongst the industry and will promote collaboration on renewable energy technology and innovation among the state and territory governments and among other institutions including foreign governments and institutions. When it comes to renewable energy and turning around climate change we have to work in a collaborative manner not just across states in Australia, but across the international stage and across the world. That is so important. These bills give powers to ARENA to independently administer existing Australian government projects around the nation and programs supporting renewable energy technology innovation funded by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism and by the Australian Solar Institute. They also give ARENA the ability to make binding funding decisions regarding the expenditure of its uncommitted funds.

These bills are very important because Australia has some of the best renewable resources in the world. A few years ago while in Spain I visited Seville, which has approximately 800,000 people. Just out of Seville is a massive solar farm that powers up to 70 per cent of Seville at some times during the day. It was really interesting that their technology and science facilities were Australian staffed. People that had the knowledge in this area had come from Australia to set it up. Spain was extremely impressed by these people. We do have the technology. We do have the people that can do these things. We know that enough sunshine falls on Australia and New Zealand and across the Pacific on an average day to power both countries for the next 25 years. We should harness all of this. With just one per cent of our geothermal resources, we could power Australia for 26,000 years. We can do these innovative things. It just takes initiative and action. This government is acting on this particular issue.

The bill will also support further renewable energy initiatives which will build on Labor's record to date. I will talk about some of those achievements. One of the greatest achievements of Labor in the area renewable energy—and we have a good record on this issue—and one of its first acts in 2007 when it came this House was the ratification of the Kyoto protocol. That was so important. It was a message to the world that we really want to have some sort of action on climate change, unlike the previous government, which refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol for I don't know what reason. When you hear their leaders talking about climate change and saying that it is crap, one has to wonder. If we do not act on this issue now it is going to affect the next generation of Australians and the coming generations. It is one of our duties as members of parliament to ensure that we act on this issue.

The Labor government is also supporting green jobs and modernising our economy by investing $5.1 billion in the Clean Energy Initiative including support for ground-breaking clean coal technologies and investment in the production of renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal and biofuels right here in this nation. The National Solar Schools program is amazing. It has helped over 2,500 schools across Australia take practical action to tackle climate change by installing solar panels on their roofs and by installing water tanks. It is always interesting when I visit schools to see the solar panels on schools that have taken up this program. Each school on its own might not make a big difference but when you add them together—2,500 schools across the country have taken up this program—you can see the amount of renewable energy we are creating through solar panels and through the other solar energy initiatives that these schools are taking on board. It is also a very good message to future generations of Australians. Those students see the solar panels and see the fruition of how they are powering their schools. It is so important. We have also expanded the Renewable Energy Target, which will ensure 20 per cent of Australia's electricity will come from renewable energy sources by 2020. These are not just choices that we make; these are things that have to be done. If we want a clean, sustainable future and we want to turn around global warming and climate change, these are things that have to be done. We do not have a choice. We must do these things.

We have implemented the Water for the Future plan, including the first ever purchase of water entitlements by the federal government. It is one of many important initiatives to restore the health of the Murray-Darling system. For 200 years the Murray-Darling system has been operating on the basis that we just take what we need for our industries and for agriculture. Of course we need to grow food, but for years and years we have just been taking out what we need and expecting the river to survive on its own, whereas what we should have been doing—and what many countries around the world are doing—is ensuring what is required for a healthy, flowing river and then allocating what is left over to industry and agriculture. We have to change the whole way we think in this area. I think we are at a breaking point where, unless we change our ways and turn it around now, we will have a very dim future when it comes to water in Australia. I am pleased to see that the water buyback plans are working. There are many areas—for example, in and around Murray Bridge in South Australia—where dairy farmers have taken up this opportunity. They have sold some of their water entitlements to the government and you can see all these wetlands being created now. We are restoring those areas to their natural state.

It is also very important to secure our urban water supply. We are providing funding for new initiatives for recycling stormwater. In my electorate of Hindmarsh, for example, we have the Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant, which for many years would treat the effluent and then just pump it out into the sea. Under this government, I am very pleased—this is something I was pushing for for a long, long time—that the effluent will be pumped back into the city through a pipeline from Glenelg to Adelaide. It is cleaned and it is now watering all our parkland in Glenelg. The second stage is that local governments are now buying water from that pipeline, which goes from Glenelg right into the centre of the city. It is not only for local governments to water their ovals, parks et cetera; industry is now showing an interest as well. That water is helping secure our urban water supply. It is being recycled and cleaned and it is certainly not destroying the Gulf St Vincent in South Australia, which borders the western part of my electorate, which is what was happening for many, many years.

This particular project is something that the local government started working on more than 10 years ago. They started working on a plan, but no-one was interested in it. We were hitting our heads against a brick wall when we were putting it to state governments and to the former federal government. So I am very pleased that one of the first acts of this Labor government was to provide over $31 million in partnership with the state government, which put in another $31 million, making a total of close to $62 million of funding for this pipeline from Glenelg. The contaminants are no longer going out into the sea, contaminating the Gulf St Vincent and killing off the seagrass, which is a breeding ground for a lot of fish.

We have also invested funds to transform the automotive industry with the rollout of the hybrid Camry, the first Australian built hybrid car. That is very important. I heard one of the other members talking earlier about electric cars. We have been talking about them for many years in this nation, and here they are, coming to fruition. We have now produced an electric car. To be able to sit in one when you are being driven home by Comcar is amazing. They are burning far less energy than petrol cars.

We are creating a user-friendly one-stop green shop website that links families, schools and businesses to all government energy and water efficiency programs. It is very important for all of us to do what we can to use solar and a whole range of other renewable energies in our own households. As I said earlier, I hope the opposition do support these bills, but I do not hold a lot of hope having heard the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, talking about climate change and referring to it as 'crap'. That does not give you much hope, but we have an absolute duty in this place. The utmost duty we have as members of parliament is to ensure that we hand over this country in a better position than we found it. We should all aspire to do that. These bills, as I said, are not a choice. They are a must if we want Australia and the world to survive. We have to look at renewable energy. I commend these bills to the House.

Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These bills and the agency that they create, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency or ARENA, are a direct result of the negotiations between the Australian Greens, rural Independents and the government on the clean energy plan. The Greens proposed this body as a way of overcoming the many problems, not least of all the industry's perceived lack of enthusiasm for the minister, in the existing renewable energy programs supported by the government.

It has been obvious for years to many in the industry that renewable energy programs in Australia had been a mess of badly designed schemes often run as photo opportunities rather than helping build the industry. Worst of all, government funding programs were announced with a big public splash, innovators and entrepreneurs started to gear up to deliver them and after months or years of delay the programs were rebadged, reallocated, scrapped or so badly designed that nobody was able to take advantage of them.

A classic example was the Solar Flagships program which the Greens helped save from being abandoned earlier this year and for which we secured a roundtable in Canberra. Another example is in my electorate of Melbourne. We had a Solar Systems factory that was helping to build solar receivers for a demonstration project in Mildura and other parts of Victoria. The company was developing apace and the efficiency of the receivers was going great guns, so the company was making great gains. Then the company was placed into administration. This company was due to receive Commonwealth funding at some later stage, but because it was not able to access that funding early, the company was placed in administration and a number of people lost their jobs. For a period of time until a new buyer was found, we had a country-leading technology development going on in the heart of Melbourne, but because they were unable to secure government funding in a timely manner that would have allowed them to see through the trading difficulties they were in, the whole thing was wound down and had to be started again.

I do commend the government for agreeing to establish this body and for following that commitment through. This body will make a big difference. Australia's renewable energy technologists and entrepreneurs have up to now been forced to go through a boom-bust cycle so many times that many of them give up and go overseas. But ARENA will take the short-term politics out of renewable energy and deliver strong, consistent support to the industry so it can be confident of a long-term flourishing future.

Currently government provides some grant based support for renewable energy across a number of programs. The management of these programs will be reformed by these bills which will create a new independent statutory body. This will provide a more independent, efficient and streamlined administration of existing funding. ARENA will provide early stage grants and financing assistance for projects that strengthen renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, and make them more cost competitive. It will administer the $3.2 billion in existing government support for research and development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies.

