Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2015, one of the warmest years on record, we reached halfway to the two degrees that is widely agreed to be the absolute degree limit of global warming. Every major economy in the world is transitioning to renewable energy. In recent years, our biggest trading partners and closest allies have made major headway in renewable energy production, specifically in solar and wind energy generation. In 2014, investment in renewables around the world grew by 16 per cent. But at the same time in Australia renewables investment dropped by 88 per cent under the Liberal government.

Unfortunately, things did not change after the Prime Minister changed. At the Paris conference, Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull disappointingly announced Australia's commitment to reduce emissions to 26 to 28 per cent of 2005 levels. This would make Australia one of the highest per capita emitters in the world. This is even when we are surrounded by countries that are literally drowning from the impacts of climate change.

Labor knows renewable energy is Australia's future. Many Australian businesses and households are transitioning to renewable energy. There are now over 1.3 million Australian households with solar power on their roofs, up from 7,500 just six year ago. Our largest companies, like AGL and Origin, are also making more investments in renewables.

Labor understands and is capable of making full use of Australia's advantage to charge ahead in renewable energy production, in particular solar energy, since we have the highest average solar radiation per square metre of any continent in the world. This will mean more solar panels on homes, more wind farms being built and huge advances in battery storage of renewable energy. And it will mean thousands of jobs for Australia. We know it is time to transform our electricity system and transition to a clean energy future. And so wrote Kate Song, who is doing work experience in my office.