ARENA will oversee existing government support for programs currently delivered by the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy; the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism; the Australian Solar Institute; and the Australian Biofuels Research Institute. ARENA's independent board will manage $1.5 billion in committed funding and $1.7 billion in uncommitted funds to disburse. ARENA will also receive future funding from discretional dividends paid by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and a share of future revenue from the price on pollution as compensation is wound down. ARENA will have an independent board comprising seven members. The membership of the board will reflect the technologies likely to be considered by ARENA. The board will also include expertise in commercialisation of new technologies more broadly, and business and investment skills. Together with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the price on pollution that will increase over time, ARENA will make a big contribution to the Australian Greens' goal of achieving 100 per cent renewable energy. This is an example of the kinds of technologies that stand to benefit from this legislation.

Since being elected to this job, I have had the privilege of meeting a number of people, and one of them was the climate adviser to the G8 and to the German government. They said: 'We'—Europe—'can't understand why you Australians are not leading the world in renewable energy technology. Look at your natural resources, look at your manufacturing expertise, look at your intellectual resources in your universities and collaborative research centres. Why aren't you leading the world?' In my electorate of Melbourne, Melbourne University, Monash University and CSIRO are at the point now where they have developed a system that allows you to print solar cells onto any surface.

Madam Deputy Speaker, if you just think about such a cell for moment and its transformative potential, you could print a solar cell onto the top of your computer and have that powered from lights like the ones we currently have in this chamber. BlueScope Steel is, I think, one of the partners in that project. They are interested in it because, if they can print these solar cells onto corrugated iron or any other kind of roofing surface, the surface of every roof becomes a power source. You could plug your roof into your house and power your house with it. We are on the verge of commercialising these world-leading technologies right here, in Australia. Up until now, too many companies have decided to pull the pin and not go ahead with such projects because of ad hoc and inconsistent government support. It is projects like that and Solar Systems, which was in my electorate of Melbourne, which are now on a track with consistent, planned development and expansion in this country. This will assist, in particular, other countries in our region and also elsewhere in the world in moving towards renewable energy technology. It is a role that Australia should be playing as a world leader in the export of renewable energy technology. ARENA, as the Greens proposed and as it has been agreed to, will help us take the important step to get there.

Another step that is going to help us get to this goal of 100 per cent renewable energy is planning and investment in our electricity grid. That will be crucial. In essence, at the moment, the electricity grid in Australia is often a series of wires going from distribution centres down to coalmines. It is not necessarily structured in the best way to allow renewable energy to come on board. That is why the commitment that we were able to secure as part of the clean energy agreement on the role of the Australian energy market operators is so important. AEMO will expand its planning scenarios to prepare for greater use of renewable energy, including planning for the scenario of a shift to 100 per cent renewable energy. It is something that we know from work done by Melbourne University is achievable and it is something that, once we get the proper plans in place, will allow development from both the private and public sectors to come on board and help us get to that goal.

I want to congratulate the many people who have brought us to this place. I also want to remind everyone that if the people of Melbourne had not voted Green we would not be here today, making great progress in the transition to a clean energy economy. We would also not be here without the tireless efforts of hundreds of thousands of Australians who have taken action to support renewable energy. Yesterday, my office was visited by Lindsay Soutar. Lindsay Soutar is a dynamic young woman from New South Wales, who just this week was awarded the title of Young Environmentalist of the Year by the environment minister. She won the award for her fantastic work as National Coordinator of the 100% Renewable campaign.

In early 2010 Lindsay quit her job to establish a national campaign on renewable energy—100% Renewable. Throughout 2010 and 2011 the campaign worked with local community groups across Australia to build a groundswell of public support for a renewable energy future. Through establishing a national network of regional and local organisers, a mentoring program, and a series of workshops and a range of public engagement activities that included surveying, doorknocking, local media and the engagement of politicians, the campaign has built new leadership and worked with local community groups to shift elected members of parliament behind the vision of a 100 per cent renewable energy future. Through Lindsay's passion, persistence and commitment to empowering others, the campaign has grown from strength to strength, making a substantial contribution to the energy debate and influencing national decisions on renewable energy policy. The passage of this bill is a win for people like Lindsay and the thousands of supporters of the renewables campaign. I am also pleased and pleasantly surprised to hear that the opposition will not oppose this bill. It shows that the Greens' prediction is becoming a reality—and that is that, when the climate package becomes law and people see that the sky has not fallen in, there will be little left of the Leader of the Opposition's political raison d'etre. Before the blood on the paper has dried, Tony Abbott's blood oath is already fading. After declaring the blood oath that he would repeal every last one of the clean energy future bills, the Leader of the Opposition has now added the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill to the Carbon Farming Initiative as elements of the package he will not oppose or repeal.

The opposition energy spokesperson, Mr Macfarlane, told the House of Representatives yesterday that the coalition will not oppose the ARENA Bill and supports its aim of centralising research and development funding for renewable energy. This comes after extensive attacks on renewable energy and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, as well as explicit attacks on ARENA after it was first announced in July. The key reason for establishing ARENA is to avoid the appalling political interference that characterised energy policy under successive governments. The opposition spokesperson, of all people, knows the extent to which renewable energy funding programs were politicised and undermined.

I welcome the coalition's support for ARENA as an independent statutory authority that will be run by independent experts beyond the experience of people in this chamber. This is especially important given that one side went to the election promising no price on pollution and the other side is still not sure that climate change is happening. The opposition have spent the past few months sidelining the constructive negotiations of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee to whip up a fear campaign against this climate package, and what they will find is that that opposition will soon subside as people realise the sky has not fallen in and that in fact the sky is becoming cleaner and the economy is transforming to provide new jobs in new industries.

At the last election I announced a plan to shift Melbourne to 100 per cent clean renewable energy, including a price on pollution. I asked people to imagine an MCG covered in solar panels and community solar farms on the roofs of factories and schools. I talked about how we could expand public transport and maintain our mobility with electric vehicles. I found that people understood that to get there we needed to be willing to face up to the risks of climate change and lead. With the passage of this bill and the other clean energy bills I will be making good on that commitment to the people of Melbourne, and Australia will be on the way to a clean energy future.

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak in support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011. The federal government accepts the consensus among climate scientists that climate change is real and that renewable energy is a vital part of ensuring a clean energy future. I am proud to be a part of a government that has tackled the challenge of climate change by implementing a price on carbon and introducing a scheme where we can trade carbon emissions. Also, the package is looking at everything to do with that. It is not just the price mechanism that will lead to change in our environment.

I looked through my speech from the previous parliament when both sides, until well into the political debate, were going to support an emissions trading scheme. One of the interesting parts of the debate was about what voluntary action individuals were going to be taking themselves. A big part of the debate was what individuals in their own homes, businesses and communities were going to do. We were looking at the concerns that people had that their voluntary actions were not going to be built into the ETS at that stage. It is really interesting that in just a short space of time that whole issue of what individuals, businesses, companies and, indeed, the energy sector are doing has gone and has shifted just to this notion of a price.

The bills before us today—and the clean energy package passed through the House in our last sitting week—are not just about the price. It is about the whole package. It is looking at putting money into research, jobs, communities and businesses so that we as a nation will move towards this change. I am very proud to be part of this government and I am fully supportive of these additional bills that will be passed today. I want to pay tribute to the opposition for finally seeing some sense and not opposing what will be a good outcome for everybody. In addition to introducing a price on carbon, the federal government is committed to the development and use of renewable energy. It recognises that significant and affordable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can only be achieved through commercially viable low or zero emission energy technologies. The energy sector is a primary source of Australia's emissions and Australia's current level of energy use is expected to double by 2050. Clean energy technologies are vital in moving to a low emissions future while meeting this increasing energy demand. We as a government are aware that the world has seen the value of and is increasingly embracing renewable energies and are determined to ensure that Australia is not left behind.

The government has already acted in this area by establishing the renewable energy target. The renewable energy target means that the equivalent of 20 per cent of Australia's electricity will come from renewable sources by 2020. One of the interesting things in this space is that most of us get an electricity bill that asks, 'Do you want to pay extra for green energy?' The majority of households in my electorate tick that box and say yes. They are happy to pay the higher price for the benefits that it is providing to the environment and the whole community. There has been a very big take-up rate of that. The energy companies have already embraced that. This is just expanding upon that.

The expanded target of 20 per cent by 2020 makes renewable energy technologies an increasingly important commercial consideration. With the implementation of a price on carbon, the renewable energy target is expected to stimulate private sector investment of around $20 billion in today's dollars. The sector has been looking for this certainty. They have been looking at this space and asking what is happening. There is still uncertainty because of the opposition continuing to state that they will repeal the Clean Energy Bill package but the RET and the bills that we are passing today will give certainty to this sector and we will see development, growth and jobs in that sector. The target supports both large-scale renewable energy projects, such as wind farms and solar plants, and small-scale installation for households, small businesses and community groups.

More than this, we as a government realise that innovation is essential to helping drive down the cost of renewable energy and reducing the carbon intensity of the energy sector, which is why we have made it a key plank in our Clean Energy Plan. The member for Melbourne was talking about things that he had seen. Some of those things are taking place in my electorate of Chisholm. The CSIRO centre in Clayton is in my electorate. It is right next door to Monash University. That centre is where a lot of this innovation is taking place. I have had the pleasure of meeting the scientists who are at the cutting edge of developing printed solar cells. It is an amazing technology that will be rolled out in the near future. It is getting to the stage of being commercially viable. Solar cells will be able to be printed onto film. As the member for Melbourne said, one of the other groups is BlueScope Steel, who are looking at putting it into Colorbond roofs. You will not have to buy a whole cell in the future; it will be ingrained in the Colorbond that you are putting on your roof. Within my electorate, I am proud to have many research centres. There is Monash University and Deakin University. The Monash Sustainability Institute is doing phenomenal work in this space, looking at things for now and for the future.

On a recent visit to the CSIRO, I had the pleasure of meeting with some scientists who are looking at packaging. We all use too much packaging. They are looking at the pallets that we use when exporting and importing goods. Every wood pallet can only be used once. About the only thing that it is good for is burning it to stay warm while having a good demonstration. I must admit that I burnt a few pallets during a good demo or two to stay warm at night. It is wood. It is not biodegradable. So they are now looking at a biodegradable pallet. They are also looking at creating biodegradable polystyrene, which is the wonderful stuff that we all pour into packaging so that our goods do not get damaged on shipment. These things are happening now. While those examples are not from the energy space, a lot of energy is used in creating some of these manufactured goods that we use in our society every day and just take for granted. These bills will be providing certainty and money to this space and the great work that is already happening in my electorate will be able to continue. Under the clean energy future plan, a new $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation will invest in the commercialisation and use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies. Complementing this corporation is a new Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, which will streamline and centralise the administration of $3.2 billion in existing support for renewable energy. This bill effectively provides the legislative framework to enable ARENA to operate. It establishes ARENA, its seven-member board, its chief executive officer and chief financial officer, and sets out how ARENA will operate and will be funded.

Under the bill, ARENA will commence operation from 1 July 2012. It will operate as an independent statutory authority, with the government consolidating all of its renewable energy programs and projects to fall under ARENA's responsibility. The appointment of ARENA's board will seek to draw upon the considerable collective knowledge and expertise currently existing in Australian business and in the area of renewable energy industries. Around $3.2 billion in existing renewable grants will now be overseen by ARENA. Currently, this funding is managed by the federal government and federal government funded renewable energy bodies such as the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy and the Australian Solar Institute. Approximately $1.7 billion of this funding is currently not committed and will be available for ARENA to provide financial assistance in the following ways: to research, develop, demonstrate and commercialise renewable energy and related technologies; to develop skills in the renewable energy industry; and to share non-confidential knowledge and information from the projects it funds. This is really important.

The Joint Select Committee on Australia's Clean Energy Future Legislation, which I had the pleasure and horror of chairing, received submissions and evidence in respect of these bills. Even though they did not form part of the legislation that the committee was inquiring into, they are inexorably linked. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union stated during the committee inquiry that clean energy has potential in Australia and:

Because of the science, we know we have to reduce emissions. We know the need to reduce high-emissions activities is already creating global demand for low-emissions technology. We see the potential of clean technology jobs. We see the $6 trillion global clean technology industry, so we know the future of Australia's manufacturing industry is tied to the extent to which we invest in and are successful in clean energy generation and energy efficient technology development. We have approached the challenge of carbon emissions reduction with our eyes wide open so we can take advantage of the opportunities that the move to low-carbon economies will bring for Australian industry and Australian manufacturing in particular.

Contrary to the dissenting report from the coalition members of the inquiry, the trade union movement are fully engaged in this debate, their members are fully engaged in this debate and they understand that jobs and growth are in these technologies and they will be welcoming these ARENA bills.

The committee also had evidence from Vestas, a large international wind technology company that produces wind turbines, and it is looking for certainty. They stated:

Vestas has previously tried its hand at establishing manufacturing of wind turbine components in Australia, but that venture did not succeed because we simply did not have the scale here to make sure that those jobs were sustainable and that market was large enough. Instead, in recent years we have added a lot of manufacturing jobs in the US and a lot in China and still plenty more in Europe as well. We go where our markets are and where our markets are the biggest so we cut out transport costs. That is the thing that Australia has missed out on in recent times—we have not got to that scale. You can model this and you can model that and everyone turns up with their own set of independent modelling, but you are never going to know until you actually get to that scale. If you look at what other countries have done elsewhere, beyond our shores, those that have gone for renewable energy, and have gone big and gone early, are the ones that have the jobs now.

Again, constantly during the debate here we get, 'The US is doing nothing' and 'China is doing nothing.' This is not the evidence from companies in this space—companies who are welcoming these bills today because it will provide certainty.

In further evidence, the committee asked wind generators whether the window was still open in Australia and they said:

I think it is still open, as long as the clean energy bill goes forward in its strength and as long as we see relatively soon—probably in the next three to four years—a policy of what is going to happen beyond the current large-scale renewable target, because we are all sitting here. We know we are building projects to 2020, which will not be 2020. It will be 2018 or something like that when it is contracted out, and then the market is finished. All we know is that we have legislation and a Clean Energy Finance Corporation, but we do not know what either of them are going to do. So it is very difficult at the moment.

These are people who are looking to invest big money and looking to invest to create jobs, and these bills will give them that certainty. Initially, the board will be required to develop its funding strategies which will determine how it will allocate its uncommitted funds across the various renewable energy and related technology types. In considering its allocation of financial assistance, ARENA is expected to develop programs, with program guidelines to be based on merit based assessment processes and, in consultation with the Minister for Resources and Energy, will be obliged to develop a work plan.

The bill defines 'renewable energy technologies' to include hybrid technologies. This definition will enable ARENA to support a broader range of renewable energy projects. It also supports ARENA in its aim of improving the competitiveness of and supply of renewable energy targets, giving its work a clear economic imperative as well. Cost-of-living pressures are very real concerns for many households and we must ensure that renewable energy is supplied in the most cost-effective manner to consumers.

In addition, it is intended that, under the bill, ARENA will collaborate with state and territory governments in supporting renewable energy technology innovation. The government has always acknowledged that community consensus is vital to achieving real and lasting impact on climate change and, to this end, it is firmly committed to working with governments at all levels. ARENA will also be empowered to form committees. ARENA will be able to arrange consultation to provide technical and specialist advice. The scope also exists for ARENA to establish technology specific advisory committees to assist it in fulfilling its duties.

The current debate surrounding climate change has featured business calls for certainty. The government has responded to these calls by implementing a price on carbon, fixed for the first couple of years, giving the business the certainty it needs in making investment decisions.

Significantly, the government is also providing certainty in the area of renewable energy by prescribing ARENA's funding until 2020, providing long-term funding certainty for the renewable energy industry. To ensure that funding is used most efficiently, funding allocated annually to ARENA will be held by the government and used to earn interest until it is required by ARENA.

In addition, numerous safeguards have been put in place to ensure appropriate additional accountability and management of what is a significant quantity of public funds. These measures, amongst others, include:

(i) ARENA'S funding strategy is required to be endorsed by the Minister;

(ii) The Minister will endorse any grant where the amount exceeds $50 million and program guidelines permit grants in excess of $15 million to an individual project …

The government is committed to taking action on climate change and recognises the importance of keeping momentum on the renewable energy industry. The government's renewable energy bill provides the avenue through which renewable energy can play its vital role in ensuring a clean energy future for this country. That is why we are taking these actions for future generations. I commend this legislation to the House.

Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and related bill. This government has set a renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020. I note with some satisfaction that it is a bipartisan target—at times, something quite surprising—and that these bills are designed to encourage the investment in clean energy technologies that are necessary to achieve this target.

In Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand, two Australian scientists, Haydn Washington and John Cook, wrote:

… to solve climate change will … require a rapid and major conversion to renewable energy, as we have delayed for so long.

Perhaps they refer to the 12 wasted years of the Howard-Abbott government. In Labor's four brief years in government we have had to make a great deal of catch-up policy. Carbon pollution, emitted as a by-product of electricity generation, is easier to reduce than any other major source of pollution, especially agriculture and transport. But, until the efforts of this government, there has been little incentive to undertake these reductions.

Under the Howard government, renewable energy use, as a proportion of total energy consumption, actively declined. As a result of the former Howard government's failure to support innovation in renewable energy production by investing in research and development, there remains a significant cost gap between renewable energy such as solar and conventional forms of energy such as black and brown coal.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics inaugural Energy Resource Assessment found:

With the exception of hydro and wind energy (which is growing strongly), many of these resources are largely undeveloped, constrained by the current immaturity of technologies.

According to Professors Michael Dopita and Robert Williamson of the Australian Academy of Science:

The impact upon the climate caused by our current energy use cannot be sustained. … There exists a large difference between the price paid by consumers in Australia for electrical energy, over 80% of which is produced from black and brown coal, and the true cost of this energy, when we factor in the environmental impacts. Such market distortions hinder the development and deployment of cleaner alternatives.

Without cost competitiveness, there will be no renewable industry. These bills, in conjunction with the package of carbon pricing reforms contained in the Clean Energy Future legislation, are designed to incentivise increased uptake of renewable energy by increasing the commercial viability of renewable-power generation as compared to non-renewable forms of energy production such as black and brown coal.

Research commissioned by the Clean Energy Future Group and contained in the 2004 report A Clean Energy Future for Australia found that Australia's greenhouse pollution could be halved by 2040 through a combination of energy efficiency and switching to currently available clean energy technologies. As this report indicates, commercialisation of research is vital.

These bills create a statutory authority, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, to administer funding for research, development and commercialisation of renewable energy and related technologies. The authority will be independent and not subject to governmental direction, excepting a number of safeguard provisions designed to ensure appropriate accountability and management.

The establishment of ARENA will streamline and centralise the administration of $3.2 billion in existing funding for renewable energy, currently managed by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism; the Australian Solar Institute, which is headquartered in my electorate of Newcastle; and the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy.

According to Jenny Goddard, the chair of the board of the Australian Solar Institute:

This should allow a more strategic approach to setting priorities for government support across all renewable energy technologies and better connected and coordinated administration and program delivery in any one area of technology ... The establishment of ARENA will also include welcome longer term funding certainty and increased total funding for renewable programs.

The Clean Energy Council, likewise, believe:

The establishment of ARENA provides an opportunity for consolidation of the various programs currently spread out across the two agencies and develop a more co-ordinated approach to policy development and program delivery.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill identifies the core functions of the agency as being:

… the storage and sharing of information and knowledge about renewable energy technologies

and

… to liaise with State and Territory governments and other authorities for the purpose of facilitating renewable energy projects for which financial assistance is, or is proposed to be, provided …

ARENA will also be responsible for providing policy advice to the Minister for Resources and Energy and will build on the advisory functions of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy. The agency will be tasked with promoting collaboration with state and territory governments and other interested and relevant stakeholders to support renewable energy technology innovation.

A key priority for ARENA's board will be the development of a rolling three-year funding strategy identifying ARENA's principal objectives and priorities for receipt of financial assistance, determined via a merit based assessment process.

In the Australian Solar Institute, investment in solar energy research has accelerated market innovation in photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal technologies, and I would encourage the future ARENA board to provide adequate funding for solar research to look closely at the Australian Solar Institute's model. I would also encourage the ARENA board to maintain the investment in solar research so that Australia remains at the forefront of solar energy research and development.

The Australian Solar Institute has already committed $90 million in funding for renewable projects since its establishment. By the end of June 2011, the ASI held a research portfolio with a total project value of approximately $200 million, having attracted or leveraged off more than $115 million of additional funding from domestic and international industry, research institutions and state government. Attracting such a high level of private investment through partnership is a highly commendable performance, and I congratulate the Australian Solar Institute for all that they have achieved. I know that they work with a very small staff, very lean administration and also recommend that to Arena because the money has gone into research and actual projects. As I have said, leveraging that sort of money from the private sector and other research entities has been an outstanding model.

Fortunately the establishment of ARENA should not delay the delivery of existing renewable energy projects and initiatives. The ASI will continue to develop its existing programs, with ARENA taking responsibility for these initiatives as well as any uncommitted funding when the ASI is wound up by 31 December 2012. ASI has had a particular funding focus on technologies not yet commercialised, supporting technology that will increase the commercial uptake of solar energy by reducing the lifetime cost of solar energy production. CSIRO Newcastle saw funding for projects to develop advanced solar thermal energy storage technologies, advanced steam generating receivers for high concentration solar collectors, solar powered air turbine systems, a novel thermoelectric topping cycle receiver for CST applications and others to characterise the effect of high penetration solar intermittency on Australian electricity networks.

A $5 million foundation grant from the institute funded Australia's largest solar thermal research hub and tower at CSIRO's Solar Energy Centre in Newcastle. The tower, opened by the Prime Minister in June this year with the Minister for Resources and Energy, is 30 metres high and has been developed in partnership with Mitsubishi from Japan and the Spanish government. As I heard the member for Chisholm say, finding that investment is very important but I am particularly pleased to know that this project will be rolled out into the Western Australian mining areas because already in its initial stages it is cost-competitive with diesel. So we are seeing gains and I congratulate the ASI and wish all its staff a satisfying future.

The impact of these and other investments into renewable energy will be furthered by the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation that this government will establish in order to invest in firms utilising renewable energy and energy efficient and low emission technologies so as to overcome capital market barriers to the commercialisation of clean energy technologies. Those barriers are real, and they include the lack of Australian investment. The Smart Grid Smart City program in my electorate has many international partners and, having met many of them just recently at the opening of their information centre on the harbour in Newcastle, I know they are so excited to be part of this scale of investment in renewable technologies. Other countries are investing, yes, but we are being very strategic and very smart in the way we are doing it, particularly in terms of the grid—managing the grid, managing renewable grids, bringing grids in together and managing peak and off-peak in grids. These are things that people thought were happening that really had not happened until this government came to power. Dividends returned from investments made by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will be administered by ARENA to support the development of renewable technologies.

The Secretary-General of the OECD, Angel Gurria, said earlier this year:

... our economies need a change of engine ... Renewable energies are the only future viable source if we want to protect life.

The Australian government has developed a long-term plan to transition to a clean energy future and we are reshaping the energy market through research and development and the commercialisation of renewable technologies to foster greater environmental sustainability. What is the market economy but a construct, so it does not exist independent of civil society and through bills such as these and the clean energy future reform package we will create an environmentally sustainable economy by implementing policies that foster investment and provide an incentive for people to use and to generate renewable energy. We can create a clean energy future while still growing our economy, as Sweden has done. The two are not mutually exclusive, as some on the other side of the House would suggest. Since 1990 Sweden's economy has grown by 50 per cent while they have reduced greenhouse emissions by 10 per cent. The report of the Australian Conservation Foundation and the ACTU, Green Gold Rush, concluded:

... ambitious environmental policies have an impressive track record in generating innovation, industry development, job creation and economic prosperity.

Every Australian knows that our nation has unmatched renewable resources. Wind capacity factors are five to 10 per cent higher, on average, than in the EU. We have extensive geothermal resources and we experience longer sunlight hours and more intense solar radiation than many other countries. Yet a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance last year ranked Australia 12th on installed capacity for renewable power generation; we do need to do some catching up. According to Erwin Jackson, the deputy chief executive of the Climate Institute, 'global clean energy investments now outstrip traditional fossil fuel investments year-in, year-out', despite Australia accounting for just 0.8 per cent of total global investment in renewable energy—0.8 per cent of total global investment when China is investing one per cent of its GDP into renewable energy. We have an energy intensive economy and higher per capita energy consumption than most modern economies such as Germany. Described as the world's first major renewable economy, renewable energy consumption in Germany is predicted to reach 33 per cent by 2020.

We all have a part to play in creating a cleaner economy. We have benefited so much from a carbon based economy; perhaps our complacency was something that we now understand has a price. This week though, in my electorate, the Newcastle Herald reported that energy consumption in the Hunter region has decreased by up to 4.6 per cent in the past year, with this energy saving attributed to increased uptake of energy efficient appliances and more energy efficient behaviour. I congratulate the Together Todayprogram run by the Newcastle City Council, and of course all the renewable energy and clean energy programs in my electorate that have been very much part of the public information campaign and business changes as well.

By creating a long-term funding pipeline for research and development, and the commercialisation of renewable energy through the establishment of ARENA, these bills will help to make renewable energy a realistic option for the Australian community and I commend them to the House.

In conclusion, I would like to praise the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources. Having visited the institute recently, and I will be visiting there again on Friday, I know that their work has been outstanding. I also heard in other members' speeches about some of the collaborations that are happening to make sure we do develop technologies like solar paint. I also congratulate the Enterprise Connect Centre, the Clean Technology Innovation Centre, and the Smart Grid, Smart City initiative in my electorate for their good work, and I encourage the quest for renewable energy in this country.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In rising to speak on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the cognate bill, I say good morning, colleagues, and it is terrific to be here with you discussing what is so absolutely crucial to our economy, our community and, indeed, to our planet. It is part of our global responsibility to be talking about a clean energy future, most especially in relation to our clean energy package. One of the fundamental parts of that package is the creation of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA.

I was very pleased yesterday to have heard the opposition spokesperson, my friend the member for Groom, support this legislation. I find that very heartening for a number of reasons. One is that I know personally that he does support it and I suspect that he very strongly supports our whole clean energy package. He was within one vote of securing something similar a number of months ago from those on the other side, yet you would never know that if you listen to them speaking about the legislation since. I suspect that he is a strong believer in the package because he knows the creation of such an agency is required to bring about a cleaner energy future.

Secondly, I suspect that the support on the other side of the chamber means that they do not really have an intention to roll back this legislation in the future. I strongly suspect that will not occur and that they know it. But I do welcome it.

Thirdly, as the member for Groom understands—and certainly our ministers responsible for introducing the clean energy future package understand—such an agency makes sense: it is rational, it is practical. What it really does is consolidate the decision making around clean energy proposals into a single body, incorporate the expertise that currently exists in a number of other bodies associated with renewable energy projects and their application throughout Australia and consolidate the ability to decide on new projects and the allocation of funds which currently exist or are not allocated as yet. So I do commend the opposition on their support of this really important, practical, sensible, realistic and appropriate legislation.

ARENA, as the new agency in the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism portfolio, will incorporate initiatives previously administered separately through a range of bodies, including the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, the Australian Solar Institute and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. The collective have done a remarkably good job as they evolved the various renewable energy projects, and of course the huge potential that still exists within renewable energies, and their expertise will be incorporated in ARENA. I find that very heartening. ARENA will have an independent decision-making board appointed by the Minister for Resources and Energy and it will also have a CEO appointed by the Minister for Resources and Energy on the recommendation of the ARENA board. ARENA's role will be to allocate funding to renewable energy and enabling technology projects. The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism will provide administrative support to ARENA. The legislation before us also deals with the governance arrangements in relation to ARENA.

The establishment of ARENA will not delay the delivery of existing initiatives, and the Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund application process continues, as will the rollout of the Emerging Renewables Program, while ASI, the Australian Solar Institute, will continue to deliver its existing programs. Upon its establishment, ARENA will take over responsibility for these initiatives. ARENA will manage the $3.2 billion investment in renewable energy investments to promote research and development, demonstration, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy projects to improve the sector's competitiveness. Around $1.7 billion in uncommitted funding from a range of consolidated programs will be available to the ARENA board to invest in new renewable energy projects such as large-scale solar, geothermal and ocean. It will also include projects that potentially involve renewable energy related transmission infrastructure investments between now and 2020.

This funding will be allocated in accordance with the funding strategy developed by the ARENA board. ARENA will fund projects that will help increase the deployment of renewable energy and drive down its costs in an Australian context. It will complement the new Clean Energy Finance Corporation. ARENA will oversee existing government support from the following initiatives and will have responsibility for managing the unallocated funds from these initiatives—for example, the Solar Flagships Program, the Australian Solar Institute, Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund (Solar), Renewable Energy Demonstration Program, ACRE Solar Projects, Renewable Energy Venture Capital Fund, Australian Biofuels Research Institute, Emerging Renewables Program, Geothermal Drilling Program, Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program and, finally, Connecting Renewables Initiative. That is the purview of this legislation. As I said before, it is a consolidation of the ideas, technologies, funding, expertise and investment in research and development related to Australian renewable energy.

While I am on that really interesting topic of renewable energy, you cannot think renewable energy unless you think of Tasmania. We are the renewable energy capital of not just Australia but our wider region.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The world.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It could well be the world. We have been renewable for many decades. Most of that is associated with hydroelectricity. We also have excellent wind generation capacity, geothermal, wave power and so forth. What do we think about renewable energy? First of all, it is produced from resources that replenish themselves in a short time frame. Energy obtained from wind power or water—hydro, for example—does not use up any resource in its creation, thereby ensuring an inexhaustible supply. Other forms of renewable energy include solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, geothermal, wave and biomass. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas are finite resources that are being depleted at a rapid rate as well as producing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas of major concern because of global warming. We should all understand that. Renewable energy produces less CO2 emissions than energy obtained by burning fossil fuels and is consequently a preferable source of energy.

Tasmania is currently the leader in renewable energy generation in Australia and is well known for its impressive hydroelectricity system. Tasmania also has one of the best performing wind farms in the world. It is in my region and is called Woolnorth. This is in the far north-west of Tassie; in fact, it is right next door to a rather interesting place called Cape Grim—by the way, magnificent Cape Grim premium beef is produced in that area as well. And that is only rivalled in the world by King Island premium beef.

Ms Marino interjecting—

Indeed. As soon as you step out of Braddon I am sure that there are other contenders. However, we have a worldwide reputation for our beef. Cape Grim also has an air monitoring station. It is said to monitor the cleanest air in the world—and I am sure that you have heard this and believe it. That is where we take the air monitoring records. So we have the lot: the cleanest air in the world, the best beef in the world and the best wind in the world.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It sounds like a utopia.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a utopia. And we have the best representative in the federal parliament, the current member for Braddon! Enough—you interrupt me.

Renewable hydro and wind power currently represents 87 per cent of mainland Tasmania's installed electricity generation capacity. There is indeed significant potential for the expansion of renewable energy generation in Tassie and for Tasmania to become a showcase for not just tomorrow's but today's renewable energy technologies. I mentioned before that we have hydro electricity. We are renowned for that. And hydro provides tourism potential. So we have all the benefits that flow from these massive hydro schemes.

The other renewable energy resource that have is wind. Tassie lies in the path of the Roaring Forties, the prevailing westerly winds that circle the earth at high southern latitudes. Tassie has world-class resources for the generation of wind power. Currently, there are two major operating wind farms in the state, Woolnorth in the north-west—which I just mentioned to you—and Huxley Hill wind farm on King Island. That wind farm's technology is also going to extend to Flinders Island, which is the jewel in the crown, I suppose, of the electorate of Bass as King Island is the jewel in the crown for the whole of Tasmania.

On 20 February 2010 the Minister for Resources and Energy and I had the great privilege of announcing the King Island Renewable Energy Integration Program, which was part and parcel of the government's renewable energy packages for Australia. This $15.28 million was a major funding boost, as part of a $46 million project on King Island and with technologies transferable to Flinders Island, in conjunction with the Tasmanian government and Hydro Tasmania. That has, effectively, integrated a number of renewable energy technologies, which of course can be transferable to other remote area locations. These are a combination of solar, wind and photovoltaic cells to store energy, along with the use and capacity of diesel generators. Because King Island is not connected directly to the Tasmanian mainland, the intention is to put together composite forms of energy but, most especially, to develop the renewable energy side of that so that the island can rely on renewable resources for its energy rather than on diesel. It is a really exciting project.

The Prime Minister recently visited King Island. In fact, it was only the second time a Prime Minister of Australia had visited King Island. I think former Prime Minister Robert Menzies visited some 50-odd years before. The Prime Minister joined with me and the community and visited that site. They are truly pioneering renewable technologies at work, which will be transferable to other areas in Australia. I congratulate the current Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister Ferguson, this government, the Tasmanian government and Hydro Tasmania for the terrific work that they are doing there.

That is not to say that Tassie is not investing even more in renewable energy. In terms of wind energy for Tassie, Musselroe Bay is the next cab off the rank. There are some very exciting geothermal projects in the southern part of the state. Technologies such as wave technology and the use of biomass are also being developed in Tassie. We will always remain the clean energy and renewable capital of Australia. (Time expired)

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to speak on the Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Arrangements and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011. These bills create a statutory authority, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act. The bill also establishes the position of the members on the board of ARENA and the ARENA chief executive and sets out ARENA's governance, financial and operational arrangements.

This is a very important part of the government's package to lower carbon emissions. As we all know, landmark legislation has been passed through parliament. The clean energy legislation is the first tranche of Labor's efforts to lower carbon emissions. It is evident that the government is taking the issue of climate change very seriously.

The second aspect of addressing climate change is the legislation that we have before us today. It is about producing innovation and investment and, in doing that, we will be lowering emissions. It is all about lowering emissions and providing a clean energy future. Members of this parliament know that the way to a clean energy future is not only by putting a price on carbon, which is really important because it acts as a disincentive to pollute; but there is the other aspect—and that is putting in place the technology that will enable us to move towards a renewable energy economy. It is all about creating new jobs and skills for the future. The piece of legislation we have before us today is about a clean energy future.

ARENA, the new agency, will incorporate initiatives previously administered separately through a range of different bodies, and there have already been an enormous number of initiatives taken by this government to move towards a clean and renewable energy future. Previously, this was administered through the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, the Solar Institute and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism; now it will all be under one umbrella while the government is making significant investments in a renewable energy future.

ARENA will manage a $3.2 billion dollar fund in renewable energy; invest and promote research and development; and demonstrate commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy to improve projects around $1.7 billion in uncommitted funds for a range of consolidated programs. It will fund projects that will increase the deployment of renewable energy like the Solar Flagships program; Australian Solar Institute; Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund; Renewable Energy Demonstration Program; ACRE solar projects; Renewable Energy Venture Capital; Australian Biofuels Research Institute; Emerging Renewables program; Geothermal Drilling Program; Second Generation Biofuel Research and Development Program; and Connecting Renewables Initiative. From that list, you can see that ARENA in a coordinating role will fund current projects at a higher level and see them working together.

In the region that I come from there have already been significant investments in new technology. A solar tower was opened in June this year and the development of that facility was supported by a $500 million grant from the government from the Australian Solar Institute in a partnership program. The Minister for Resources and Energy came to the opening. The Hunter region is already home to the CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre, the Australian Solar Institute and the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources as well as the Smart Grid, Smart City initiative, which I think is the way of the future.

The tower is surrounded by 450 locally manufactured custom designed mirrors, heliostats. It is capable of generating temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Celsius and is used to research solar energy. It is a smaller project at this stage but it is the type of innovation we will be seeing into the future.

I would like to share with the House that Moree Solar Farm has won a $1.5 billion through the Solar Flagships program and $464 million for the Solar Dawn project in Chinchilla, which is worth an estimated $1.2 billion. Around $306.5 million went to the project in Moree. That is a considerable amount of money, but we cannot just judge it in dollar terms. We have to look at what it is delivering to this nation, what it is delivering for the future sustainability of our nation and what role it will play in lowering emissions.

The Solar Dawn consortium's solar-thermal power hybrid plant near Chinchilla will be the largest generator of solar power in this country, and 85 per cent of Solar Dawn's power will be emissions free. That is rather spectacular. These are programs that exist at the moment but there will be many more programs established in future. There are programs that we cannot even think of at the moment because the technologies are unknown. It is because of ARENA and the investment in renewable energy in this country that we will be able to consider a future where we have lower emissions and a more environmentally friendly economy—an economy with new green jobs and an economy where we are producing energy in a much more efficient way.

I was privileged to go with the Climate Change, Environment and the Arts Committee to China. We looked at what actions China was taking to address climate change. The first thing I found overwhelming was the fact that everywhere we went in China people acknowledged the fact that climate change was a reality. They also acknowledged the fact that if we did not do something to address climate change, and if China did not do something to address climate change, their future and the future of our planet would be greatly jeopardised. There was a common will to look at climate change and to look at initiatives that could be taken.

For the record, six provinces in China have already introduced carbon pricing schemes. In addition to that I want to share with the parliament some of the exciting renewable energy initiatives that are taking place in China. We went to Baoding, which is a province not far from Beijing. We visited the Yingli Green Energy solar panel factory. It was a high-tech industrial development zone and we saw the products they were producing, which were all renewable and alternative energy generated. We also looked at the way the plant operated. We visited the photovoltaic grid-connected system at the hotel where we had lunch. The hotel was powered solely by alternative and renewable energy. We visited a number of exciting projects; we even saw a jointly funded project that was capturing CO2 and using it in food products. The CSIRO had contributed to that project. It showed a partnership between the Australian government and the Chinese government.

It was really interesting to see what was happening in that area. Whilst we were there we also visited Tianjin, which is an ecocity. It is not completed as yet; it has been reported in the media here. We picked up those reports here and decided that, while we were there, we would really like to see it. The first thing that became apparent was the lighting on the streets, which is powered by solar panels plus wind power. So two forms of alternative energy are used to power those streetlights. Interestingly, the whole of the environment is designed to encourage people to use bikes, to walk and to use alternative approaches to getting around in that area. It is a centre of great innovation and it is a joint project between Singapore and China. I would recommend to anyone that, if possible, they should go and have a look at it, particularly in a couple of years down the track, when it will be closer to completion.

We also went to Shanghai and whilst in Shanghai we visited their alternative energy display. It is obviously of great interest to people who live in Shanghai, because school children were being taken through the centre. You could see so many different and alternative forms of heating, cooling and different ways of cooking. It was very interesting to see how the Chinese had embraced the need for renewable energy.

Here in Australia, the establishment of ARENA will see that our commitment to renewable energy is coordinated and that here in Australia we are now fulfilling our commitment to a renewable energy future.

Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011. Together they form part of the government's suite of policies designed to address climate change, to provoke and support innovation, and to guarantee our place in a burgeoning global renewable energy economy.

The main bill creates the proposed Australian Renewable Energy Agency, ARENA, whose role as an independent statutory body will be to provide independent administration of the support which government will provide to increase the competitiveness of renewable energy and, in so doing, to increase the supply of renewable energy. In that way, ARENA will deliver specific and targeted program assistance that will operate in addition to the two macroeconomic level incentives, namely, the price on carbon and the renewable energy target.

ARENA will be responsible for delivering financial assistance for the research and development, demonstration, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy and related technologies. The ARENA (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill facilitates the effective absorption into ARENA of the functions of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy, ACRE, and the Australian Solar Institute, ASI, through the consolidation and streamlining for which ARENA is being established. As ARENA will come into existence on 1 July 2012, the transfer of assets, projects, personnel and so on from ACRE and ASI to the new ARENA structure is expected to occur in the second half of next year. As I have mentioned, ARENA will administer $3.2 billion in existing program funding, $1.7 billion of which is as yet unallocated, and the government is establishing ARENA on the basis of prescribed funding, out to 2020, for the sake of ensuring industry certainty and confidence. It is important, as we embark on this period of dynamic change in our economy, to remember that the pursuit of a strong and substantial renewable energy industry in Australia is based on a number of considerations. In the current public debate there is an understandably strong association between renewable energy and the problem of climate change, and it is well understood that non-renewable energy, which we derive from hydrocarbon fuels of one kind or another, produces carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions which are contributing to global warming and related climate effects. So, the more we employ renewable energy sources rather than non-renewable energy sources, the more we reduce our carbon emissions.

But the creation of a vibrant renewable energy sector in Australia offers a number of wider benefits. At the simplest level, a reduction in carbon pollution across the board will obviously deliver cleaner air, but there are also significant economic and energy security benefits that render nonsensical the outdated view of the pursuit of renewable energy as some kind of environmental imperative of marginal economic value. To take that view is to overlook perhaps the most important long-term reason for growing our renewable energy capacity and knowledge—that is that, even with considerable Australian and worldwide non-renewable resources available, those resources are finite and are being devoured at an ever-increasing rate. At some point civilisation will be forced to give up its reliance on cheap non-renewable energy, and those countries that not only begin that transition but become established as innovators and exporters in the renewable energy and energy efficiency fields will reap the employment and economic benefits that will come with successful early adoption.

There can be no question that many other countries understand the imperative to move into renewable energy, and this brings me to the main point I want to make, which is that Australia has the opportunity to be at the forefront of an industry that is already showing signs of being one of the fastest growing areas of investment and innovation.

In the course of the climate change debate over the last decade, there have been those who argued that, with Australia's abundant non-renewable resources, we have no need to move into renewable energy and, indeed, would be harming our existing carbon resource strengths if we did so. That is retrograde thinking, in my view. It is complacent, self-limiting, head-in-the-sand stuff. The world is shifting, because it must shift, and we have the chance to be a leading participant in change. We have the chance to be both a country that will benefit from a range of new technologies and one that is also very likely to be the source of inventions that will benefit the global community to which we belong.

On this last point, a recent report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Program and produced as a cooperative endeavour with the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate and Sustainable Energy Finance, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, provides a very useful overview of the current state of global renewable energy investment, which is growing strongly. One of the most startling pieces of data in this report is that for the first time in 2010 more was invested on renewable energy in developing countries than in developed countries. In fact, financial new investment in developing countries totalled $72 billion as against $70 billion in developed countries. In 2004, the ratio was four to one in favour of developed countries.

China has led that surge, with nearly $50 billion invested last year to make it by far the largest source and location of renewable energy investment. But while China's investment, predominantly in the form of asset finance for large wind farms, jumped 28 per cent in 2010, financial new investment in South and Central America grew 39 per cent to $13 billion; and in the Middle East and Africa region, investment surged by 104 per cent to $5 billion. While this steep climb in global renewable investment is very welcome, it is also a reminder that the world is moving rapidly and that we would be fooling ourselves if we thought we were leading the charge or going out on a limb in this area.

Total global investment in renewable power and fuels reached $211 billion in 2010, a 32 per cent increase on 2009 and approximately 5½ times the investment made in 2004. In the report's foreword, Achim Steiner, the UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, summarises recent progress by saying:

Renewable energies are expanding both in terms of investment, projects and geographical spread. In doing so, they are making an increasing contribution to combating climate change, countering energy poverty and energy insecurity, stimulating green jobs and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

The UN climate convention in Durban later in the year, followed by the Rio+20 Conference in Brazil in 2012, offer important opportunities to accelerate and scale-up this positive transition to a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

All of this is encouraging news because investment in renewable energy and related technologies is leaping ahead, even through a time of economic instability, and even in circumstances of constrained financial confidence and capacity. 2010 was also the first year that total investment in solar came close to matching the investment in wind, once you include the $60 billion in small-scale distributed solar capacity investment, up from $31 billion the previous year, much of which was concentrated in rooftop photovoltaics in Europe, led by Germany. That shows the wisdom of this government's historic support for household solar PV. Indeed, since the election of the Labor government in 2007, we have supported the installation of something like 150,000 household PV units at a rate of close to 40,000 per annum, which is in stark comparison to the former government's effort in supporting barely 12,000 in their 11 years in office. I know that in Western Australia, where the WA government has overseen a 50 per cent increase in electricity prices in three years, there are now thousands of households with the in-built capacity to better weather such costs.

The support provided by this Labor government has begun, quite literally, a transformation of the suburbs, so that solar panels on roofs are no longer novelties and, though still represented by a minority of houses, are now at least relatively commonplace. But as the household solar industry has become established, and with the combined effect of economies of scale, lower input costs and a high Australian dollar, the direct government support is being sensibly scaled back. That is the responsible approach: first, to turbocharge innovation and investment, and then retreat once the industry and market has become established, both here and globally. And, happily, it remains the case that a 1.5-kilowatt household solar system can be installed on the roof of most average Australian houses for around $2,000, with a likely capital payback period of between five and seven years.

The experience in Australia in terms of cost and price reduction through the strength of well-established industries and competitive market forces is reflected globally, with the price of PV modules per megawatt falling 60 per cent over the last three years according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance Estimates, and the price of wind turbines falling 18 per cent per megawatt in the last two years. This is the proof that investment in renewable energy development and commercialisation will in time provide energy source options that are increasingly cost competitive with non-renewable sources. But the investment and the regulatory support is essential if that is to occur.

It stands to reason that the recent vertiginous jumps in the cost of electricity will be retrospectively attributed to the carbon price, though it will be cravenly dishonest for anyone to do so. The reality is that the government's Clean Energy Future policy will provide the investment necessary to spark Australian innovation in new sources of energy and new energy frameworks, with better long-term outcomes for Australian households than would be possible if we took a do-nothing approach and allowed Australia's renewable energy sector to lag in the wake of what is occurring elsewhere.

I have spoken before in this place about a company in my electorate, Carnegie Wave Energy, which has pioneered a wave-power technology using specially designed buoys that are anchored to the seabed and generate both emission-free electricity and emission-free desalinated water from the ocean's movement. Carnegie already has a commercial-scale demonstration of its technology on the seabed in WA's Cockburn Sound, and is pushing ahead with agreed projects in Ireland, Bermuda and Reunion Island. The Irish wave energy project, as one example, is a proposed five-megawatt demonstration project for which the conceptual design and site study was 50 per cent funded by the Irish government's Sustainable Energy Authority under the Ocean Energy Prototype Research and Development Program. This is the kind of forward-looking and supportive approach that Australia has embarked upon, and I am sure that companies like Carnegie Wave Energy will look to the opportunities provided through the creation of ARENA in order to expand and leverage the success they have already achieved.

There can be little doubt that the global economy is on the cusp of an energy profile transformation and that many countries, developed and developing, are working to establish footholds in this critical sector. Australia has a role to play, both on its own behalf for the benefit of Australian jobs and energy security and as part of our historic role as an innovator—as a country that has delivered, for the world's benefit, advances that go back to the Westinghouse air brake, the first invention to be granted an Australian patent, and of course include recent inventions like the cochlear ear implant, the cervical cancer vaccine, and CSIRO's wi-fi technology. Renewable energy and related technologies represent an opportunity that must be embraced—and this is a government that is intent on seizing that opportunity or, rather, on opening up a window through which Australian companies can take their part in one of the most important, exciting and innovative areas of human endeavour and industry. As we look forward to the visit by the President of the United States, it is timely to consider the approach being taken in this area by the world's largest economy. In June last year, President Obama spoke about the clean energy challenge. He said:

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candour.

…   …   …

We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny.

This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels will take some time, but over the last year and a half, we have already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that will someday lead to entire new industries.

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of good, middle-class jobs but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors.

It is an essential part of the Labor ethos that a strong economy should be the foundation for positive long-term reform. These bills, which go hand in hand with the clean energy future package, are very much consonant with that ethos. It is a characteristic feature of Labor governments that we take on the difficult big-picture structural changes that are necessary to put Australia on the path to prosperity with fairness, to productivity that is sustainable and to a social and physical framework for our communities that in the face of future challenges is optimistic but realistic at the same time. These bills are part of that task which I wholeheartedly support.

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Bill 2011 and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011. I am very pleased to support these bills as they are part of a very important step towards our clean energy future. This Labor government has already done significant heavy lifting when it comes to renewable energy. In 2009, we introduced the Renewable Energy Target of 20 per cent which provides a cross-subsidy to the renewable energy sector. Already the renewable energy target has led to $8 billion of total investment in renewable energy.

This government has started the hard work of transitioning our country to a clean energy future. These bills before the House today take it another step by bringing together and consolidating a number of different programs administered by a number of different agencies under an independent body named ARENA. ARENA will manage the $32 billion in renewable energy investment to promote research and development, demonstration, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy projects to improve the sector's competitiveness.

This will be incredibly important as this country harnesses the opportunities that a clean energy future provides. Renewable energy technologies not only provide the opportunity for our country to reduce our carbon emissions but also provide the opportunity to invest and innovate and to support industries which can deliver to the rest of the world. This is a really exciting opportunity that a number of businesses in my electorate are taking up. In particular I want to say that there will be a real opportunity through the Tonsley Park redevelopment that will benefit significantly from this transition to a clean energy future. Most people would remember the old Mitsubishi site. I know you are very familiar with it, Deputy Speaker Georganas. Unfortunately, Mitsubishi decided to pull out of that site and no longer manufactures cars in South Australia. While this was very disappointing for the local area and for a lot of workers, it has presented an opportunity that the state government has taken up. The state government has bought the site, which is very large, and has a vision that it will be a hub of innovative companies and sustainable technologies, including clean tech and environmental industries, along with the associated advanced manufacturing. It will integrate industry, education, training, research and community amenities. This is a very uniquely positioned site which sits between Science Park and Flinders University, and the state government is also looking to build a TAFE to teach young people—and older people as well—skills in this new industry for the future.

So I believe that our clean energy future will provide a lot of opportunities. This bill is part of this. I saw today that the opposition has agreed to support this bill. I am not sure what happened to their 'We will repeal the clean energy future'—obviously step by step. They are backing down on that, and I have no doubt that in the future we will continue to see a backdown from the opposition. We believe in going forward with this, ensuring that we do have a clean energy future. My electorate, in sites like Tonsley, is really set to benefit in this emerging industry that I think will create a lot of jobs and a lot of innovation.

Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kingston for that very concise, objective, constructive contribution to this key debate. As many members who have participated in the debate have indicated, this bill establishes ARENA, the members of its board and its chief executive officer and sets out how ARENA will operate and be funded. The bill delivers on the Australian government's commitment to establish ARENA as part of its clean energy future plan announced on 10 July this year. ARENA has been very much the ambition of my department and my office and finally consolidates in a rational approach the existing renewable energy grant funding currently managed by the Australian government and by Australian government funded renewable energy agencies. I extend my appreciation to the Australian Solar Institute and ACRE for the constructive manner in which they have approached the government's objective to establish ARENA. They have made a fine contribution to our endeavours on clean energy over recent times.

ARENA will provide a robust framework to deliver funding for new clean energy technologies, providing the certainty of funding and long-term policy settings and a renewed focus on innovation in renewable energy and related technologies essential to keeping Australia at the forefront of technology change in what is already becoming a major growth industry. I look forward to seeing how ARENA will support the renewable energy sector to innovate, prosper and assist Australia in meeting a huge challenge—climate change—while maintaining a secure, efficient and affordable energy supply.

I would also like to respond to a couple of comments made during the course of this debate. I first indicate that I appreciate the contribution from all those who have spoken in these bills, but I particularly welcome the constructive approach and support for this bill by the coalition in not opposing ARENA's establishment. That is very important because it says to the renewables sector that there is some certainty in the operation and funding of ARENA in the future. I especially note the contribution of my shadow minister, the member for Groom, Mr Macfarlane, and the understanding of the renewables sector by the member for Flinders. With regard to the contribution of the member for Groom, particularly reminding us of the achievements of the Howard government in terms of the MRET, I wonder if he has had discussions with Senator Boswell of the National Party and whether he shares his enthusiasm in being reminded that the MRET was a coalition achievement. I think not. Putting that aside, both the member for Groom and I understand the challenges of technology, as do the member for Flinders and, I might say, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mr Greg Combet. There are huge challenges in developing clean energy technologies, and this is clearly seen in the progress of a legacy program I inherited from the coalition, the LETDF projects, which to date have been far more difficult than would have been envisaged when these projects were announced by the Howard government. I say this because it is easy to sit on the sidelines and say that progress is not being made, but in terms of the clean energy debate and the issues around innovation, it is not easy.

We as a government will not seek to pick winners but to contribute generous taxpayers' dollars to working with industry, both domestically and internationally; our research institutions, including our universities and CSIRO; and our CRCs to try and do whatever we can to make the necessary breakthroughs to achieve clean energy on a reliable low-cost base for Australian consumers in both industry and households. For those reasons, recognising these challenges, ARENA is a very sensible policy development and therefore has the support of virtually all members of the House.

I note Senator Milne's contribution to this debate yesterday, when she saw fit—for whatever reason, I do not know—to put out a press release talking about avoiding political interference in particular projects. Let me be very clear about this. In my time as a minister as I have always taken expert advice and relied heavily on my department and expert committees to ensure proper merit based assessment in spending Commonwealth money on clean energy technologies. I therefore take exception to Senator Milne's comments and to her reflection on my department and its professionalism and those people who gave freely of their own time and made a huge contribution in serving on the expert committees, which have seen a huge amount of work done and enabled us to get to this point in terms of trying to test clean energy technologies.

I also say, given the member for Melbourne's contributions, that perhaps Senator Milne needs to have a discussion with him. I specifically refer to his comments regarding Solar Systems. His comments without a doubt suggest that the government should have waived requirements around milestones to get taxpayers' money out the door to Solar Systems. I simply suggest that this seems to be at odds with comments from the Greens, principally Senator Milne, about the need for proper process. Before talking about the politicising of the administration of grants, they want to have a look at themselves in the mirror. At the time of Solar Systems, I acted on the advice of my department, and that is key to how you handle the integrity of selection processes. The money was allocated to a particular project, not to running the Solar Systems business, and I am concerned by suggestions from the member for Melbourne that we should have waived project milestones just to suit his pet project in his seat of Melbourne.

Again, I simply note for the House that this just shows that the Greens really do not care about proper process and integrity in projection selection. They are more about picking their pet winners with no regard for due process and proper accountability of taxpayers' money and agreed milestones, for proper and prudent expenditure of finite taxpayers' moneys for which we have responsibility as a government to allocate to clean energy technology. Any suggestion otherwise is wrong, and criticism of projects reflects on the integrity of my department, our now expert advisers, who have done a good job to date.

Furthermore, this is often the Australian Greens' and Green NGOs' approach to life: lobbying for outcomes that do not follow proper process, whether it be seeking to block economic development if they object to a particular project, irrespective of the integrity of necessary regulatory processes, be they of an Indigenous or environmental nature. We have seen this on a range of project issues around Australia at the moment. In essence, the rule of law is set aside by the Greens and NGOs for environmental and Indigenous approvals because of a dozen short-term political objectives with respect to membership or raising financial assistance from the broader community. It is not the role of government to select particular companies or technologies. Due process, separate from political considerations, should be the determinant of these complex issues. Having said that, I simply say as the minister that there is a proper assessment on the merits of supporting different technologies and I want to see that the projects are assessed on merit. That is the approach I have adopted and that is the approach I will take with the establishment of ARENA. That is why one of ARENA's first tasks will be to develop a funding strategy to guide ARENA 's support for renewable energy technologies. Likewise, the ARENA board and the CEO will be appointed free of political interference in accordance with a skills matrix to ensure that the best advice is provided to government. There is no use lobbying government about friends or political mates to be appointed to boards in terms of my ministerial responsibilities. They will be based on a skills matrix, integrity and what they can contribute to a process and not on the basis that a particular minor party or an environmental NGO wants to sponsor their nomination.

In conclusion, I welcome the contributions of all the members who have participated in this debate. I extend my appreciation to the departmental team led by Nicola Morris for all their hard work. This is a complex bill put together over a very short period. In doing so, they ensured that they consulted with a range of organisations, both government and non-government, to ensure that we got it right. I think the fact that effectively the whole of the House of Representatives, as a result of this debate, has indicated support indicates that they have got it right and they are to be commended for a job well done. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.